EQUINE PHYSIOTHERAPY

DOES MY HORSE NEED PHYSIOTHERAPY?

Physiotherapy can either be used for rehabilitation post injury or surgery, for maintenance of long-term conditions, or for improving general wellbeing. Signs your horse may need physiotherapy are as follows:

• Change in behaviour

• Unhappy to be tacked up

• Rearing, bucking or napping

• Reluctance to move forwards

• Poor performance

• Reduced suppleness or straightness

• Difficulty collecting or moving laterally

• Jump refusals

• Knocking poles

• Reluctant to accept a contact

• Disunited in canter or difficulty cantering on one rein

• High head carriage and/or hollowing

• Muscle wastage

• Dragging toes

• Difficulty getting up

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If your horse is lame, you will need to make an appointment with your veterinarian; physiotherapy may only commence once the lameness has been diagnosed with permission from your vet. 

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HOW WILL PHYSIOTHERAPY HELP MY HORSE?

Physiotherapy uses a combination of manual techniques, such as massage and stretching; electrotherapies including ultrasound, pulsed electromagnetic field therapy, TENs, NMES, and laser; husbandry advice and exercise prescription.  Together the modalities compliment each other in reducing pain whilst re-balancing muscle groups after compensatory gait patterns, to prevent the re-occurance of primary and thus secondary, compensatory pain.  

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Exercise programmes will also help target particular muscle groups which will improve competition performance and management of long-term conditions such as osteoarthritis.

WHAT WILL I NEED TO DO?