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Home / Equine Research Bank / Animals (Basel) / Group and Individual Changes in Spinal Mobility During a 12-...
Animals : an open access journal from MDPI2025; 16(1); 103; doi: 10.3390/ani16010103

Group and Individual Changes in Spinal Mobility During a 12-Week Rehabilitation Program Including Swimming in Horses with Axial Musculoskeletal Lesions.

Abstract: Locomotor disorders involving the spine are a major cause of impaired performance and early retirement in sport horses. Swimming is increasingly incorporated into rehabilitation protocols, but its effects on spinal biomechanics remain poorly understood. This prospective study evaluated changes in thoracolumbar mobility in sixteen sport horses diagnosed with cervical or thoracolumbar axial musculoskeletal lesions over a 12-week rehabilitation program comprising 4 weeks of land-based training followed by 8 weeks during which swimming sessions were incorporated three times per week. Weekly measurements of thoracolumbar flexion-extension range of motion (ROM) were performed during straight-line trot on a hard surface using inertial measurement units attached to the withers, T18, and tubera sacrale. Group-level analyses revealed minimal changes across training phases: in horses with thoracolumbar lesions, mean ROM decreased slightly during the second month of aquatic training (-0.1° [95% CI -0.1; 0], Cohen's d = 0.2), whereas no significant variation was detected in horses with cervical lesions. As the study did not include a control group, these temporal changes cannot be specifically attributed to swimming and should be interpreted as descriptive rather than causal. Individual trajectories showed heterogeneous patterns, but these were not consistent enough to alter the group-level interpretation. Overall, the findings suggest that thoracolumbar mobility remains relatively stable throughout this type of rehabilitation program, highlighting the importance of individualized monitoring rather than the expectation of a uniform biomechanical response.
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Publication Date: 2025-12-30 PubMed ID: 41514790PubMed Central: PMC12784998DOI: 10.3390/ani16010103Google Scholar: Lookup
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Summary

This research summary has been generated with artificial intelligence and may contain errors and omissions. Refer to the original study to confirm details provided. Submit correction.

Overview

  • This study investigated how a 12-week rehabilitation program that includes swimming affects spinal mobility in sport horses with axial musculoskeletal lesions.
  • The key finding was that spinal mobility remained mostly stable during the rehabilitation, showing little uniform change across horses.

Background and Purpose

  • Locomotor disorders affecting the spine are a common issue leading to impaired performance and early retirement in sport horses.
  • Swimming is increasingly used in rehabilitation but its biomechanical effects on the equine spine are not well understood.
  • The study aimed to evaluate how thoracolumbar (mid to lower back) spinal mobility changes throughout a rehabilitation program incorporating both land-based training and swimming.

Study Design and Methods

  • Sixteen sport horses with diagnosed cervical (neck) or thoracolumbar (mid-back) musculoskeletal lesions were enrolled.
  • The rehabilitation lasted 12 weeks, divided into:
    • 4 weeks of land-based training alone
    • 8 weeks of training that incorporated swimming sessions three times per week
  • Weekly evaluations of thoracolumbar flexion-extension range of motion (ROM) were done during a straight-line trot on a hard surface.
  • Inertial measurement units (IMUs) were attached at key spinal locations — the withers, T18 vertebra, and tubera sacrale — to record precise spinal movement data.
  • No control group (horses undergoing rehab without swimming) was included, which means comparisons over time are descriptive rather than causal.

Results

  • At the group level:
    • In horses with thoracolumbar lesions, mean spinal ROM slightly decreased during the second month of swimming (-0.1 degrees; statistically minimal, Cohen’s d = 0.2 indicating a small effect size).
    • Horses with cervical lesions showed no significant changes in spinal mobility across the program.
  • Individual horses showed heterogeneous and varied mobility trajectories with no consistent pattern sufficient to affect group-level conclusions.

Interpretation and Conclusion

  • The spinal mobility of sport horses with axial musculoskeletal lesions remains relatively stable during a rehabilitation program that includes swimming.
  • The minimal changes found were insufficient to conclusively attribute any effect specifically to swimming due to the lack of a control group.
  • The wide variability between individual horses highlights the need for individualized monitoring in rehabilitation rather than expecting uniform biomechanical improvements from swimming.
  • Swimming can therefore be considered a safe adjunctive therapy concerning spinal mobility but may not significantly alter spinal biomechanics during rehabilitation.

Implications for Practice

  • Practitioners should note the generally stable spinal ROM during swimming-based rehabilitation but monitor horses individually.
  • Rehabilitation protocols may need tailoring to each horse’s unique response rather than relying on group averages.
  • Future research including control groups and larger samples could clarify swimming’s causal effects on equine spinal biomechanics.

Cite This Article

APA
Pécresse B, Moiroud C, Hanne-Poujade S, Hatrisse C, De Azevedo E, Coudry V, Jacquet S, Audigié F, Chateau H. (2025). Group and Individual Changes in Spinal Mobility During a 12-Week Rehabilitation Program Including Swimming in Horses with Axial Musculoskeletal Lesions. Animals (Basel), 16(1), 103. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani16010103

Publication

Animals : an open access journal from MDPI
ISSN: 2076-2615
NlmUniqueID: 101635614
Country: Switzerland
Language: English
Volume: 16
Issue: 1
PII: 103

Researcher Affiliations

Pécresse, Baptiste
  • ACAP3, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, F-14430 Goustranville, France.
Moiroud, Claire
  • ACAP3, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, F-14430 Goustranville, France.
Hanne-Poujade, Sandrine
  • Labcom LIM-ENVA, LIM Group, F-24300 Nontron, France.
Hatrisse, Chloé
  • ACAP3, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, F-14430 Goustranville, France.
  • Labcom LIM-ENVA, LIM Group, F-24300 Nontron, France.
De Azevedo, Emeline
  • ACAP3, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, F-14430 Goustranville, France.
Coudry, Virginie
  • ACAP3, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, F-14430 Goustranville, France.
Jacquet, Sandrine
  • ACAP3, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, F-14430 Goustranville, France.
Audigié, Fabrice
  • ACAP3, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, F-14430 Goustranville, France.
Chateau, Henry
  • ACAP3, Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, F-14430 Goustranville, France.
  • Ecole Nationale Vétérinaire d'Alfort, F-94700 Maisons-Alfort, France.

Grant Funding

  • ANR-20-CE19-0016 / French National Research Agency (Agence Nationale de la Recherche, ANR)

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest. Sandrine Hanne-Poujade and Chloé Hatrisse are affiliated with the Labcom LIM-ENVA, a joint laboratory between the École nationale vétérinaire d’Alfort and the LIM Group; however, no commercial interest related to the LIM Group influenced the present study. The funders, the French National Research Agency (Agence Nationale de la Recherche, ANR), had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analysis, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript; or in the decision to publish the results.

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