Mechanoresponsiveness 30

Training Philosophy Volitional Learning Are you happy with your horse riding experience? Preface Advanced Horsemanship Advanced Horsemanship 2 Advanced Horsemanship 3 Imitation verses Intelligence Reeducating Gestures verses Energy Creating a functional horse Reeducating a horse Less is Better Equine Anatomy verses Equine Anatomy A New Generation Of Riders False Practices False Practices 2 Sophisticated Equine Education Technical discussion with Leanne False practice 3 Wear and Tear oversimplifications Functional Anatomy Class-Sick The Miracles of the Science of Motion2 Xenophon 2014 The Science of Motion Work in Hand Gravity The rational for not touching the horses’ limbs Amazing Creatures Fundamental Difference The Heart of Science The Meaning of Life The Meaning Of Life part 2 The meaning of life PT3 Meaning of Life part 4 Meaning of life part 5 The Meaning of life 6 Quiet Legs The Root Cause The Source Meaning of life pt 7 Relaxation verses Decontraction The Tide Meaning of life pt 8 Mechano-responsiveness Mechano-responsiveness PT 3 Mechanoresponsiveness PT 4 Mechanoresponsiveness PT 5 Mechanoresponsiveness Pt 6 Mechanoresponsiveness PT 7 Mechanoresponsiveness PT 8 Mechanoresponsiveness PT 9 Mechanoresponsiveness PT 10 Mechanicalresponsiveness PT 11 Mechanoresponsiveness PT 12 Mechanoresponsiveness 13 Specialized Entheses Mechanoresponsiveness 14 Mechanoresponsiveness 15 Mechanoresponsiveness 16 Mechanoresponsiveness 17 Skipping Mechanoresponsiveness 18 Mechanoresposiveness 19 Mechanoresponsiveness 20 Mechno-responsiveness 21 Mechanoresponsiveness 22 Strategic-learning The Fake Line Mechnoresponsivenss 17 Simple Disobedience The Hen with the Golden Eggs Mechanoresponsiveness 23 Class Metronome Chocolate Mechno 24 Stamp Collecting Mechanoresponsivenes 25 Meaning of Life pt 9 Mechanoresponsiveness 26 Meaning of life 10 Meaning of life pt 11 Mechanoresponsiveness 28/Equitation & Science Mechanoresponsiveness 29 Meaning of life 12 Meaning of life 13 Mechanoresponsiveness 30 Mechanoresponsiveness 31 Meaning of life 15 Mechanoresponsiveness 32 Mechanoresponsiveness 33 Mechanoresponsiveness 34 Meaning of Life 17 Meaning of Life 18 Mechanoresponsivenss 35 Meaning Of Life 19 Style Respect Passive Aggressive Time to get out of the museum Mechanoresponsiveness 38 Meaning of Life 36 Harmonic Tensegrity The Norm Slow Down

Mechanoresponsiveness 30

Forces

Jean Luc Cornille




“I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its futility, its stupidity.” (Dwight D. Eisenhower)


War commences in the sick mind of an individual supported by corrupted politicians who cannot care less about their country and human suffering as long as they see an opportunity to make money. War is then carried on by the ones who have been dumbed down to the point of believing the rhetoric of the politicians. Unfortunately, war is also fought by the ones who joined the army to follow studies that they could not afford in the civil life and are now trapped in a system forcing them to fight the war. This does not demean the courage of the ones on the field. The ones fighting the war have much more courage and value than the ones instigating the war.


“I am fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in” (George McGovern) At a lower level but covering the same brutality, futility and stupidity, horses are fed up to the ears with old systems dreaming up of athletic performances for young horses who are not adequately developed and coordinated for the athletic demand of the move.  There always have been similarities between equitation and politics. “In equitation as in politics, one should be aware of simplifications; they always complicate the matter at the end.” (General Decarpentry, Academic Equitation, 1949) Riders are indoctrinated into a system and, judge others, as well as their horse’s reactions, in respect of their doctrine.


Instead of understanding that doctrines are based on a knowledge that is constantly evolving, indoctrinated riders refuse knowledge and even combat pertinent discoveries. Fear and faith are often use to sell war. Fear of the horse and faith in a system are equally use to sell antiquated equitation and training techniques. “The biomechanics of the vertebral column, although very complex, are of vital importance as they form the basis of all body movements.” (Leo B. Jeffcott, Natural rigidity of the horse backbone, 1980) Of course the knowledge has evolved since 1980. However, it was already explained at this time that the range of motion of the thoracolumbar spine was limited and that the main function of the back muscles was maintaining the amplitude of the thoracolumbar spine movements within the limits of its possible range of motion. It was already understood that suppleness was not the outcome of stretching, release and relaxation but instead a subtle coordination between nuances in muscle tone allowing movements while protecting the stability of the spine.  “The reflex contractions of the spinal column muscles compensate for the bending of the spinal column. This is a characteristic behavior of the spine stabilizing system during human movement. As a result, even small compensatory difference between the right and left side causes permanent asymmetric, dynamic overloading of the soft tissue.” (Ober J. K. 1974, A dynamic concept for the diagnosis of idiopathic scoliosis. In; Biomechanics IV. Proceeding of the 4th International Seminar of Biomechanics. Eds R. C. Nelson & C. A. Moorhouse, Macmillan Press Ltd, London & Basingstoke.)


The thought that suppleness in motion cannot be achieved at the expenses of structural stability, has been furthered down to the cells composing the muscles. Elasticity in muscles is, for a great part  the work of cytoskeletal proteins, named filament titine that stiffen when elongated. Muscle elasticity is a stiffening spring instead of a loosed, elongated and relaxed spring. “There are multiple titin isoform vertebrate muscles. Which explain the elastic-stiffness diversity across vertebrate muscles.” (Paul C. LaStayo and all. Journal of orthopeadic & sports physical therapy, 2003)


On the short video introducing this study, Dr Betsy Uhl, DVM, PhD, explains how forces generated by the hind and front legs are acting oblique on the spine and converted into forward and other movements through the resistance of the main back muscles. Wear and tear on the articular facets, where the muscles are attached, suggest that considerable forces are resisted, reduced, redirected by the main back muscles. Internal forces, (limbs actions), are not the only ones acting on the thoracolumbar spine. Gravity is pulling the spine down to earth and has to be counteracted by the production of upward forces. In motion, inertia is pushing the body forward. During down transition canter to trot, or trot to walk, the combination of gravity and inertia forces create, according to James Rooney, accelerations of gravity. In the first dynamic study of the equine thoracolumbar column, Richard Tucker exposed the existence of transversal forces. “Transversal forces are permanent  components of equine locomotion.” When the right foreleg is on the ground, the limb supports the body on the right side. The left front leg is then off the ground into the swing phase. Gravity is then pulling the left side of the body downward creating what Tucker and later Denoix DVM PhD, refer to as “passive rotation.” Such rotation would hamper the forward swing of the left leg and is then converted by the muscular system into active rotation going the other way. A decade later, Denoix further the explanation, demonstrating the phenomenon or transversal rotation started in the thoracic vertebrae and was always associated with lateral bending. “In the cervical and thoracic vertebral column, rotation is always coupled with lateroflexion and vice versa.” (Jean Marie Denoix, 1999).


Multidirectional, powerful and complex forces are managed by the back muscles. Proper management is the basis of sound gaits and accurate body movement. When movements became sophisticated, the work of the back muscles needs to evolve into mastery. The mastery occurs at the level of each vertebra and associated muscles. “An initial thrust on the column is translated into a series of predominantly vertical and horizontal forces which diminish progressively as they pass from one vertebrae to the next”. (Richard Tucker-1964). Richard Tucker talked about horizontal and vertical forces only. Transversal forces, lateral bending, acceleration of gravity and many other forces are negotiated by the back muscles. There is a very large elastic-stiffness diversity among muscles. The mobility of the thoracolumbar spine is not uniform’ Lateral bending occurs mostly between T16 and T9. Lumbar vertebrae do have some capacity of lateral bending between L1 and L5. Transversal rotations occur between T14 and T9. The theories promoting flexion and extension of the spine as a whole are unrelated to the actual functioning of the thoracolumbar spine. The belief that greater amplitude of movement can be created through stretching, release and relaxation are not aware or flatly dismiss the considerable forces acting on the thoracolumbar column. The concept of the swinging back as well as the thought that strides and performances can be enhanced increasing the amplitude of the thoracolumbar column movements are in plain contradiction with the fundamental functioning of the equine back. 


Perpetuating these heresies does not serve the equestrian art. It just serves the ones who cannot care less about the horses suffering as long as they see an opportunity for prestige and money. Dumb theories demean riders who have otherwise the feeling, skill and intuition to be fed up to the ears with old systems dreaming up of performances for young horses who are not adequately developed and coordinated for the athletic demand of the move.


The war horse is not just the one who fought War World II. The war horse is today’s horse that is asked to perform actual performances based on theories such as the “bow and string concept,” that was created in 1946. Abdominal muscles are involved but totally incapable to assume the complex control of forces that is the essence of sound gaits and athletic performances. Jean Luc Cornille