Aligned Equine

12/22/2025

The Thoracic Sling: The Horse’s Primary System for Balance, Posture, and Force Organization

For generations, equestrian tradition taught that the hindquarters were the horse’s primary source of power. Riders were encouraged to “ride from behind,” develop engagement, and focus training almost exclusively on the rear of the horse. While the hind end is indeed responsible for propulsion, this view does not fully explain balance, posture, straightness, elevation, or whole-body coordination.

Modern biomechanics presents a more complete picture. The hindquarters generate thrust, but the thoracic sling organizes, stabilizes, and directs the horse’s movement. The forehand—specifically the thoracic sling and its integration with the core—the primary system for organizing balance and posture in motion.

The Traditional View Was Hind-End Dominant

Classical training emphasized the hindquarters as the horse’s engine. This is accurate in terms of generating forward thrust, contributing to carrying power, adding part of the horse’s ability to collect, and sharing load with the forehand.

However, the hind end does not independently determine where the body mass travels, the height of the trunk, the organization of the spine and ribcage, straightness or lateral balance, or the ability to elevate the forehand.

The hindquarters push, but they do not control the system they are pushing into.

The Thoracic Sling Is the Horse’s Primary Balancing and Postural Engine

The thoracic sling is a muscular-fascial suspension system that holds the trunk between the forelimbs. Functioning in place of a clavicle, it does far more than support the front end.

The thoracic sling suspends the ribcage between the forelimbs, regulates trunk height, absorbs landing forces, stabilizes the shoulders during movement, initiates upward shifts of the center of mass, determines how weight is distributed front to back, controls straightness and lateral balance, and integrates with the deep core to manage whole-body posture.

In biomechanical terms, the thoracic sling is the horse’s primary balancing and postural system. Without a functional sling, the hindquarters cannot translate their power through the body in a stable or organized way.

The Hind End Pushes — The Thoracic Sling Catches

This concept aligns with findings from force-plate studies, kinematic analysis, and myofascial research.

Current research shows that the forehand is responsible for most vertical control of the trunk, the thoracic sling plays a substantial role in stabilizing the ribcage, the trunk cannot elevate unless the sling and core activate first, self-carriage depends on thoracic suspension rather than hind-end drive alone, and power from behind becomes ineffective if the front cannot control incoming forces.

In motion, the forelimbs do not simply carry weight. They manage balance, braking, and impact absorption. The thoracic sling processes these forces and determines how effectively they are redistributed through the body.

The Modern Shift Across Disciplines

This updated understanding influences every area of equine performance and care.

In rehabilitation and return-to-work planning, thoracic sling function is now prioritized before intensive hind-end strengthening.

In dressage and classical schooling, true self-carriage requires elevation of the withers through the sling rather than force from behind.

In jumping, a functional sling is essential for correct bascule, shoulder freedom, and safe landing mechanics.

In bodywork and movement support, thoracic sling tension and fascial organization influence cervical mobility, forelimb swing, and trunk lift.

In hoof care, the way the foot lands and loads directly affects how both the hindquarters and thoracic sling must compensate during stance and motion.

Across disciplines, the thoracic sling is increasingly recognized as central to posture, balance, and performance.

Why the “60 Percent Forehand Weight” Rule Is Misleading

The commonly cited idea that the forehand carries 60 percent of the horse’s weight applies only to a standing horse on level ground without a rider. In dynamic movement, particularly under saddle, this percentage increases.

Forehand load rises due to the horse’s naturally forward center of mass, the added weight of the rider, variations in hoof balance and trim, posture and core strength, gait mechanics, landing forces, and weakness or collapse within the thoracic sling.

During trot and canter, forelimb loading often exceeds 60 percent and may reach 65 to 75 percent or more. This increased demand makes the thoracic sling the primary structure responsible for stabilizing and supporting the trunk in motion.

Steering Comes From the Shoulders

In horses, steering does not originate in the head or the hindquarters. Direction, line, and balance are determined by the orientation and control of the shoulders, which are suspended by the thoracic sling.

The thoracic cage sits between the forelimbs as a suspended structure. Wherever that structure is directed, the rest of the body must follow. The head follows the shoulders because it is attached to the cervical spine, which is anchored to the thorax. The pelvis and hind limbs follow because they are connected to the thoracic cage through the spine and continuous fascial chains.

A horse cannot truly go straight if the thoracic cage is crooked between the forelimbs. The hindquarters may push powerfully, but they will simply propel the body along the path the shoulders have already chosen. This is why pulling the head does not create straightness, pushing the hindquarters does not correct drift, and controlling the shoulders changes the entire trajectory of the horse.

When the thoracic sling is balanced and functional, the shoulders set the line and the rest of the body organizes naturally behind it.

Thoracic Cage Balance Determines Hind-End Function

The balance and alignment of the thoracic cage directly determine how effectively the hindquarters can work.

If the thoracic cage is dropped on one side, rotated between the forelimbs, collapsed through the sling, or unstable in vertical suspension, the hindquarters are forced into compensatory strategies rather than true engagement.

This often presents as asymmetrical stepping, uneven push mistaken for strength differences, difficulty bending evenly left versus right, loss of straightness despite strong hind-end effort, and increased strain through the lumbar spine and sacroiliac region.

The hindquarters do not choose these patterns. They respond to the balance problem they are pushing into.

When the thoracic sling lifts, centers, and stabilizes the ribcage, both hind limbs can step under evenly, propulsion becomes directed rather than wasted, carrying power improves without force, and collection becomes easier rather than more demanding.

Hind-end quality, therefore, reflects thoracic organization rather than the other way around.

A More Accurate Model of Equine Power

A modern, biomechanically accurate model is emerging.

The hindquarters generate propulsion.
The thoracic sling organizes the body, stabilizes the trunk, and distributes forces.
The core integrates the two into a coordinated whole.

This framework explains why straightness cannot be achieved through hind-end work alone, why self-carriage depends on wither elevation, why forehand heaviness is rarely a hind-end problem, and why movement quality arises from postural control rather than raw power.

Power without organization creates imbalance which crrates tension. Balance allows power to express itself. The future of equine performance lies in organizing the power the horse already has.

https://koperequine.com/the-thoracic-sling-axial-skeleton-interplay/

10/23/2025

10/11/2025

The Interplay Between the Thoracic Sling and the Fascial Sleeve of the Forelimb

The horse’s forehand is a marvel of suspension and flow — a dynamic system that relies on the thoracic sling and the fascial sleeve of the forelimb working together as one continuous, responsive unit. The efficiency, elasticity, and comfort of the horse’s entire front end depend on how these two systems share load, tension, and sensory feedback.

🩻 The Thoracic Sling: The Horse’s “Living Suspension System”

Unlike humans, horses do not have a bony joint connecting their forelimbs to the trunk. Instead, the thoracic sling — a network of muscles and fascia — suspends the ribcage between the shoulder blades. Key players include:
• Serratus ventralis cervicis and thoracis
• Pectoralis profundus and subclavius
• Trapezius and rhomboideus
• Latissimus dorsi
• Related myofascia

These structures stabilize and lift the trunk during movement, absorb impact, and allow for fine adjustments in balance and posture. A supple, strong sling lets the horse “float” the ribcage between the shoulders rather than brace against the ground.

🩹 The Fascial Sleeve of the Forelimb: A Continuum of Force and Flow

Each forelimb is encased in a fascial sleeve — a continuous, multilayered sheath of connective tissue that envelops every muscle, tendon, ligament, and neurovascular pathway from the scapula to the hoof.

Rather than separating structures, fascia integrates them, distributing tension and transmitting force both vertically (hoof to trunk) and laterally (across the chest and back). The fascial sleeve is both a stabilizer and a sensory network, richly innervated with mechanoreceptors that inform the central nervous system about position, pressure, and movement.

🔄 A Two-Way Relationship

The thoracic sling and the fascial sleeve of the forelimb form a mutually dependent system.

When one is tight, weak, or imbalanced, the other compensates — often at a cost.

1. Force Transmission

Each stride begins with ground contact. The impact and rebound forces from the limb travel up through the fascial sleeve, into the shoulder girdle, and directly into the thoracic sling.
If the fascial sleeve is supple and well-hydrated, the sling can absorb and redistribute force smoothly.
If restricted — for instance, by myofascial adhesions or muscular guarding — the load transmits as sharp, jarring impact into the sling, leading to fatigue and microstrain.

2. Postural Support

The sling lifts and stabilizes the thorax between the shoulders. But that lift depends on the integrity of the fascial tension in the forelimb.
If the limb fascia loses tone or the deep pectorals shorten, the ribcage can “drop” between the shoulders, leading to a downhill posture, shortened stride, and overload of the forehand.

3. Neuromuscular Coordination

Fascia houses thousands of sensory receptors that communicate constantly with the nervous system.
The thoracic sling relies on this feedback to coordinate timing and symmetry of movement.
When fascial tension becomes uneven — say, due to unilateral limb restriction — proprioceptive input becomes distorted, and the horse may appear crooked, heavy on one rein, or unable to maintain even rhythm.

4. Reciprocal Influence
• A tight thoracic sling can compress the fascial pathways through the shoulder and upper limb, restricting glide and muscle contraction below.
• Conversely, a restricted fascial sleeve can inhibit normal scapular rotation and ribcage lift, forcing the sling muscles to overwork.

💆‍♀️ Myofascial Release and Massage: Restoring the Dialogue

Manual therapies that target both regions — not just the limb or the trunk in isolation — are key to restoring the horse’s natural balance.

Effective bodywork can:
• Release adhesions within the fascial sleeve to restore elastic recoil.
• Improve scapular glide and thoracic lift.
• Normalize sensory input through mechanoreceptors, refining coordination.
• Encourage symmetrical movement and postural awareness through gentle, integrated mobilization.

When the thoracic sling and limb fascia move as one continuous system, the horse’s stride lengthens, the topline softens, and forehand heaviness diminishes.

🧘‍♀️ Training and Conditioning Support

Beyond manual therapy, proper conditioning maintains this balance:
• Hill work and gentle pole exercises enhance thoracic sling engagement.
• Lateral work improves scapular mobility and fascial elasticity.
• Regular checks of saddle fit and rider symmetry prevent recurring restriction.

🐎 The Takeaway

The thoracic sling doesn’t work in isolation — it’s an extension of the fascial sleeve of the forelimb, and together they form the foundation of forehand function.
Healthy fascia enables the sling to lift, absorb, and respond.
A supple, responsive sling protects the fascia from overload.

When they operate in harmony, the horse moves with effortless balance — powerful yet soft, grounded yet elevated — the way nature intended.

10/09/2025

09/08/2025

Load Transfer: The Invisible System That Keeps Horses Sound (Until We Break It)

(This is probably the most significant blog I have written to date...and I am deadly serious.)

1️⃣ Why We Miss the Point

Most riders and owners look at legs, joints, or hooves when a horse goes lame. We obsess over hock injections, tendon scans, or shoeing tweaks.

But here’s the blind spot: horses aren’t Lego sets where you can just swap out a dodgy block and keep stacking. They’re whole systems where forces - rider weight, ground impact, propulsion - have to be absorbed, stabilised, and passed on like the world’s most complicated game of pass-the-parcel. That process is called load transfer.

If load transfer works, the horse moves fluidly, distributes force safely, and stays sound. If it doesn’t, the wrong bit cops the pressure - joints, tendons, ligaments - until it breaks. Cue “mystery lameness” and your savings account crying into a feed bucket.

2️⃣ What Load Transfer Actually Is

Load transfer is the art of sharing forces across the horse’s whole body:
- Hooves = shock absorbers (your horse’s Nike Airs).
- Tendons and ligaments = springs (boing, boing).
- Core and spine = suspension bridge (though honestly, comparing a living, moving horse to a bridge bolted to the ground is a bit crap - sorry Tami, I’ll get to you in a second and anyone else having a fit over my analogies :P ).
- Hindquarters = the engine room.
- Trunk = the bridge deck, carrying weight forward.
- Nervous system = Wi-Fi (sometimes 5G, sometimes “buffering…”).

It’s not one joint or one leg doing the work - it’s a team effort. And when one player drops the ball, the others cover… until they tear something.

3️⃣ How It Gets Compromised in Domestication

Here’s the catch: our horses don’t live or move the way evolution intended. Instead, we’ve gifted them the equine version of late-stage capitalism:
- Sedentary living → Wild horses walk 20 km a day. Ours do laps of a 20 x 60 and then slouch around on the couch bingeing Netflix. Fascia weakens, cores collapse, proprioception clocks off.
- Gut health issues → Ulcers, acidosis, restricted forage. Imagine doing Pilates with chronic indigestion. Goodbye stabilisers, hello bracing.
- Rider influence → Saddles, weight, wobbly balance. A hollow back under a rider = hocks and forelimbs eating all the force. “Congratulations, you’re now a wheelbarrow.”

And then we act shocked when the “bridge” collapses and the legs file for workers’ comp.

4️⃣ Why This Explains Early Breakdowns

A horse with poor load transfer isn’t just inefficient - it’s a ticking time bomb.
- Hock arthritis by six.
- Suspensory tears that never heal.
- Kissing spine in a horse that never learned to lift.

This isn’t bad luck. It’s physics. And yes, physics is painful. But so is paying vet bills the size of your mortgage repayments.

Once you see it, the endless cycle of injections and rehab isn’t fate — it’s the logical result of pretending your horse is four pogo sticks with ears instead of a system that has to share the damn load.

5️⃣ Why Talking About This Will Probably Annoy You

Here’s the thing: people who really understand the sheer magnitude of load transfer will most likely confuse you… or offend you.

My good friend Tami Elkayam is the one responsible for hammering this into my thick skull. And I’ll be honest: it took four clinics and two years of friendship before the penny really dropped. She will read this and her hair will stand on end, because load transfer and how the body works is far more interconnected and complex than I’ve made it here.

Because here’s the reality: there is a reason your six-year-old has the joints of a 27-year-old, or why your horse developed kissing spine. And while I’m pretty good at spotting when dysfunctional load transfer has already chewed through a part of the horse… my bigger mission now is to spread the word before more horses — and bank accounts — get wrecked.😎

It may sound like physics, and physics isn’t sexy. But this is physics that explains your vet bills, your training plateaus, your horse’s “difficult” behaviour, and that nagging sense of “not quite right.”

6️⃣ What We Need to Do About It

Instead of obsessing over the parts, we need to step back and care for the system:
- Movement lifestyle → Turnout, hills, hacking, grazing posture. (Not “arena prison with cardio punishment.”)
- Gut health → Forage first, low starch, fewer ulcers. (Because no one engages their core mid-stomach cramp...and that's not even mentioning how digestion impacts the whole things - that blog is for another day)
- Training for posture → Lift the back, wake up the core, balance the bridge. (“More forward” and "rounder" isn’t a strategy, in fact saying those things can be part of the problem...)
Rider responsibility → Balanced seat, good saddle fit, some self-awareness. (Yes, because we have a massive impact on load transfer and how dysfunctional we make it...but let's get the idea in our heads before we beat ourselves up.)
Preventive care → Conditioning, fascia release, thoughtful management. (“Wait for it to break, then panic” is not a plan.)

7️⃣. Closing

Load transfer is the invisible system that keeps horses sound. When it fails, the legs, joints, and tendons take the hit - and horses “mysteriously” break down.

The tragedy isn’t that we can’t prevent it. It’s that we’re too busy staring at hooves or arguing on social media about everything from bits to barefoot to notice the actual system collapsing under our noses.

Once you understand load transfer, you can’t unsee it. And once you can’t unsee it, you’ll never settle for patching symptoms again. You’ll start caring for the whole horse - because that’s the only way to keep the bridge standing, the system working, and your horse sound.

This is Collectable Advice 17/365 of my notebook challenge.

❤Please share this if it made you think. But don’t copy-paste it and slap your name on it - that’s the intellectual equivalent of turning up to an office party with a packet of Tim Tams and calling it “homemade.” This is my work, my study, my sweat, and my own years of training horses (and myself) before figuring this out (well with Tami Elkayam's patience too). Share it, spread it, argue with it - but don’t steal it.

12/22/2024

06/26/2024

Did you know Aligned Equine does demonstrations? If you are interested in learning more about the Tucker BioKinetic Technique, want to see what it’s all about and create lasting balance within your horse, demonstrations are the perfect opportunity! If you, your friends or your fellow boarders at the ranch are interested don’t hesitate to reach out! I’ll see you all soon!

Serena at Aligned Equine
TBT Master Practitioner
serena@alignedequinetherapy.com

06/14/2024

Interesting video! I find this resonates quite closely to how I work with energy and frequencies to heal

11/16/2023

Committed to helping horses, always

Way over due having the horses worked on by . Serena has been a blessing for our horses and we are all so grateful for the work she does. We got some big releases today not pictured or video we were in the moment of the session.

Anyone looking for a Dr. Tucker Biokinetic practitioner Serena is one of the best and are so lucky we have her near us. 🙏🏻🤍✨

Have body alighnement issues, chronic health issues, infections, organ imbalances and spirtual imbalances check her out! Your horses will be grateful!

10/19/2023

Aligned Equine is officially in the books!
Thank you Nina for sharing your love, work and experience of TBT and for the shout out. ♥️

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09/03/2023

Propping vs Building (click to expand full image)

These drawings show why I believe steel shoes, wedges, and DIM are only short term fixes, and that they prolong and cause more damage, making it harder to heal the horse in the future:

- The top drawing shows a fully live and well developed hoof capsule that is undeviated from its origins at the coffin bone. The horn tubules are all parallel from the dorsal wall to the heels and the growth rings are all parallel to a properly arched coronary band. These lines form a perfect grid that should be seen, but not felt. This indicates perfect P3/Hoof Capsule alignment.

- The second drawing down shows the soft tissue ( outlined in pink ) with the digital cushion ( shaded in pink with arrow ) supporting the coffin bone naturally from within.

- The 3rd drawing down shows a hoof capsule with a common type of distortion from improper, infrequent trimming or inadequate wear. It’s easy to tell by the disorganized horn tubules and growth rings that the hoof capsule has deviated from its origins at the coffin bone.

- The bottom drawing shows a commonly used “solution.” The problem with this is that it’s only addressing the symptoms of distortion rather than the cause. Worse than that, I believe this causes more damage and distortion. The wedge pad ( dark gray shaded area with gray arrow) is placed externally where it can only superficially change the angles and hold the DIM in place, which only artificially props up the digital cushion. The reason that it is such a common practice is that it can temporarily relieve pain and keep a horse performing in the owner’s preferred discipline. The same applies for non working or companion horses, it can also temporarily relieve the owner of worry, but it does not heal the feet.

Trimming and shoeing in this manner artificially props up the foot and causes the majority of the weight to be distributed in front of the widest part of the foot. Excess toe loading causes pedal osteitis ( bone erosion ) and live sole depletion. The natural response from the foot is to retain and compress dead sole. This can be perceived as improved “sole” thickness to the untrained eye, whether they’re a professional or not. It’s very difficult to tell the difference between live sole, insensitive live sole, and retained dead sole on a radiograph. To further complicate the situation, over loading the sole allows the heel horn to gain height. This can even “stand the horn tubules up” more vertically in the beginning. If the horse gets a chance to go bare foot again after this, the retained sole is likely to exfoliate ( usually after wet weather followed by a dry period ) leaving the thin live sole exposed and the horn tubules typically collapse again.

Once you learn to read the hoof and see what’s actually going on inside…you can’t unsee it.

Soft tissue is very regenerative and thrives on consistent proper form and function, which means that the horse’s feet have to be worn and/or trimmed in a way that works for them,instead of against them, in order to continually build/heal their feet and the rest of their body.

It comes down to the sustainable cure of rolling and building a living, moving, working system vs the short term “fix”
of treating the hoof like a stationary object with flattening, buttressing, and propping.

I'm always open to being proven wrong, but I have never seen any long term proof that the set up in the bottom diagram will make real, sustainable positive change. It will not build the hoof into what I've shown in the top diagram. We do not want a band aid fix and an angle change using artificial support, but a fully regenerated, self supported hoof.

09/01/2023

TBT is a great way to heal and balance the pelvis. We work with many horses who have si joint pain, hunter bumps, kissing spine, etc and get them to a place of comfort and soundness