When can physiotherapy help your horses?

There are many reasons why your horses would benefit from being seen by a physiotherapist. If your horse has difficulty with certain movements when being ridden, has an injury or musculoskeletal condition or is competing they will likely benefit from physiotherapy input.

Common reasons why riders ask for physiotherapy input:

• Change in behaviour e.g. less willing, grumpy, napping

• Feels off/different/not quite right

• Noticed sore back when grooming or girthy when tack up

• Difficulty with canter transitions or quality

• Poor quality movement- choppy, lacks rhythm, lacks impulsion

• Difficulty bending one direction or with lateral movements

• Refusing, running out, standing off, not making distances, knocking fences

• Not developing or losing topline

How often do horses need to have physiotherapy treatment?

Ideally, most ridden horses would be seen regularly by a physiotherapist. The frequency varies a lot depending on the horses age, management, confirmation, discipline, level of exercise and history of injury. An important part of being seen regularly by a physiotherapist is the assessment of the whole horse to identify any issues arising so that they can be addressed and an injury or loss of performance avoided.

(For more on what a session involves and the whole horse approach, click Equine Physiotherapy for further information.)

Some may only need once a year or every 6 months if they are not working hard, have good confirmation and managed well in terms of turnout, shoeing and saddle fit.

Horses who are working harder, are still maturing or are older usually need more frequent treatment. This can be every 2 to 3 months or more frequently for some.

Those who are competing regularly, particularly those at a high level, especially event horses, showjumping horses, dressage horses and racehorses, need to be seen at least monthly and often more frequently especially during more intense parts of the season or if an issue arises.

If a horse has a particular injury or post surgery, they might be seen very regularly in the acute phase and then at increasing intervals as they recover until when only regular maintenance sessions are needed.

What injuries or conditions can physiotherapy help?

Physiotherapy treatment can help to return a horse to comfort and better function in a wide variety of injuries or conditions. Often in this situation, we are working closely with vets and farriers to help the horse recover. Many times, these issues will have been diagnosed by a vet who may also have provided treatment and a rehabilitation plan. Depending on the case, physiotherapists can be involved directly in treating the injured area or else in addressing any secondary problems and helping the horse gradually return to exercise.

Some of the conditions or injuries that physiotherapy can help are:

• Conditions causing neck, back or sacroiliac region pain and dysfunction (including those that also need vet intervention)

• Tendon or ligament injuries (alongside vet input) and can include treating the injury directly or addressing the rest of the body to help recovery and prevent re injury

• Joint conditions eg osteoarthritis

• Nerve injuries such as radial nerve injury or Sweeney shoulder

• Postural dysfunction (including thoracic sling) which is causing pain and predisposing to injury or which is secondary to pain and injury

If you feel your horses would benefit from physiotherapy input or you have any questions, please get in touch. Contact details here.