When a horse is underperforming, common areas of focus are the limbs, back, and hoof care. But have you considered cervical neck issues? Problems in the cervical spine are often overlooked, yet they can have a profound effect on a horse’s overall performance.
Cervical vertebrae dysfunction can manifest in subtle ways but lead to significant performance deficits if left untreated.
Recognizing Cervical Issues in Horses
Cervical issues can be as mild as soft tissue tension, moderate like arthritis, or more severe like fractures, ECVM, or Wobblers. Horses with cervical dysfunction may exhibit visible physical signs such as:
A small or poorly developed neck
A step or dip between the neck and shoulder muscles
Atrophy or lack of development of the epaxial muscles (those that support the spine)
Tension lines throughout the neck muscles
These signs are indicative of chronic muscle imbalances. All four characteristic can be seen in the horse below. Note the tension lines at the upper neck behind the halter.
How Cervical Dysfunction Affects the Rest of the Body
Cervical issues in horses impact much more than just the neck. A horse's ability to move effectively and engage the hindquarters can be drastically affected. Changes in head and neck position can alter:
Vertical ground reaction forces: Impacting the force distribution on the limbs during movement
Stride length: Shortened or uneven strides can occur as the horse compensates for neck pain
Proprioception: The horse's sense of limb placement and body position
Center of mass (COM): Shifting this balance affects overall movement, leading to inefficiency
Flexion and extension of the spine: The neck directly connects to spinal motion and engagement of the entire topline
The Role of Muscles in Cervical Stability
The muscles surrounding the cervical spine play a critical role in maintaining both stability and mobility. When a horse experiences cervical dysfunction, it often triggers an imbalance between these two crucial muscle groups. Here’s how it happens:
Stability muscles: These muscles are responsible for maintaining posture and holding the spine in place. They are primarily composed of slow-twitch fibers, designed to stay active for extended periods and remain "on" to support the horse's posture. In cases of cervical dysfunction, stability muscles can weaken and even atrophy, reducing their ability to perform their stabilizing role.
Mobility muscles: Meant for movement, these muscles consist mostly of fast-twitch fibers, which tire more quickly than stability muscles. However, when stability muscles fail, the mobility muscles attempt to take over stabilization duties, leading to tension and hypertrophy. This is problematic because mobility muscles are not suited for constant stabilizing tasks.
As this imbalance progresses, the overworked mobility muscles become fatigued, and compensatory patterns form. If left untreated, the body may adapt by converting slow-twitch stability fibers into less functional fast-twitch fibers, further contributing to poor performance and discomfort. This vicious cycle highlights the importance of identifying and addressing cervical dysfunction early in horses to prevent long-term issues.
Understanding Cervical Pain and Performance
Cervical pain can significantly reduce a horse’s performance capabilities. Signs to watch for include:
Resistance to turning, particularly in one direction
Lameness or irregular movement that cannot be blocked out
Loss of power in movements requiring hind-end engagement
Overall poor performance, including reluctance to work
Ataxia (loss of coordination)
Atrophy of the caudal (rear) neck muscles is often seen in horses with cervical issues. These muscles are vital for proper head carriage and engagement of the hindquarters. When they are weakened, the horse struggles to lift the lower cervical curve—a movement critical for collection and powering the hind limbs.
Research on Cervical Dysfunction and Muscle Compensation: The Chain Reaction of Cervical Dysfunction
On a muscle fiber level, horses and humans share similar mechanisms, allowing human studies to offer insights into how cervical pain affects equine muscle function. When cervical pain occurs, the wrong muscles are often recruited to stabilize the spine. Lindstrom (2011) demonstrated that neck pain in humans impairs the postural muscles responsible for spinal stability, while superficial muscles—meant for mobility, not stabilization—show increased EMG (electromyography) activity. This shift causes overall movement to appear normal, but the underlying muscle function becomes erratic, leading to inefficient and imbalanced movement patterns.
Gizzi (2015) further supported these findings, observing that injecting hypertonic saline into neck muscles (causing soreness) didn’t alter task kinematics but significantly changed the recruitment patterns of muscles, indicating the body compensates under pain conditions by engaging muscles not designed for stabilization.
Cervical dysfunction triggers a cascade of negative effects on the musculoskeletal system. Pain and muscle fatigue in the cervical region interfere with proprioception—the horse’s ability to sense and coordinate body position and limb placement. Zabihhosseinian (2015) found that fatigue and pain in cervical muscles disrupt sensory input, leading to impaired proprioception in the limbs, making precise movement and coordination more difficult.
In chronic cases, Gogia (1994) discovered that prolonged neck pain leads to early muscle fatigue, often due to a combination of postural muscle dysfunction and muscle fiber type changes over time. As the body compensates for cervical pain, slow-twitch (stability) fibers, which are meant for endurance, convert to fast-twitch (mobility) fibers, which tire more easily. This degradation in muscle function not only affects performance but also increases the risk of injury. Horses with weakened or delayed muscle responses, particularly during quick movements or reactions to stimuli, are at higher risk of injury due to cervical instability.
By addressing cervical dysfunction early, through techniques such as chiropractic adjustments, acupuncture, or targeted strengthening exercises, it is possible to restore proper muscle function, improve performance, and prevent further complications down the road.
Holistic Approaches to Addressing Cervical Issues
To address cervical dysfunction effectively, a holistic approach is essential. Chiropractic care, acupuncture, can play crucial roles in restoring balance and relieving pain. Here's how these therapies contribute to cervical health:
Chiropractic care: Realigns the cervical vertebrae to restore proprioception, helping the horse regain its sense of limb position and movement.
Acupuncture: Targets key meridians to reduce muscle tension, improve circulation, and alleviate ACTIVE pain.
At home you can create an environment that encourages browsing activity, reaching high and various height settings for food or treats. You can use stability pads and perform sternal lifts to rebuild proper posture muscles.
By combining these approaches, we can restore proper function to the neck and improve the horse’s overall performance.
Conclusion: Is Your Horse's Performance Declining? Check the Neck
Cervical dysfunction may be the missing link in your horse's chronic poor performance. By understanding the impact of cervical issues on the whole body and addressing them through a holistic approach like chiropractic care, acupuncture, and TCVM, you can help your horse regain its strength, flexibility, and power.
If you're concerned about your horse's performance and suspect cervical issues may be at play, contact The Zen Vet for an evaluation. Our comprehensive, wellness-focused approach is designed to get your horse back on track and performing at its best.
Sources:
Lindstrom R, Shomacher J, Farina D, Rechter L and Falla D Association between neck muscle co- activation, pain and strength in women with neck pain Man Ther 2011 Feb;16(1):80-6
Gizzi L, Muceli S, Petke F, Falla D Experimental pain impairs synergistic modular control of neck muscles PLos One 2015 Sep 18;10(9)
Testa M, et al 2015. Alteration in masticatory muscle activation in people with persistent neck pain despite the absence of orofacial or temporomandibular disorders J Oral Facial Pain Headache 2015 Fall;29(4)340-8
Gogia PP and Sabbahi MA Electromyographic analysis of neck muscle fatigue in patients with osteoarthritis of the cervical spine Spine 1994 Mar 1;19(5)502-6
Zabihbosseinian M et al 2015. Neck muscle fatigue alters upper limb proprioception. Exp Brain Res. 2015 May;233(5):1663-75.
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