HYDROTHERAPY
A horse standing in the cold water spa.
Ahorse walking in the watertreadmill.
EQUINE HYDROTHERAPY FOR REHABILITATION
Y
ou mayhaveheard it suggested that your horse might benefit from hydrotherapytohelp with his rehab,indeed, it
mayevenhavebeen your vetthathas referred youtoanequine hydrotherapy centre, but whyshould youconsider hydrotherapy? Howwill it be helpful to your horse?Hydrotherapycertainly has its placeinrehabilitation programmesbut mustbeused correctly to ensureoptimal results. It is, therefore, imperativethat youare well informed and youconsult a reputable equine hydrotherapycentre. Described beloware three common conditions
that maybesupported by hydrotherapy but please don’thesitatetocontactthe experienced hydrotherapyteamatMoulton College Equine TherapyCentretotalk through your horse’sindividual requirements. At what point in the rehabplan
should youinclude hydrotherapy? We firstneedtoconsider at what stage of
injury the horse is at, as thereare three main modesofhydrotherapy–cold watersalinespa, watertreadmill, and swimming that areuseful at different stagesofrehabilitation. Let’sconsider three of the mostcommon injuriesweare asked about and howthe different hydrotherapiesmay help in ahorse’srehabilitation programme…
SCENARIO 1: Your Vethas diagnosed your horse with
apartial tear to atendon in alowerlimb
and has prescribed aperiod of boxrestin order forthe tendon to repair itself.
RECOMMENDED HYDROTHERAPY:
Cold WaterSaline Spa. This is wherethe freezing cold salt waterjacuzzi comesintoits own. It is like standing in the seaonawinter’sday!Ithas been showntobepreventativeoflowerlimb injuriestoo, but is mostoften used in the acutestage of an
injury.The freezing saltywater reduces inflammation and has been evidenced to heal injuriesfasterand better than what aperiod of boxrestwould do,but preferably should be used up to three timesaday, so ideally horsesshould be staying at the spa’s location in order to makethe mostofit. However, the spa environment really does not suit all horses as it canbequitespookyespecially forthose that are particularly freshorsharp or that dislikestanding still! No other mode of hydrotherapyshould be used at this point. When your Vetsaysitisok foryour horse to startwalk work, that maybe the time to get them walking on awater treadmill with only avery minimal amount of water.
SCENARIO 2: Your vethas diagnosed kissing spines(this
maybemild or severe)and hasprescribed (regardless of surgery options)thatyour horse needs to work better overits back.
RECOMMENDED HYDROTHERAPY: Watertreadmill. The watertreadmillcan be used
very effectively postkissing spinesdiagnosis whether or not the horse has had
surgery.Vetsoften prescribe lotsofwalk exercise forhorsespostkissing spinesdiagnosis and so walking on awater treadmill offersstraight-line,controlled exercise encouraging the horse to use itscoremusclestobalancewith the added effectthat atinyamount of watermakes the horse pick their feet up higher which creates greaterengagement of the hind limb and flexion overthe whole back as the horse is also encouraged to stretchtheir nose down towardsthe water. The watertreadmill is really suitable at all stagesof rehabilitation and programmescan be engineered from the firstexercise after aperiod of boxrestupto and beyond the horse having their saddle back on.
SCENARIO 3: Your horse has suffered with laminitis in the past
and is prone to weight gain but ground conditions makeitdifficult to getany real canter work in as it’s toomuddy or quickly getstoo hard.
RECOMMENDED HYDROTHERAPY:
Swimming. This is wherethe pool canbemost effectiveasswimming offersacardiovascular calorie burning workout with much reduced concussive forcesthrough the feet and limbs. However,horses really should have no back issuestoreally benefit from swimming and be otherwise reasonably level, as acrooked horse overground is very often acrooked horse in the pool! Horsesthat arevery unfitmay only cope with afew short lengths of apool toountil theylose some weight and gain abit more fitness.
Ahorse entering the swimming pool. 48
The Equine TherapyCentreatMoulton College APRIL/MAY2021For
thelatestnewsvisitwww.centralhorsenews.co.uk
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