This is a comprehensive evaluation that occurs during my first visit with your horse. Physical therapists are trained to analyze the biomechanics of the body which includes observing alignment or any asymmetries of the body and identify how the body compensates for these irregularities. Details observed and measured during this process include, but aren’t limited to range of motion, muscle length or flexibility, joint capsule mobility, signs of pain, gait pattern and lameness.

Advancement of a monofilament needle into the muscle area that is producing pain and typically containing a trigger point. This is an effective treatment for acute and chronic pain, rehabilitation from injury, and even pain and injury prevention with very few side effects. This technique is unequaled in finding and eliminating neuromuscular dysfunction that leads to pain and functional deficits. - Kinetacore

This is a broad category in physical therapy that includes joint mobilization, soft and deep tissue massage and mobilization, cupping, kinesiology taping, passive stretching, range of motion, and myofascial release techniques. All of these techniques have the goal of decreasing pain, restoring normal tissue function and mobility in order for the horse to perform at it’s best.

Therapeutic exercise is a wide range of physical activities with the goal of restoring, maintaining, or improving strength, endurance, flexibility, stability and balance. The activities chosen are specific to each horse to improve it’s ability to perform at the highest level in it’s specific discipline.

This is an important technique after any injury or surgery and with an animal that has a diagnosed neurological dysfunction. These techniques help to improve the horse’s ability to know where it’s body is in space, how to react to different footing or surfaces and how to maintain appropriate muscular stability in all situations. These techniques are used in human PT frequently after surgeries as well as with high level athletes to improve their agility and reduce the risk of injury.

There are many kinds of electrical stimulation used in physical therapy, but with horses some of those are difficult because they are unable to communicate with us how it feels. Commonly used e-stim on horses is neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) which is used to rehab muscles after injury or surgery to improve the muscle’s ability to contract. An example of an injury this would be very beneficial is a “Sweeney” which is damage to the suprascapular nerve. This nerve damage causes muscle atrophy to occur and NMES can help to slow atrophy as well as assist to regain muscular strength in this region.

Evaluating saddle fit is necessary to complete when looking at the horse’s biomechanics and symptoms. Everything can change when a saddle is added to the picture and in some cases negatively affect the horse’s ability to achieve a normal gait pattern or movement patterns. Education on this topic can help you understand where to place the saddle, what saddle fits your horse best and what changes could be made to improve the comfort and function of your horse.

This is an important factor if a horse is injured, had surgery or is healthy but is preparing for it’s upcoming season of competition. Human rehab has been guided and appropriately advanced by physical therapists for many years, but this has been a large component missing for horses to achieve the highest level of performance. Based on the veterinarian’s treatment, a rehab protocol can be established to help advance the horse safely through each phase allowing for appropriate tissue healing while maintaining strength and stability throughout the body. Protocols help to determine when a horse is ready to advance to the next phase safely and has the goal of reducing re-injury and decreasing risk of additional injury when returning to it’s discipline.