How Riding Impacts Our Skeleton (and why it matters)

While it won’t come as a shock to riders of a certain age, scientists have found evidence that horseback riding alters our skeletons in the long-term, particularly the hip joint.

The research was published in the journal Science Advances and conducted by a team in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Colorado Boulder. The goal of the study was to prove or disprove the ‘Kurgan hypothesis’, which says that an ancient people known as the Yamnaya had domesticated horses in the fourth millennium BCE.

In this theory, the Yamnaya people were thought to have ridden horses across Eurasia, taking languages with them that eventually evolved into English, French and other tongues.

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The Kurgan theory, which took hold in the early 20th century, has been controversial because it conflicts with hard facts, such as the only indisputable evidence of humans and horses date no earlier than 4,000 years ago. This theory is based on findings of human and horse bones, bridles and chariots, versus the Kurgan theory which is based on the skeletal changes to the hip.

Fast forward to the new study, and the scientists say that the evidence that currently exists isn’t enough to suggest the Kurgan theory is correct. Specifically, the scientists in the new study were looking at whether or not changes in their skeletons were proof they had ridden horses. The results did show a change in the shape of hip joints, but according to the paper, it wasn’t enough proof to classify a skeleton as an equestrian.

“Human skeletons alone are not going to be enough evidence,” Lauren Hosek, an assistant professor at UC Boulder tells Earth.com. “We need to couple that data with evidence coming out of genetics and archaeology and by looking at horse remains, too.”

William Taylor, the curator of UC Boulder’s Museum of Natural History, goes further, telling Phys.org, “A lot of our understanding of both the ancient and modern worlds hinges on when people started using horses for transportation,” he says. “For decades, there’s been this idea that the distribution of Indo-European languages is, in some way, related to the domestication of the horse.”

Hosek points out that when a person flexes their legs at the hip for long periods of time, such as when riding horses regularly, the ball and socket of the hip joint may rub together along one edge. This type of constant friction can result in the hip bone’s round socket being worn down into more of an egg or oval shape.

However, other activities, including sitting for long periods (hello, office workers) can also cause similar changes to our skeleton.

All to say that a horse rider’s hip joints will show the wear and tear from years in the saddle, but these skeletal changes aren’t enough to prove the person was an equestrian during his or her lifetime.