by Margret Henkels

The tail is a major part of the hindquarters puzzle. When you first handle it, the tail seems to have little muscle, yet it is essential to freedom of movement for the horse’s hindquarters. Tail releases for stiff tail vertebrae are wonderful paths to hindquarters progress. It’s a miraculous change for such a huge dense area of muscle through a small, easy-to-handle part of the horse. An expressive tail is easy to notice.

The tail is the horse’s coccyx. As you know, it’s a painful injury when you fall on your tailbone. The horse uses his tail to balance. The tail is kept fluid by movement. Wild horses move a distance of at least 50 miles a day over varied terrain. A much more “sedentary” lifestyle means the horse’s tail becomes less flexible: it loses articulation of the vertebrae.

Many tails are like broomsticks: they are stiff, unable to bend laterally, or curve upward. Very few tails are able to curl back to touch the croup, as they would if flexible. In most cases, the horse’s tail can bend laterally somewhat and, perhaps, curl halfway up toward his croup, but that is all he can allow. Many horses are concerned when you begin to handle their tail at all.

Complete release of the tail is vital to improving self-carriage and collection. You can’t spend too much time releasing a tail. Short opportunities bring good results, even when the horse snacks, or when we spend time companionably. The horse loves this kind of bodywork.

Read more: Improve the Horse’s Balance, Movement, and Self-Carriage with These Easy Tail Exercises

Understanding horse arthritis treatment and horse joint health

Thoroughbred mare, Tiz Cha Cha, never traveled balanced to the left. When she would collect in dressage or frame over a jump, she would become aggressive with ears pinned, relentlessly throw her head or rear up dangerously. Her behavior was chalked up to being a “hot” off-the-track Thoroughbred; however, a series of X-rays revealed what the human eye could not see -- a C1 fracture of the vertebrae, nearest the poll, causing her significant pain from bone-on-bone contact and arthritis.

What is equine osteoarthritis or degenerative joint disease?

Equine degenerative joint disease (DJD) is often referred to as equine osteoarthritis (OA). This chronic disease causes degeneration of the joints and results in pain, inflammation and reduced flexibility. Any joint in a horse’s body can be affected, and all horses regardless of age, breed or discipline can be impacted. It is estimated that OA is responsible for up to 60 percent of all lameness in horses.

Do different equine sports affect specific joints?

Although any horse in any discipline can be affected by OA, there are common themes and joint problems that occur in the varying equine sports. Such as for cutting and reining horses, who have greater impact on their hocks and stifles causing them to have heightened OA risk to these joints. Additionally, hunter jumpers are more likely to have front limb lameness in the coffin or fetlock joints. Any joint that is more significantly used on a horse increases its likelihood for developing OA.

Read more: Q&A: Managing Arthritis in Horses