No matter which part of equestrian sport you engage in, your horse can benefit from developing a stronger body. This is where strength exercises for its abdominal muscles come into play. This may be needed because the horse's training has focused more on certain movements than others, because the horse has had an injury that weakened a part of its body, or because you plan to compete at a higher level or in a different discipline than the horse is used to. Here we will focus on strength exercises to train the horse's abdomen. The horse's abdominal muscles are important, among other things, because they are used to lift its back.

All exercises are based on the ideas of Dr. Renaud Léguillette, Calgary, chairman of Sports Equine Medicine from the University of Calgary.

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Exercise: Irregular cavalettis

Create a course of poles and low cavalettis, but set them up randomly in relation to each other, yet with the correct distance between them. Some of them should be placed close to each other, others far apart; some right down on the ground and some raised. Dr. Léguillette recommends that the height should be lower than 45 cm or 60 cm if your horse is very tall.

The more challenging the distance, the more challenging it is, so start with a course that only has a few challenging elements. Dr. Léguillette usually starts by having the horse on a lunge for this exercise, but it can also be done with a rider on.

Riding or lunging your horse through this course will force him to pay attention to adjusting his steps and placing his hooves correctly. When the horse does this, it simultaneously tenses its abdominal muscles.

Start by doing the exercise at a walk; as your horse gets stronger, you can increase the speed and do it at a trot. Make variations in the course each time you do it, so it remains both a mental and physical challenge.

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Exercise: Poles in a circle

If your horse masters the irregular cavalettis, you might want to boost its strength even more by creating a circular course. Dr. Léguillette suggested a way to do it: Choose a spot to be the center of your circle, and place either a barrel or a box there. The box can support one end of the poles, and you arrange the poles with varying distances from each other. You can also use poles that lie flat on the ground.

When you ride this course, your horse must not only adjust its steps for the distance between the poles, it must also maintain the curve of the circle. Begin by riding at the very edge of the circle and gradually move closer to the center. The further you go in, the higher and closer together the poles will be, and this places higher demands on your horse's degree of collection.

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"This improves tension in the back, awareness of where legs and hooves are, and it also strengthens the muscles," says Dr. Léguillette.

Also in this series:

Exercises that will strengthen your horse's forequarters
Exercises that will strengthen your horse's hindquarters

This article was originally published in march 2018 and has since been revised and updated.