Koper Equine

Fascia’s role in Tendon-Driven Locomotion and Shock Absorption

For some time it’s been known that the tendons in your horse’s lower legs play an important role in both propulsion and shock absorption during locomotion. Recent research has shown that fascia plays a role as well.

Here’s a closer look at how each of these tissues contribute locomotion and shock absorption:

Propulsion

Skeletal muscle is enveloped in a connective tissue framework at three levels. Each individual muscle fiber (cell) is covered by endomysium, groups of muscle fibers are bundled together by perimysium and called fascicles, and the entire muscle is covered by epimysium. These coverings provide support and protection for the fragile muscle cells, enabling them to withstand the forces of contraction.

These protective coverings extend beyond the fleshy part of the muscle and merge to form a tendon, the fibrous connective tissue that attaches muscle to bone. During locomotion, your horse’s muscles generate force to move its limbs. The tendons transfer this force from the muscles to the bones to create movement.

When your horse takes a step, placing weight onto its leg, the tendons and the fascia of the legs are tensioned like elastic bands. This elastic energy is released when the limb comes off the ground, putting more spring in your horse’s step than could ever have been created by muscle alone.

Shock Absorption

Fascia and tendons also play an important role in absorbing shock during locomotion. As your horse moves, they act as shock absorbers, helping to dissipate the energy of impact when its foot lands on the ground.

Tendons are able to absorb this shock because they are composed of tough, fibrous connective tissue that can withstand high levels of tension and compression, distributing the forces of the impact evenly throughout its length.

Fascia absorbs shock by deforming slightly and absorbing some of the energy. It then releases this stored energy by recoiling back to its original shape, helping to reduce the impact on joints and other tissues.

While tendons are well-adapted for shock absorption, they are still very susceptible to injury, particularly when they are subjected to repeated stress or sudden, excessive forces. Tight, tense or fatigued muscles also increase stress on the tendon, raising the risk of injury. This is why it’s so important to take steps to prevent tendon injuries, such as implementing appropriate training and conditioning programs, using massage to improve the health and function of the muscles, providing proper care, nutrition, footing and farriery to support tendon health, and ensuring that your horse is properly warmed up before more intense exercise.

Fascia is also susceptible to damage and reduced performance. Lack of movement, over use, injury, and inflammation foster the development of additional cross-links in fascial tissues. These cross-links cause fibers to lose their elasticity and reduce their ability to glide smoothly past each another. In the worst cases fascia layers can actually become matted together. These factors reduce fascia’s ability to deform and recoil efficiently, decreasing its ability to dampen shocks during movements. Cross-links also reduce fascia’s ability to store and release energy into the next springy step.

Massage with myofascial release is the best way to care for your horse’s myofascia, reduce unwanted cross-links and maintain optimal function.

Regular massage can help identify areas of stress, reduce tension, improve strength and function, maintain and improve fascial glide and restore correct balance and biomechanics.