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Unfortunately, like people, horses tend to injure themselves quite regularly. Whether this is during ridden work or playing out in the field, it is important to recognise the signs that your horse could display to indicate that they might be in pain and benefit from a Physiotherapy assessment. Signs to look out for include:

* Changes in behaviour             * Mounting issues          * Resenting being saddled         * Lameness           * Dislike being groomed * Schooling issues - hollowing in transitions, lack of lateral bend and straightness, in-correct canter lead, disunited  

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Once your vet has given consent, I will assess your horse and decide the length of in-patient rehabilitation suitable for your horses needs. Your horse then will be offered a maximum of 4 days and nights per week rehabilitation where they will be stabled on-site and receive approximately 2-3 hours of rehabilitation per day.  

Examples of conditions treated:

  1. Poll

  2. Base of the neck

  3. Withers

  4. Girth region 

  5. Carpus (knee)

  6. Thoracolumbar junction

  7. Lumbar Spine / Sacroiliac Joint

  8. Tuber Coxae (Hip)

  9. Tarsus (hock)

  10. Distal limb

Poll

Muscle tension in the poll can present as being ear/ head shy. Restriction in movement is common.

Poll

Base of the neck

Muscle spasm and restriction in movement is commonly found here. It is important for the horse to have good range of movement to be able to work the correct muscles when riden.

Base of neck

Withers

Muscle tension can commonly build up around the top of the scapular (shoulder blade). This can be secondry to lameness and can cause a restriction in shoulder movement.  

Withers

Girth region

Pain or increased sensitivity in this area can present as behaviour issues when girthing or asking the horse to work forward.

Girth

Carpus (Knee)

Pain in this area can arise from arthritic joints.

Knee

Thoracolumbar junction

This is the most common area to find pain in the horses back. It can present in many ways and can be caused by a multitude of things such as a poorly fitting saddle, general weakness in back, gleuteals and abdominals and conformation variations. It can also be a secondry problem if your horse has a hind limb lameness. 

Thoracolumbar junction
Lumbar spine

Lumbar spine/Sacroiliac joint

This is a common area to find pain and muscle spasm. It can cause behavioural issues when ridden and can be a secondry problem if your horse has a hind limb lameness.  

Hip

Tuber Coxae (Hip)

The hip joint in a horse is very deep and has a lot of overlying soft tissue. Muscle imbalances can cause the horse to present with tenderness over this area.

Hock

Tarsus (Hock)

The hock can commonly be a primary cause of back pain in horses. If the horse's gait alters as a result of hock pain this can cause secondary back pain. 

Distal limb

Distal limb

The forelimb and hindlimb have a large number of ligaments and tendons which can become injured. A strained tendon or sprained ligament may respond to ultrasound treatment (see treatment tab).

Abi Pearce - BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy, PGDip Veterinary Physiotherapy, MCSP, ACPAT A

Providing high quality and evidence-based treatment in the Human and Veterinary field

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