Firstly, at the beginning of the session we will have a discussion that will involve bringing together information of: your horses history, concerns you may have, current condition, home environment, exercise levels and nutrition and short term/long term goals that you would like to achieve. This allows Shannon to fully understand your animal and enables an appropriate treatment plan to be created following assessment.

A full assessment of your horse will then be carried out statically and dynamically, allowing for a link between your horse’s posture when stationary vs when moving will be discussed.

Ridden or lunge work may be required for the horses.

Following the gait analysis, tissues and range of motion of the joints will be assessed. This allows for of areas of pain, inflammation, altered muscle state, altered range of motion and imbalances to be identified.

Depending upon findings during the assessment, treatment aims will be created and subsequent treatment will be carried out. This can involve a variety of treatment modalities will be used in order to improve muscle quality and joint range of motion. Horses are the master’s compensators: similar to humans, horses can adopt their posture and gait when pain or discomfort is felt meaning it can be all too easy for them to shut down the site of the pain and use other parts of their body instead. This means that sometimes issues can go unnoticed and where secondary problems begin to arise. SR Veterinary Physiotherapy will use a variety of techniques to treat the initial findings as well as prescribing a detailed remedial exercise programme to help re-educate your horse’s gait and posture.

• Massage
• Trigger point release therapy
• Myofascial release
• Kinesiology taping (Qualified kinesiology taping practitioner)
• Joint mobilisations
• Targeted, therapeutic stretches

A bespoke exercise prescription programme will be created and tailored to your horses’ individual needs. Each exercise will be demonstrated and practiced with you prior to Shannon leaving. This may involve the following:

• Pole work
• Stretches
• Ridden exercises (equine)
• Groundwork exercise (equine)
• Sit to Stand Exercises (canine)