Galop 5Knowledge
Contents
- 01WelcomeOverview
- 02How the horse learnsKnowledge
- 03Pied, spotted, additionsKnowledge
- 04The skeletonKnowledge
- 05The musclesKnowledge
- 06DigestionKnowledge
- 07SIRE, microchip and registersKnowledge
- 08Presenting in handOn foot
- 09Lunging and long-reiningOn foot
- 10Loading and stable bandagesOn foot
- 11The riding basicsIn the saddle
- 12TransitionsKnowledge
- 13The leg-yieldIn the saddle
- 14The dressage partIn the saddle
- 15Snaffle bitsKnowledge
- 16The jumping partIn the saddle
- 17The cross-country partIn the saddle
- 18RevisionRevision
The main muscle groups
The bones are the levers; the muscles are the engines. Knowing what each main group does means understanding what your exercises work — and why a horse builds muscle slowly.
In the exam programme
- Identify the main muscle groups and what they do.Common module B
A muscle is made of fibres that can contract — that is, shorten — and then relax. By pulling on the bones through the tendons, it moves a joint. There are three kinds of muscle:
- skeletal muscles, also called striated muscles, attached to the bones and under the horse’s control: they do the moving;
- smooth muscles, in the walls of the organs and blood vessels, which work without the horse having to think about it: digestion, circulation;
- cardiac muscle, or myocardium, which contracts without rest and without any act of will.
- Muscles of the top of the neck
- Shoulder muscles
- Longissimus dorsi: carries the saddle, passes on the drive
- Gluteals
- Hamstrings: the engine of propulsion
- Gaskin muscles
- Muscles of the front of the thigh
- Abdominals: support the belly
- Triceps: opens the elbow
- Flexor tendons, behind the cannon
- Extensor tendon, down the front of the cannon
- Forearm muscles
- Pectorals
- Brachiocephalic: draws the foreleg forward
Flexion: the angle closes
The flexor contracts, the extensor relaxes.
Extension: the angle opens
The extensor contracts, the flexor relaxes.
The five groups and what they do
| Group | What it does | An example |
|---|---|---|
| Extensors | Open the angle of a joint: the leg straightens, the neck lifts — so they are also called levators | The triceps, behind the upper arm, opens the elbow as the foreleg reaches forward |
| Flexors | Close the angle of a joint: the leg bends, the neck lowers — so they are also the depressors | The flexors fold the knee and the fetlock as the foot leaves the ground |
| Abductors | Move a leg away from the body’s midline | The muscles that swing the foreleg out to the side |
| Adductors | Bring a leg back towards the body’s midline | The muscles on the inside of the thigh; they make the legs cross in a leg-yield |
| Rotators | Turn a segment on its own axis or around the body’s axis | The deep muscles of the hip |
- Synergist muscles
- They act in the same direction and add their forces together for the same movement.
- Antagonist muscles
- They have opposite actions on the same joint, like the extensors and the flexors: when one contracts, the other must relax.
The masses you feel under the saddle
- The neck muscles, including the brachiocephalic, which runs from the head to the upper arm and draws the foreleg forward.
- The longissimus dorsi, either side of the spine from the withers to the croup: it passes the thrust of the hind legs forward and carries the saddle.
- The abdominals, which support the belly and help the back to round.
- The gluteals and the hamstrings, in the croup and the back of the thigh: the engine of propulsion.
Remember
Below the knee and the hock there is no muscle at all: only bone, tendon and ligament. That is why tendons are watched so closely, and why they are protected at work and at rest.
Tip
A muscle grows stronger through regular, progressive work, after a warm-up at the walk. The Galop 5 exercises — bend, leg-yield, lengthened strides — call on synergist and antagonist muscles in turn: proper gymnastics.