Equine Rehabilitation Tips

Welcome to this weeks Blog...if you don't already know me, I'm Jenny Adamson, I'm an equine physiotherapist, rehabilitation specialist, spinal manipulation therapist and horse owner! 

I have worked with horses extensively throughout the rehab journey, into the long term management part of the process, and along the way I have learnt a huge amount about rehabbing horses, not just about their specific injuries, but about what goes wrong, what works, and I see the direct results of what happens/doesn't happen when the plans are followed/not followed. There are a lot of factors. 

So onto some tips...obviously these are generalised tips, you need to work with a team of professionals, specifically your VET and qualified VET PHYSIO to get your horse through rehab effectively and successfully. 

Look at the whole horse: it's easy to get really focussed on the injured area, looking for improvements there etc, and this is important HOWEVER the rest of the horse will have been compensating for pain/discomfort/restriction potentially for some time, so we need to consider how we rehab the injury/injured area, as well as how we REHAB THE WHOLE HORSE. So whether we are rehabbing kissing spine, or a tendon injury, step back to look at the whole horse as well as get the injury healed/rehabbed. 

If your horse continues to move in a hollow, crooked posture after kissing spine surgery/treatment, you are not rehabbing anything, you are continuing to reinforce negative posture. Just an example. 

Goals / planning: having everything written into your diary can make the process much more organised, and more likely to get done. Once you get past your initial rehab and once your horse has been signed off by the vets, you can enter a bit of a 'no mans land' where you're not back to normal work yet. This is a time to work out your next steps with your horse, and have it mapped out, to make sure your progress is steady and continuous. Basically, don't just go straight back to normal riding, there is a secondary period where you can really strengthen your horse after their initial rehab, so that you don't create any re-injury risk for your horse. We work on this extensively in the Strength & Straightness members group as it's such a crucial time for your horse. 

Consistency counts: it's what you do 80% of the time that makes the difference. Rehab is like an accumulative thing, the more days you achieve per week, the better results you will get with your horse. When rehabbing the horses back and core, we need to systematically and continually work on strengthening the core muscles to strengthen the back. When rehabbing a tendon, we need to systematically and continually work on gently strengthening the tendon fibres over time. Inconsistency at this point will negatively affect the results with your horse. 

Take advice from qualified professionals: there are many professionals working within rehab, I am one of them, we are fully trained, qualified, insured, and experienced at rehabbing horses. We do it for our work. Random internet advice is not specific to your horse, and is not necessarily coming from an experienced and qualified professional. This is SO IMPORTANT! Check out peoples credentials, are they qualified to advise you? Work with your VET and qualified VET PHYSIO to rehab your horse. Simple. And this is why I have set up so many groups, to support horse owners going through difficulties with their horses - I am qualified in equine rehabilitation so can support you. 

Short-medium-long term for your horse: injured tissue is never as 'good' as the original tissue, even though the body does an amazing job at healing, so working out a medium and longer term strategy for your horse after their initial injury is super important for the longevity of your horse and to reduce the risk of re-injury. My horse Azuro is now almost 5 years post kissing spine surgery, and I have various management and rehab/exercise regimes in place for him to keep him strong and supple, and always keep him loosely in rehab work, even now. In the long term part after injury, there's lots we can do to maintain our horses health, wellness and soundness! It's an individual combination of management, care, rehab and exercise to keep your horse sound and in work long term! Sympathetic exercise is one of the best ways to keep your horse strong, supple, and sound. 

I hope this post has helped, there is a huge amount involved in rehabbing horses successfully, it's a long process, with ups and downs, and it can be quite isolating and difficult. I can support you, I have been where you are, I found it really difficult to rehab my own horse, and it was a long and detailed process, taking up to around 18 months before he was fully 'operating' under saddle again. 

NEW EQUINE REHABILITATION SERVICES: take a look at my new Equine Rehabilitation page, I have brought together all of my rehab options onto one page, so my online consultations, the groups you can join, the full corrective exercise programme, and the ebooks and courses that will help you, so you can take your pick based on what you need. I'm always looking for ways to be able to support you with your horses. CLICK HERE FOR REHAB PAGE: Equine Rehabilitation

QUESTIONS? and if you have any questions, as always, you can get in touch with me through the CONTACT page here on my website.