No chest… No horse!<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nAfter “No abs, no back” it is time for “No chest, no horse”. In fact, the horse is very unique. He does not have a collarbone!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n“Yes well, the collarbone does not have a lot of use except to be broken when falling on a cross country fence!” (Personal testimony – it hurts)<\/p>\n\n\n\nOur shoulder. The collarbone connects the upper limb to the rest of the body. For the horse, the link is made only by muscles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For humans, the collarbone is fundamental because it is the only one that connects the upper limb to the rest of the skeleton<\/strong>! The humerus (the arm bone) is articulated by the scapula (shoulder blades) and the scapula is connected to the rest of the body (sternum in this case) through the collarbone only. The rest of the connections are muscular and not bony.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nConsequently, due to the horse not having a collarbone, its forelimbs are connected to the rest of his body only through muscles. His head, neck and thoracic spine are “floating”.<\/p>\n\n\n\nOn the other hands, the hind legs of the horse are firmly attached to the spine through the pelvis and especially through the sacro iliac joint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What about the pecs?<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nIndeed, they are the ones “playing the role of collarbone”. Thus, they connect the forelimbs to the trunk thus, to the rest of the body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The term “pectoral” is rather unclear. It is a groupement of several muscles (schematized in green on the diagram below): the ascending pectoral muscle, transverse pectoral, descending pectoral and subclavian muscle (pectoral scapular).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To which must be added the serrated muscles (in orange): the serrated muscle of the neck and the serrated ventral muscle of the thorax.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWe call them the levator muscles of the trunk<\/h3>\n\n\n\n The pectoral and serrated muscles attach to the inside of the scapula and humerus. They then settle on the ribs or on the sternum. It creates a muscular strap, a hammock that carries the trunk between the two previous. This is why we call them “levator muscles of the trunk<\/strong>“.<\/p>\n\n\n\nSerrated muscles<\/h3>\n\n\n\n These are not exactly part of the chest muscles but they do have the same role therefore, I will tell you a little about it. In the drawing below on which the scapula was removed, we can see very well the serrated muscles. They stand inside of the scapula (top) and moor on the last cervical vertebrae and first ribs. Their contraction will therefore “upper” the trunk and the base of the neckline situated between the two forelimbs. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nPectoral muscles<\/h3>\n\n\n\nThese muscles fit on the top of the humerus (the upper arm, like ours) and make the connection to the sternum. Their role is to lift the trunk as the serrated muscles. And as told above, they will also have addictive action. They allow the horse to bring his foreleg inwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTo remember<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThis group of very powerful muscles is highly necessary for the carrying capacity of the forehand. <\/strong>The pectorals muscles cause this ” rising withers ” feeling while the serrated ones allow to go up from the base of the neck to adopt an “collected” attitude. Their work is therefore essential for a good collected work quality. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nLittle anecdote. You probably already noticed that some horses that get started very late (7-8 years) will still grow a little. Well it’s purely muscular! With the training, the serrated and the pectoral muscles are toned up therefore, they will make the bust rise above the forelimbs. This makes the withers rise a few cm! <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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