Carrot Stretches

This week I went out to work with "Pal", a Palomino with a stiff neck.  He was having a hard time turning to the left when his rider was asking him.  An easy way to tell if your horse may have some muscle tightness or a misalignment of the vertebra (subluxation) is with carrot stretches.  With your horse standing square and you off to its side, gently ask your horse to bend its neck back towards its stifle.  When they do so they get the carrot! Make sure to stretch both sides equally.  You can also ask your horse to stretch his head down between his front legs.  Again with you off to his side, hold a carrot between his front legs and he should bring his head all the way down close to the ground and really get a good stretch of his top line.  If your horse is unwilling to stretch a lot at first it may just be due to the fact that they are not quite sure what you are asking them to do or they may have some other concerns such as tight muscles or subluxations.

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Pal, did his carrot stretches great to his right side but very poorly to his left side.  I found subluxations at C5 and C7 on his left side and some very tight muscles in his lower neck and chest.  After some adjustments and a little muscle work he was doing his stretches like a champ on both sides!  If you've never done stretches before with your horse, take things nice and easy and don't make them stretch farther than they can.  Just imagine if you were to start Yoga without ever doing it before.  It may take some time for their muscles to get used to the stretches and to lengthen.