Part 4: Muscle Soreness

A certain amount of muscle soreness is normal during the training process. This comes from new fibers being utilized in muscles as the level of work is increased. If a horse is not showing any signs of reaction to hard work, you are probably not reaching th 75% of muscle capacity needed for hypertrophy to occur.

Soreness in muscles that occurs immediately after exercise and may last several hours is not necessarily cause for concern. A more comprehensive warmup and cooldown will help eliminate much of this type of problem. Delayed onset of soreness (24 to 48 hours after work) may be an indication of some degree of tearing of muscle fibers, This type of soreness usually is found when a new exercise is introduced or level of work is increased too quickly.

Muscle soreness that is accompanied by swelling or heat should be brought to the attention of a veterinarian. Muscle soreness which accompanies a weight bearing lameness indicated a veterinary problem as well.