Working proprioception - what and why in the real world…

I went riding today - well, that in itself is something to celebrate - I don’t get that much time to ride. And I was riding a very cool little mare called Nova. Nova is mainly quarter horse, with a dash of TB thrown in.

Are horses aware of where their feet are?  Mostly, yes, I think they are.  Horses are prey animals – their lives literally depend on being able to use all four legs and run away.  So, wouldn’t it make sense for them to have a good awareness and organisation over their feet and legs?  A horse who is clumsy and always stepping into holes won’t survive very long. 

I haven’t ridden a trained American Mustang but have been told there is nothing like them.  They are the real 4 x 4, so solid on their feet and able to go up and down a mountain like it is a bowling green.  So, why are they like that?  Think about their upbringing, they are born wild and survive by trusting their herd, their instincts and their feet.  If they fall, go lame or are unstable, they die.  Literally.  So, the toughest survive, the toughest breed and pass on their genes, and the toughest get rounded up and backed for riding horses.  They have a huge invested interest in staying balanced. 

The more a horse is challenged in its day to day life, the more proprioception they will develop.  It is much like yoga, physio or gym balance exercises in many ways – can you stand on one foot?  Can you stand on one foot with your eyes closed?  Can you stand that one foot on top of a cushion or pillow, that is soft, with your eyes closed?  As the balance exercises become more difficult, can your body rise to the challenge? 

In the same way that we need to do balance and physio exercises ourselves, we should also be helping our horses.  The first prize?  Giving your horse turn out time in spaces that are not manicured, flat grass.  Turn him out in a sloping field, a field with banks, ditches, rough ground and smooth.  I’m not saying a dangerous paddock filled with holes and rubbish, but somewhere that he has to work a little bit more to get around.  And make him move – put the water source on one fence line and the extra hay or space where you give hard feed on the opposite side.  Give him friends, make sure that he has a reason to move.  This is especially important with young horses – the best young horses to back and begin riding are those who were born and bred in huge open spaces, where they can run and play. 

Now, Nova and her friends live on the side of a mountain in a big paddock and they do a lot of mountaineering, navigating and manoeuvring, all on their own. When you see them powering up and down some of the steep banks, it’s pretty impressive.

Some people take this further, and build obstacles in their horse’s paddocks – steps, different ground surfaces etc.  Which is awesome if you have the space and finances to do it.  (This is known as environmental enrichment).   Nova and co don’t need this - nature has it taken care of - they are allowed to roam without being shut into nice, small neat squares.

So, back to today - there was a huge storm last night and there are a few trees and a lot of branches down. Off we went, into the trails up the mountain, and what did we find - trees on the trail… And what does Nova do - she works though them, over them, round them, with no interference or help from me - leave her head alone, let her look down and pick her own way through… Treat a horse like a horse at home in their paddock, and they reward you with a stress free ride - sit back with long reins and enjoy the view…

Down below is the full on Geek explanation of Proprioception, Spatial Awareness and Kinaesthetic Movement… Next week, I’ll give you some ideas about how to increase your horse’s proprioception if you aren’t lucky enough to live on top of a mountain…

Happy Riding!

OK, the nerdy bit….  If you don’t need or get the geek section, skip down past the italics…  for me to understand something, I need to “get” it backwards and forwards in my brain, to really work through it, which is what I’m about to do, for you, here…  I’ve often talked about Spatial Awareness, now I’m talking about Proprioception….  And then, there is kinesthetic knowledge.  Same things?  Or different?  Well, they are part of our proprioception, but not the same things.  Picture this….  You’re sitting watching a movie, and there is a bowl of popcorn on the arm of the chair, between you and your friend.  While keeping your eyes on the screen, you can reach your hand into the bowl, select your popcorn and pop it into your mouth, all while watching the action.  This is proprioception.  Your hand knows where your mouth is.  Now, your friend moves the bowl further away, so that it balances better on the flatter part of the couch.  You now have to work out how much further you need to extend your arm in order to reach the popcorn…  And that, is spatial awareness.  The knowledge of where objects around you are, as oppose to where your own limbs are in space.   Kinesthetic knowledge?  Well, that is muscle memory to a degree.  Do you move your hand the same way each time?  Do you bend your fingers in the same way? 

Let’s take a tennis player.  He is standing in the court – his proprioception is that he is standing, knees slightly bent, feet flat on the floor.  His spatial awareness tells him the distances from the lines and net, where he is in relation to his opponent.   Even I, a non-tennis player, could do that.  His kinesthetic skill is what allows him to swing his arm in just the right way to hit the ball in just the right direction.  It’s the difference between you and I playing tennis, and Roger Federer. 

Take a rider.  Their proprioception is that they are sitting on a horse.  Perfect.  Their spatial awareness is where the horse’s ears are in relation to where they are sitting.  How far the fence is from smacking into their right knee.  And now, we can run into problems – their kinesthetic knowledge may tell them that they are sitting up straight, shoulders above hips, and I come along and tell them they are leaning backwards…  We are often not accurate in the exact positioning of our body. 

In horse terms?  Horse is standing in a grassy paddock.  Yum.  His hooves tell him that he is standing upright, all four feet in contact with the floor and he is not putting a huge amount of thought or effort into standing there.  His spatial awareness is telling him that his nose is 5cm off the tips of the blades of grass.  It is also telling him that to get to the really good bits of grass, he needs to move his front feet one step to the right.  Does he have an awareness of the kinesthetic movement?  In his natural state, no, but with certain techniques such as equitation science, we can teach him the simplest way to move, and how to move with more symmetry.  I guarantee, he won’t be moving to get the grass to his right as he would to get to his left.