Physiotherapy
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I worked at the Queen's West Ilsley stables for 10 years until Lord Huntingdon handed in his training license in 1998 and during that time I was involved with many good horses including Enharmonic, Indian Queen, Unknown Quantity,Drum Taps, Phantom Gold, Penny Drops and many more.
My intention is to try and give you an overview of equine therapy and explain why I feel it is so important for racehorses to receive regular treatments together with a summary of the treatments I can offer.
The need for equine physiotherapy has gradually become more accepted by professionals and although it has been a long and sometimes painful process the majority of veterinary surgeons and racehorse trainers now use therapy as part of their treatment regime.
Equine Physiotherapy is a special need created by performance horses.
After being pushed the body needs to recover fully from the effects of fatigue - an effective rest period is essential. However if that rest period is incomplete for whatever reason the body is less able to cope with the stress of training, performance drops and the body goes into a decline. Many trainers would react by extending the rest period, for instance turning the horse out to grass for an extra few weeks, but although this may be helpful it is not always the answer. An incomplete recovery may only become evident when the animal is later put under performance stress. Any minor injuries caused by overuse or overstress will soon become apparent either in the form of a more severe athletic injury such as a stress fracture or tendon rupture or in the overall performance of the horse throughout the race, lacking confidence over a fence, afraid to break from the stalls or 'let himself down in a race' or 'running too free' and losing trust in the rider. At this point the horse is vulnerable and an injury or accident is waiting to happen.
Training horses involves inducing a certain amount of controlled stress and exertion in order to achieve fitness.
It is a repetitive stress but the problem is if you push too little you don't achieve the required level of fitness and if you push too hard you cause pain. Maximum effort equals pain and body abuse, muscle tightening, resistance to motion and compensations in gait coupled with increased loading on other areas of the body. All these things are what an athlete or a trainer are constantly trying to guard against but the problem with the horse is that they cannot talk and often by the time that compensations and changes in movement patterns become apparent the damage is done.
Remember often it is the insidious, slowly progressing problems that eventually lead to loss of performance and injury.
Muscle tightening does not remain isolated but transmits from one muscle group to another, for instance tight shoulders can pass to the upper arm, on to the digital flexor muscles and finally cause tendon breakdown. What starts out as a minor problem of tired muscles becomes a major injury that can take months to repair.
This is where the Equine Therapist can be so useful particularly where the horses are regularly checked and treated so that the 'normal' state soon becomes quite clear and any abnormality is very quickly picked up.
By using a trained and experienced pair of hands and eyes the therapist can work with the trainer, the vet, the lad and even the jockey to pick up any abnormalities that may have occurred.
Types of Treatment Being around the horses in our yard and getting to know them all personally including riding on a daily basis them I have a huge advantage over an outside practitioner who may visit once a week or fortnight.
I use my eyes and my hands as my main tools and although I would prefer to think of myself as a horse listener rather than a 'whisperer' it is true that by gently palpating the horse's body with my hands it is possible to have a two way conversation with him. Once I have gained his confidence I can learn a great deal in a very short space of time just by working quietly around him and seeing how he behaves around the stable. I am looking out for many small clues and signs that will tell me more about the state of each particular horse. These include restlessness, constantly changing position and uneven weight distribution. Changes in expression, altered habits, even a well- mannered horse becoming bad tempered and so on.
Apart from these visible signs by using my hands to palpate I am able to pick up muscle tightening and tensions, adhesions, scar tissue, congestion and stiffness caused by stress or injury. I can pick up information about the effects of each training session and assess any changes in the soft tissues.
MASSAGE is my main treatment and I feel often the most effective particularly in young racehorses that need the confidence that touch can give. In many cases I would use massage as my first and main treatment coupled only with basic stretching and soft tissue mobilisations.
However I can back up this ancient therapy with many modern techniques and machines that can enhance and often speed up treatment times and recovery.
ULTRASOUND, LASER, ELECTROTHERAPY AND MAGNETIC FIELD THERAPY are all very useful modalities which can be used with great effectiveness in trained hands.
It is important to remember that even with a good veterinary team and a therapist on site there are some conditions that we cannot help and which are the direct result of immature bodies being put under undue stress which only time will heal. A good trainer will recognize when a two year old is growing and needs to be 'backed off' even though the owners might be pressing for that horse to run. It is a hard and competitive world in racing but young bodies frequently need to be able to remodel and mature without the stress of over-training.
Muscle tightening will often occur as the body tries to compensate for increased stress and loading on an immature frame. It is important to be able to recognize the difference between primary and secondary muscle tightening and this is another reason why good veterinary back up is essential.
Finally it is perhaps true to say that the best riders may not always be employed in racing yards and sadly the Racing Schools do little to promote the correct seat and use of the aids other than to steer and gallop.
Many horses would benefit from a few weeks being long-reined or lunged and learning to carry themselves in the most economical and effective way rather than being allowed to 'scoot' along with their heads in the air.
Here at Hambleton House Stables we try to employ traditionally taught riders who ride with a good length of leather and teach the horses to carry themselves in a balanced way thus reducing the risk of injury on the gallops.
Certainly there are occasions when either Bryan or myself will take a horse off the gallops for a few days and give him a quiet spell of flat work in order to re-establish correct movement patterns and balance. These few days out of full training can provide huge benefits later on.
Other Therapies
Over the years I have been privileged to work alongside and learn from other practitioners and have undertaken further study courses in order to improve my knowledge and the therapy treatments that I can offer the horse.
I am absolutely amazed by the effects of some of the more 'fringe' therapies particularly Aromatherapy, Hands on Healing and Craniosacral Therapy and now incorporate these on a daily basis as part of a holistic treatment given to the horse.
If you would like to know more about my work as an Equine Therapist please email me at vicky@bryansmart.plus.com