Joined Up Rehab
Assessment
It is essential to hear all about your horse, so this means your views on his behaviour, his habits in the stable, in hand as well as any evasions when he is working.
Then his posture, his gait, his joint range of movement and areas of pain can be assessed to try and understand why he uses the movement strategies he has chosen. Some of these strategies may be because of his conformation, but some may have developed due to his training, tack , foot balance or on going pathology, commonly a combination of many factors.
I will work with you to identify the movements which are causing the functional issues and develop a problem plan which will inform any treatment advised. The plan may include consulting another professional if this is in your horses best interests.
Treatment and Care
This will be directed by the assessment to either unravel the reasons for the poor movement patterns adopted by your horse or directly to treat any strain or pain caused by the poor movements.
Often a horse will develop pathology (injury or disease) somewhere completely different in his body from where the compensatory movement occurs. E.g.This is often why a vet will be treating a hock issue when the physio is treating the lumbar spine and the farrier concerned about the front foot balance.
In truth they are all connected and in most cases all of them will have to be addressed before the horse can be fully rehabilitated.
I will use a combination of electro and manual therapy to treat and then prescribe appropriate exercises.
Usually I will give you exercises to continue between my visits but I will always check your horse can achieve these easily before I leave.
In all cases each treatment or care plan will be explained to you fully before we start, and you will be given an estimate of what we can achieve and how many visits may be needed.
This is a great place to add a tagline.
Rehabilitation
This includes a bespoke programme of exercises and treatments that will build your horse up to the maximum performance level he can attain by using many short term goals to reach the long term goal you set yourself.
This may be closely monitored by me, another professional or it may be more a case of you monitoring progress yourself if you are confident enough to call professional help when required.
I am also realistic and will tell you if I think your horse is unlikely to win the Grand National or Badders despite an optimal care plan!
A Fresh Look
Equine rehabilitation and long term maintenance has been my passion over the past 40 years however I know sticking to a long term plan can be frustrating at times tempting a change of plan and /or team. Very occasionally this can be the answer but more often radical change just when you need your trusted team around can be confusing and detrimental. Having been involved in the education of over 500 physiotherapist worldwide I already have a relationship with many of the therapists working today.
If you or you therapist would like a fresh pair of eyes looking at your horse I am always happy to work with your existing team to give a second opinion on possible physiotherapy pathways.
In these cases I work closely with your regular physiotherapist only as long as is necessary and charges are the same as my usual clinical hourly rate plus travel.
Clinical Services and Charges
I always work with appropriate veterinary consent when required, not only because this is the great way to get the best and most cost effective plan for your horse but it is the law. Recent clarification of the legislation means for healthy horses receiving performance care Veterinary referrals are not required but I will always report any concern back to your vet and you agreeing to this is one of my conditions of service. *For full terms please see Service Terms and Conditions
I generally take clinical appointments on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays and have appointments from 8.30am –5pm, within the radius detailed below.
Out-patient visit area: From WERC to North Berwick, Dalkeith, Pathhead , Lauder, Earlston, Kelso, Coldstream, just south of Berwick.
Horses can be seen at WERC as out-patients and if coming a distance we can supply stabling with the owner caring and bringing all food, bedding (to go over mats), feed and other equipment for their horse.
There are various B+B options in Dunbar or stay on site in your lorry.
Prices: Prices include assessment, treatment , documentation, communication with other professionals and on going explanatory documentation. Some extra charges maybe made if in-depth reports are required for litigation or insurance cases.
Individual horses £65 plus travel. Travel will vary depending on how many people I am seeing in your area, but will usually be between £10/£25 in addition to your base line fee.
Woollands Equine Rehabilitation Centre
Stackyard
Oldhamstocks
Cockburnspath
East Lothian
Scotland
TD13 5XW
Tel: 07974726359