A Fallen Crest in a Spanish Horse
What is a fallen crest? In spain it is often refered to as a ‘cuello del gato’ (a neck of the cat) because when looking from the hind end of the horse towards the poll, the neck curves and apears to have a cat sleeping in the neck line.
What Causes a fallen crest? A fallen crest is caused by a conformation flaw. It is NOT caused by horses that are too fat, horses that have lost weight, horses that are not worked, etc. It may be seen sooner in the life of the horse because of these factors, and may be more extreme due to these conditions. A horse that will have a fallen crest will have a fallen crest, and a horse that will not have a fallen crest (unless injured) will not. The crest and neck may increase and decrease in width, height, and weight due to fat, water, exercise, and the crest line may tilt to the left or the right if the horse has lost fat, muscle, or water, causing the hair of the horse to ‘bounce’ up and down on the side that the hair falls, but the actual line of the neck when looking from the hind end will still be straight, This lack of fitness is NOT a fallen crest, just a part of the body that is over or under worked. A fallen crest is the lack of tightness in the topline of the horse as seen below.
A fallen crest is caused by the Nauchal Ligament in the neck. When the Nauchal Ligament in the neck is Longer than the length of the neck itself, (think of it as an overstretched rubber band loose, inside of a straw), you get a fallen crest. The Cervical Rhomboideus Muscle (the muscle that runs from the top of the poll to the wither) sits just below and slightly around this ligament. This muscle is what gets bigger with fat, and work. And why working horses with fallen crests can appear to tighten the fallen crest, and improve the over all image of a fallen crest, but it cannot fix the internal problem, nor the S shape when looking from the hind end.
As a foal, this can be seen as early as 3 weeks of age as the muscles begin to define in the neck line. As the horse ages this ligament stretches and the muscle structure of the neck follows the line of the Nauchal Ligament. The Cervical Trapezius Muscle (the muscle that runs in a triangle from the lower third of the neck, wither, and toward the point of the shoulder), is what stops the neck from completely flopping over at the wither. This crosshatch of muscles catches the loose ligament and holds it in place. A fallen crest will be seen in the middle 1/3 of the neck. While working supplemental muscles of the neck may help to hide this issue, a good eye will see right through it.
When watching a horses neck for a fall, you may ask the horse to lower its head so the poll and the wither are in line (this removes any support that may have been built up by complementary muscles and isolates the use of the Cervical Rhombodius Muscle and the Nauchal Ligament. Here is where you will see a wave, snake, or S like pattern of the top line of the neck as they walk. A neck that waves as a whole from left to right is NOT a fallen crest, this is just a horse whose underside of the neck is not as developed as it should be. You can also ask a handler to face the horse place the horses chin on their shoulder making the nose lift inline with the poll, at this point you should see the hint of a crest falling even in younger horses.
This is a very severe fault in this breed, stallions seem to transmit this to about 80-90% of their foals (especially the male offspring), mares 60-80%. This is a flaw that in our opinion should not be bred.
A fallen crest VERY rarely “pops up” in a breeding line. Usually a fallen crest comes from a sire or dam that has a fallen crest. However it has been known to happen. It is much more likely that a horse has a fallen crest due to injury or a repetitious action, rather than an anomaly in a breeding line.
Please note that a fallen crest does not mean the lacking of muscle in the crest line due to weight gain and weight loss. This is simply a thickening and thinning of the neck line, NOT a lack of tightness on the Nauchal Ligament, and is not considered a fallen crest. However there may be a small deviation in the center line of the top of the crest, with the change in weight of the horse. This would mean the neck appears to “to get worse” with weight loss and get better with weight gain. Again this is not an internal issue, just a superficial issue due to the stretching of the skin due to weight being removed and excess skin left behind.
The above observation is from a conformational and breeding perspective. A horse with a fallen crest, while incorrect conformationally for this breed, has nothing to do with the horses performance abilities. There are several other ways that are NOT genetic, that can result in a fallen crest in this breed. If you think of the Nauchal Ligament as a rubber band, a repeated pattern of movement that stretches the ligament in the neck over a long period of time, this can cause the neck to fall. I.e., a Horse that is incorrectly trained for several years with its chin in its chest (over stretching the neck), horses that eat through a solid fence, causing the neck to squish from pressure from an upper rail, or horses that for years scratch their neck on trees or posts, over and over again. This how ever is extremely rare, and are usually only seen on less than 10 individual horses.
The above description of a fallen crest is from a breeding and conformational perspective. This flaw in no way has any baring on the quality or potential of a performance horse. In addition there are several other factors that may result in a fallen crest, as a result of injury or a repetitious action over a long period of time that stretches the ligament. (Such as chin on chest collection under saddle, horses smashing their neck against a fence or tree, over several years)
The horse featured in the neck diagram is an amazing colt named Druso Roy (Dobladillo II x Mimosa L), and is about 5 months of age in this picture. This is an example of an excellent neck structure for the Spanish horse, with balance, and easy definition of muscle groups.
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