A stiff or rigid trunk often stems from a horse intentionally holding itself still to alleviate pain, such as that caused by ulcers. It can also result from overtraining strength without training suppleness— commonly observed in racehorses and ex-racehorses – or in horses ridden in a way that restrict the range of motion. After a while that stillness becomes safe and normal and the body adapts to support it.
Stiffness through the trunk reduces the horse’s ability to bring their hips under themselves, shift their hips laterally, use their lumbar muscles effectively, bend through the ribs, swing through the spine, or shift their weight back. It’s often accompanied by a relatively fixed range of motion in the thoracic sling as well.
It can be challenging to reintroduce motion the trunk when a horse is accustomed to holding it still. Implementing soft techniques like massage and gentle rocking motions from the ground to encourage relaxation and gently reintroduce movement to the area is a great way to teach the horse how to relax his trunk.
Do try this at home
Every time you pick out your horse’s feet (assuming that you’re on a safe, flat surface) put the foot down and once he’s got his weight squared back over it, using the withers for gentle leverage, try rocking his weight gently laterally, for example, from the left foot to the right and back a few times. Some horses like a little contact on the shoulder to support this movement. You can also gently rock your horse on the diagonal (from the left shoulder to the right hip and back) and forward and back. We’re looking for slow, small, subtle, smooth motions.
Move on to the right hind and place your hands on your horse’s SI or hip bone/tubor coxae and tail to rock him gently from the left hind to the right and back. You can also rock your horse on the diagonal, from the left hind, to the right fore and back and back to front and back. Look for slow, small, subtle, smooth motions.
Jerky movements can mean the horse is bracing against the motion and he’s uncomfortable with the motion. Try for even smaller movements and switch to practicing the exercise after you’ve ridden when your horse is more relaxed and supple.
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