Understanding Open and Closed Loop Control Systems in Veterinary Rehabilitation

In our journey through motor learning in preparation for the Vet Rehab Summit, we’ve briefly explored Motor Development, Motor Control, Motor Learning, Motor Skills. We then took a closer look at the challenges to motor control of coordination and degrees of freedom. Today, let’s take a deeper look at how movements are actually controlled during learning and in skilled performance.

 

At the heart of this discussion lie two essential systems of control:

• Closed loop systems
• Open loop systems

Each system offers a unique mechanism by which the nervous system initiates, monitors, and adjusts movement, and both play vital roles in rehabilitation.

 

 

What Is a Motor Control System?

A motor control system refers to the neural processes and feedback mechanisms that govern voluntary movement. Whether it’s a slow, deliberate weight shift or a rapid corrective step, the nervous system must decide:

• What movement to produce
• How to produce it
• Whether to adjust it as it happens

This is where open and closed loop systems come in.

 

Closed Loop Motor Control

A closed loop system is characterized by continuous feedback.

Here’s how it works:

1. A motor command is sent from the control center (brain and spinal cord) to the muscles.
2. As the movement unfolds, sensory feedback mechanics from vision, proprioception, vestibular input, and tactile receptors is returned to the CNS.
3. The brain uses this incoming information to compare the intended movement with the actual movement.
4. Corrections are made in real-time to adapt or refine the action.

 

Examples in rehabilitation

When a dog or a horse is navigating uneven terrain, they must constantly adjust limb position, joint angles, and muscle recruitment based on what they feel and perceive from their environment. These adjustments are made in the moment and are driven by real-time sensory input. We can stimulate the systems involved in a closed loop system by performing exercises slowly, using unstable surfaces in our exercises, adding perturbations to the patient, or by including variability into exercise programs.

 

 

Clinical Relevance of Closed Loop Systems:

• Critical for slow, controlled movements where accuracy and adaptability matter.
• Ideal for retraining balance, postural control, or proprioceptive awareness.
• Useful in early rehabilitation where the patient needs frequent corrections and support.
• Encourages the refinement of skills through repetition and feedback.

 

Open Loop Motor Control

An open loop system works without feedback, or with minimal delay between command and action, such that feedback can’t influence the outcome.

Here’s what happens:

1. A pre-programmed motor command is generated.
2. It is executed by the muscles.
3. There is no opportunity for adjustment during the movement itself.

Open loop control is fast and efficient but less flexible. It relies on prior experience and motor programs stored in the brain, which are retrieved and executed as a single unit.

 

Example in Rehabilitation:

A dog jumping over an agility hurdle or a horse performing a flying change. These are rapid, pre-learned actions that cannot be corrected mid-air. The accuracy of these movements depends on preparation and training, not moment-to-moment feedback.

 

Clinical Relevance of Open Loop Systems:

• Important for rapid, goal-directed movements.
• Used in later stages of motor learning, where the movement is well-practiced.
• Essential for performance tasks that require speed and precision.
• Allows us to assess whether the animal has truly internalized a movement pattern.

 

How These Systems Interact

Motor control is rarely purely open or closed loop. Most functional movement tasks in veterinary rehabilitation exist on a spectrum, blending aspects of both systems.

For example:

• A dog practicing sit-to-stand transitions may begin with a closed loop strategy (guided by feedback and therapist support), and eventually shift toward open loop execution as the task becomes automatic.
• An equine patient learning to walk through poles may initially rely on constant proprioceptive feedback (closed loop), but over time develop a consistent motor pattern (open loop).

Understanding how these systems interact helps us match our therapeutic approach to the learning stage of the patient and the demands of the task.

 

 

What’s Next?

Now that we understand the building blocks of control, we’re ready to look at motor control theories that formalize how learning happens over time.

In our next blog, we’ll explore the key theoretical models (including schema theory, dynamical systems theory, and ecological approaches) and what they offer us as Vetrehabbers.

 

 

Join Us at the Vet Rehab Summit

Want to see these concepts come to life? Join us at the Vet Rehab Summit on Saturday, 8 November 2025. This year’s theme, Dynamic by Design, brings together experts in our industry to explore how movement is taught, refined, and transferred across a variety of rehabilitation contexts.

 

🎟️ Live access is free, with upgrade options for replays and CPD certification.

👉 Register now and take your understanding of movement from theory to therapeutic excellence.

 

 

This article was partly written with ChatGPT during a study session. I take full responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this article – everything has been written, rewritten, edited or checked by myself.