Spotlight on the Equiband
What is the Equiband and how does it work?
The Equiband is a tool developed by the company Equicore Concepts that is designed to improve a horse’s way of going by stimulating their core and hindlimb muscles. It is a set of two resistance bands that wrap around the horse’s belly and their hindquarters, clipping on to the saddle pad. Unlike resistance bands in humans that primarily work through pulling to create tension, the main way they are used with horses is through touch. The continuous sensory input through having the band against the skin contributes to sustained muscle contraction, causing an improved posture to be maintained. This will have immediate benefits on the way the horse moves, as the muscle contraction will allow for the horse to hold themselves up and push from behind, but may also have longer term impacts if used consistently through strengthening the muscles. A lot of this, however, is still fairly theoretical, as the gadget is on the newer side and therefore has limited research behind it. So let’s discuss how much is known about it and whether that’s enough to argue its benefit!
What does the science say?
There are currently only six main studies looking at the effects of the Equiband. These range between looking at muscle activation, spinal biomechanics, symmetry and effect on lameness. The key takeaways are:
Activity of the spinal muscles is reduced. This could indicate improved spinal stability, but could also mean reduced ability for the back to be flexed. Spinal range of motion is also found to vary along different sections of the back.
Abdominal engagement is improved, however only on one side. Whilst this may be down to an experimental error or anomaly, it could also be connected to which way the band was done up (i.e. whether it was attached to the left side first and stretched around to the right or vice-versa).
Three studies assessed gait symmetry (two on sound horses and one in lame horses). Only one of the studies into sound horses found the bands to have some improvement in gait symmetry, whereas most of the results were not noticeable enough to be significant.
Is it something I should be including in my horse’s routine?
Based on the research already conducted, there do not seem to be many adverse effects, therefore there is no real reason to believe that the Equiband is undesirable to include, especially if your horse could benefit from improving their spinal stability or abdominal engagement, as these areas seem to be showing effectiveness. Having said this, the research is limited with only some aspects of biomechanics assessed and (apart from gait symmetry) no second studies to verify the results. Each paper does also seem to pick up on some less-desirable aspects (reduced spinal movement, one-sided abdominal engagement, no improvements in gait symmetry), raising questions as to how advisable it really is to use the tool. From a physio perspective, it is something we would recommend on a case-by-case basis, and will be keeping our eye on up-and-coming research. At EMpower Vet Physio, we find it fascinating how gadgets like this are designed and whether they can rival the old-school hands on approach, so much so that during her final year of university Emily will be undertaking a research study as part of her dissertation into how the Equiband affects limb biomechanics, with a special focus on whether the biomechanical changes remain after the bands are taken off or if the horse immediately returns to its normal gait. Watch this space to find out about the results of the trial!
References
Ellis, K.L., Goldberg, M.R., Aguirre, G.E. and Moorman, V.J. (2023) ‘The effect of a 4-week elastic resistance training regimen in horses with non-performance limiting hindlimb lameness’, Journal of Equine Rehabilitation, 1, p. 100003. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eqre.2023.100003.
Equicore Concepts (2024) Equicore Concepts. Available at: https://equicoreconcepts.com/about/ (Accessed: 6 November 2024).
Johansson, M. and Schmidt, E. (2019) Equiband – påverkar det rörelsesymmetrin hos häst? : en cross-over studie. Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Available at: https://stud.epsilon.slu.se/14600/ (Accessed: 30 August 2025).
Pfau, T., Simons, V., Rombach, N., Stubbs, N. and Weller, R. (2017) ‘Effect of a 4-week elastic resistance band training regimen on back kinematics in horses trotting in-hand and on the lunge’, Equine Veterinary Journal, 49(6), pp. 829–835. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/evj.12690.
Shaw, K., Ursini, T., Levine, D., Richards, J. and Adair, S. (2021) ‘The Effect of Ground Poles and Elastic Resistance Bands on Longissimus Dorsi and Rectus Abdominus Muscle Activity During Equine Walk and Trot’, Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 107, p. 103772. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jevs.2021.103772.
Ursini, T., Shaw, K., Levine, D., Richards, J. and Adair, H.S. (2022) ‘Electromyography of the multifidus muscle in horses trotting during therapeutic exercises’, Frontiers Veterinary Science, 9(1), pp. 1–9. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2022.844776.
Zarski, L.M., Rombach, N., Marchenko, D.A. and Rutten, L. (2024) ‘The Equiband Pro System improves gait symmetry in horses at the trot.’ Available at: https://doi.org/10.31220/agriRxiv.2024.00238.
