ADVERTISEMENT Postural stability helps horses (and humans and other species) maintain balance and protect the spinal column. It also allows them to respond to the destabilizing forces that can occur during movement, thus reducing injury risk. For this reason, you would assume that the better a horse’s postural stability, the stronger his spinal muscles. However, until now, no studies had been done proving this connection. A team from Colorado State University (CSU) recently assessed the relationship between muscle strength and postural sway in rehabbing horses to confirm that certain rehab exercises work. Katherine Ellis, DVM, now an Equine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation clinician at the University of Georgia, presented their findings at the 2020 American Association of Equine Practitioners’ Convention, held virtually.