Written by Debbie Busby MSc CEBC ABTC-CAB CCAB, Clinical Equine Behaviourist 

Help - you and your horse are not on the same page!

You’ve spent months diligently following vet and physio advice to rehabilitate your horse through a physical problem such as kissing spine, PSD or an acute bout of laminitis, and you’ve finally got the all clear to start work again.

But your plans of getting started on light hacking, or easy school work, are thwarted when your horse tells you in no...

In my work as an Equine Physio & Rehabilitation Specialist, I look at the whole horse as well as the injury site in terms of rehabilitation. I am also qualified as a Spinal Manipulation Therapist so adding all of my skills and experience in together gives me quite a unique view of horses, that I like to share with horse owners to help them understand their horses better. 

So is 'kissing spine' a whole horse issue? My educated, experienced opinion...YES undoubtedly. And for lots of...

The further I have gone into depth with developing my core strengthening system for horses, the more I have weaved it into absolutely everything that I do and teach, so that whatever activity I'm doing with my horse Azuro for example, I'm always working on ways to engage and strengthen his core. 

If I have it weaved into all types of exercise, it's not just a case of 'doing a core day', because I'm working on it all of the time. 

Azuro had kissing spine surgery 5 years ago (see last...

The long term management part of kissing spine with horses is a lot about mindset, and about being adaptable to the individual horse...and working out an ongoing exercise, rehab and management system for your horse. NOT going back to 'normal' and assuming the issue has gone away...is hasn't. 

As an equine physio, rehab specialist and spinal therapist, I went through the 'kissing spine' journey with my own horse Azuro, almost 5 years ago. And the learning that I went through at that time...

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...

There is a definite grey area with horses...in between good/sound/all ok and lame. And the grey area is the 'not quite right' area. And it's where I work a lot, with the posture and movement improvement work that I teach. Many of my training group members find me and ask for my help because their horse is a bit stuck, or they just can't quite get back to ridden work. 

Here's what I see and have experienced...

Horses that have had an injury/some sort of issue, been through the vets and...

Things go wrong with our horses from time to time...and it can be a really difficult time to navigate, if they are in pain especially. Sometimes it's obvious, sometimes not so much. Sometimes it's only you that can see/feel/sense that something isn't quite right with your horse, because you know your horse so well. 

Subtle lameness is one of the difficult areas with horses...everything seems ok, but they have a couple of 'off' days, or a few 'odd' steps, or don't seem their usual self,...

I have been working with horses with Kissing Spine for a number of years, and still continue to learn more and more about it, especially as new research is done into various parts of the condition and the rehab process. 

For me, looking at the evolution of the horse, the anatomy of the spine, and considering gravity, the negative effects of domestication, and rushed breaking / training processes...it seems that Kissing Spine is a possibility for all horses. 

So if it's a possibility...

Exercise Rehabilitation might sound like a scary phrase (!) especially when we are doing post injury rehab, BUT we can use exercise rehabilitation in all sorts of positive ways, for all sorts of issues whether injury related or not, and we can use it in the 'improvement' phase too which is where I work a lot...posture and movement improvement is my piece! 

So we can think of exercise rehabilitation as a way of getting from A to B so to speak, with our horses. And it's all about planning,...