# Does your horse really have a swayed back?



## horseloverd2

After looking at different conformation pictures I noticed a lot of horses appear to have some degree of sway back, but I remembered something very interesting my trainer told me once and I thought I would share it with everyone.

First, let me give the definition of sway back.

Sway backed: Excessive inward or downward curvature of the spine

Some people look at their horse and say s/he is sway backed because there seems to be a curve between the withers and the loins. Of course, some curvature is good and a horse with too straight of a back is not good either. But armed with the above definition, I want people to rethink if their horse is actually sway backed or if the horse has a 'beer belly.' 

I was telling my trainer how my horse is slightly swaybacked and he told me to give him a hoof pick. I did and what he did really surprised me. He took it and poked her stomach a few times (fairly hard, but not enough to hurt her) and I was amazed at how straight her back was when she 'sucked' her stomach in. There was a huge difference. He went on to say how she needed more work to tone her stomach, back legs, etc.

To test if a horse does or doesn't, taking a hoof pick and tapping them around six inches behind the girth area will usually get them to suck it in. Just step back and watch before they lower their stomach. 

Maybe everyone knows this already, but I found it extremely interesting and the few horses I have tried it on are actually not that sway backed, just have that 'beer belly.'


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## Macslady

Our 14 year old mare has that. But then in her lifetime, from previous owners she has had two babies and definitely is not skinny. She has exactly what you are talking about - a beer belly along with the fact her withers are very high.


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## Elana

Repeatedly I tell people to get their horses trotting up hills and trotting over caveletti on the ground. Cricles and transistions in a gait and between gaits. 

You need to build those abdominal muscles or the horse cannot possibly raise his back (extending those muscles by contracting the stomach muscles) and LIFTING the forehand.. shifting his weight to the rear and driving off his hind quarters. WHEN you have those abdominal muscles conditioned to do this you will get a rounded (relaxed) back and smooth, balanced transitions down between gaits (from lope/canter to a walk for instance) and within gaits (extensions, collection and extension again). 

This stuff is the basis for ANY competition horse.. be it Barrel Racing, jumping or Dressage. If you cannot get the horse working like this you cannot collect for the turn on a barrel and extend on the run out to the next barrel.. nor can you collect after landing from a vertical and then extend four strides with a lead swap to an Oxer.. or go from a Piaff to an extended trot.. or run a cow down and then turn her. 

It is all the same basis folks.. and it starts with strengthening abdominal muscles so the horse is physically capabable of balancing and gaining the muscle memory for the job at hand.


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## kitten_Val

I'd be careful about the definition. Some horses are not sway backed, but rather built downhill (my qh is). That something which will be still there (although I can build topline of course).


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## Elana

kitten_Val said:


> I'd be careful about the definition. Some horses are not sway backed, but rather built downhill (my qh is). That something which will be still there (although I can build topline of course).


This is so true. The fact is, what building the bottom does for the top may, infact, not change what you have, but it may prevent further deterioration of the top line. 

While not all horses can be "helped" into "great" toplines, taking the time to build your horse from the bottom up will only result in good things. A long backed horse will always have difficulty collecting, but everything we do to help the horse make it easier will also make the horse much better to ride.

My first horse was long backed and yet I got a for square halt from him from a trot that was neither rough or unbalanced. It took YEARS to get it.. but I did. I also got a levade on this horse that he could hold... 

Most people do not want to invest the time to bring a horse up from the bottom.. but if you do the dividends are remarkable.


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## equiniphile

Sway-backed horses are born with the genetics and conformation for a sway-back. I used to think, like most people, that old horses were typically sway-backed, but read somewhere (can't remember where....possibly the Horse Conformation Handbook by Heather Smith Thomas) that older horses just get a sag in their back that actually is not a swayback.


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## MacabreMikolaj

^

This. True sway-back is called equine lordosis and is either genetic from birth or can be caused by injury to the spine as a young horse, such as riding way too early and causing damage to the unfused spine.

Most old horses have what is referred to as "muscular sway-back" in that everything has started to sag and you just don't have the muscle or flesh covering the spine. The spine isn't anywhere close to straight, so we're just seeing the actual natural curvature of the spine without proper muscling around it. Hence why this is SO common in older broodmares from having all the muscle pulled down by years of heavy bellies.

This is true lordosis:









This is a mare that was posted by one of our members, ShannonSevenfold, and she is 20 years old and shows an "aging" swayback typical in older horses. It is much less dramatic:









Typically, when you see EXTREME swaybacks, it's a spinal issue the horse always had, regardless of age or pregnancy. For example if you have a 30 year old mare who's had 15 foals and looks like this:










She had a spinal issue at birth/shortly after!


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## Elana

This is correct. I believe I read about this in Dr. Deb Benett's books on conformation. I also read somewhere that a horse like the last one that looks terribly uncomfortable actually is not. This is just how they are built. 

How you would RIDE a horse like this is questionable (to me) as is the first horse with an example of lordosis. That being said, "somewhere" I do recall seeing horses like #1 and #3 being ridden.


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## kitten_Val

OMG, MM! 1st and especially 3rd one you posted look SO horrible. I wonder if they feel any pain/discomfort with such confo.


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## rosie1

I would imagine they would atleast feel some sort of discomfort how could that last horse even walk comfortably! It certainly doesn't look too pleased either although that doesn't necissarily (sp?) Mean its in pain of course. Poor guys I've never seen a horse look anything close to like that!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## MacabreMikolaj

Based on the limited studies they've done, they were shocked to find that even horses as extreme as the Appaloosa don't appear to show any discomfort and can even be ridden without any signs of pain or difficulty carrying a rider. Granted, most true sway backs you see being ridden aren't anywhere near as bad as the Appaloosa, but I've seen a Saddlebred that was about as bad as the first chestnut and was even in the showring with no apparent change to his gait or temperament which I find astounding.

However, as stated, this is only _appearances _from limited studies. So it has to be taken mostly with a grain of salt. We have an old trail mare that allowed herself to be ridden into a bloody oozing saddle sore without complaining. Some horses just won't tell/show you they're in pain/discomfort.


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