Equine Physiotherapy
Horses are asked to perform in a variety of disciplines, all of which influence their bodies in different ways.
They have an exceptional ability to mask discomfort which can lead to a spiders-web of compensations resulting in poor performance or injury.
It is important to ensure every horse, whether it be your happy hacker, riding club mount or 3-day eventer, moves freely and is fit for the job being asked.
Our Equine Physiotherapy services are available across Central Scotland where we travel to you.
To book an appointment or discuss your horse’s needs, please get in touch.
When can Equine Physiotherapy help your Horse
Injury / Surgery Recovery
Following injury or surgery, equine physiotherapy can form a key part of the rehabilitation programme to aid your horse’s recovery and return to fitness.
These cases require veterinary referral where we will liaise closely with your vet on treatment requirements and progress.
Poor Performance / ‘Not Quite Right’
This can manifest in a multitude of ways from lacking impulsion to changes in behaviour. You know your horse best and when something doesn’t feel right, it often isn’t right. Equine Physiotherapy can help with early detection of problems and allow us to adopt a pro-active approach to addressing these.
Equine Athlete
Physiotherapy is an essential element to include in any competition programme to help optimise your horse’s athletic potential.
The Older Horse
Like us, our horses can begin to feel the aches and pains that come with age. Equine physiotherapy can help relieve these aches and pains to help maintain their mobility and quality of life.
FAQs
We will initially obtain the horse’s history and information from the owner before assessing the horse both at stance and moving. The movement assessment usually consists of the horse being walked and trotted up in a straight line and asked to turn in both directions. This assessment may require further movement observations on the lunge or ridden depending on the individual horse. A full hands-on assessment of the horse is then carried out and any problem areas identified. Following this, a physiotherapy treatment will be carried out. After the treatment, a home exercise plan will be tailored to your horse’s requirements where additional recommendations or a future plan may also be discussed. Detailed notes of each visit are kept by JF – Vet Physio and will be communicated to your referring vet where required.
- Horses should be indoors / under cover out of the weather.
- Horses should be clean and dry.
- A competent owner/handler should be on hand to assist with the gait analysis – this is where the horse will be walked / trotted up and (if appropriate) lunged or ridden.
- Horses should not be actively exercised up to 2 hours before an appointment.
- Assistance in gaining access to the property is recommended to help minimise surface handling.
Many horse insurance providers now offer cover towards physiotherapy treatment. Each insurance company is different and so it is important to check your own individual policy. Physiotherapy treatment can often be referred to as ‘alternative’ or ‘complimentary’ treatment within insurance policy wording. Insurance cover for physiotherapy treatment will require veterinary referral.
The regularity of equine physiotherapy treatment depends greatly on the intensity and type of work being undertaken and any previous injury, illness or disease the horse has had. Some cases may need weekly or twice weekly visits until the injury has healed; Some horses in light work may only need checked over twice a year; Competition animals may need monthly visits…
The best way to find out what would work for your horse is to get in touch and discuss each horse as an individual.
In short, yes. JF – Vet Physio pride’s itself in working in close collaboration with referring vet practices and therefore whether your physiotherapy treatment is for competition, maintenance or remedial care, veterinary consent is required.
We ask that you contact us as soon as possible if you find yourself in need of changing or cancelling and appointment. Cancellations made with less than 48 business hours notice will be charged for the appointment in full. The only exception to this will be at the discretion of JF – Vet Physio.
Our Business Hours are annotated in our ‘Contacts‘ website tab
Payment can be made by cash or bank transfer.
Initial appointments are asked to be paid in advance with follow up appointments being due on the day of the appointment.