Effect of a 4-week elastic resistance band training regimen on back kinematics in horses trotting in-hand and on the lunge.

This research article explores the effectiveness of a 4-week training program using elastic resistance bands on the back kinematics of trotting horses. The study examines how the program impacts the horses’ core muscle strength and dynamic stability.

Objective of the Research

In the interest of enhancing core muscle strength in horses, the researchers employed a setup of elastic resistance bands. The goal was to utilize the proprioceptive feedback of these bands during motion to help boost recruitment of the equine’s core abdominal and hindquarter muscles, hence improving overall dynamic stability. The researchers attempted to quantify the impact of this specifically designed resistance band system on back dynamics while trotting and lungeing across a 4-week exercise schedule.

Methods: Exercise program and Data Collection

• The research team conducted a quantitative analysis of back movement before and after implementing a 4-week exercise schedule.
• Inertial sensor data, which monitors the motion of the subjects, were collected from seven horses at the beginning (Week 1) and at the end (Week 4) of this exercise routine involving elastic resistance bands.
• Rotation (roll, pitch) and translation (mediolateral, dorsoventral) range of motion from six landmarks from poll (the highest part of a horse’s head) to the coccygeal region (region of the vertebral column) were measured during trot in-hand (a controlled trot on a hard surface) and during lungeing (trot in circles on a soft surface, both reins) with and without the presence of the elastic exercise bands.

Research Analysis and Results

• The utilization of a mixed model facilitated the evaluation of the effects of the exercise bands, duration (by week), and movement direction (straight, left, and right).
• The findings showed that the elastic bands decreased roll, pitch and mediolateral displacement in the thoracolumbar region. The reduced movement suggests increase in dynamic stability.
• At the end of the fourth week, regardless of band usage, rotational movement was reduced while dorsoventral movement was escalated.
• An 80% increase in back movement parameters during lungeing was measured.

Conclusion and Further Research

• The comparison of each horse’s performance with and without bands, devoid of a control group, makes it impossible to conclusively attribute the measured differences between weeks 1 and 4 to either the bands’ usage or the exercise regimen itself.
• Tentative conclusions, based on the gathered data, suggest that the application of elastic resistance bands lessens mediolateral and rotational movement (hence promoting dynamic stability) of the thoracolumbar region during a trot.
• Further studies are proposed to investigate the core mechanisms of this result pertaining to core abdominal and hindquarter muscle recruitment and to evaluate the long-term effects of such a regimen.