Figure 1. Two horses diagnosed with over-riding dorsal spinous processes, demonstrating antalgic posture and imbalanced muscle patterns.

Veterinary physiotherapy for back pain in the horse

Veterinary physiotherapy assessment of the back region follows a thorough history taking from the owner or rider, during which the clinical signs of back pain during riding and when not ridden should...

Figure 2. Dynamic mobilisation exercises: A Chin to knee; B Chin between fetlocks; C Chin to girth;and, D Chin to stifle. The horse is motivated, by using food bait, to move through a range of motion that results in cervical and thoracolumbar flexion (images A and B) and lateral flexion (images C and D). The intervertebral angles have been described by Clayton et al (2010 and 2012) and the effect on spinal muscle cross-sectional area by Stubb et al (2011) and de Oliveira et al (2015).

Physiotherapy for neck pain in the horse

Physiotherapy helps restore movement and function when an individual is affected by injury, illness or disability (Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP), 2020), with treatments structured around...

Figure 2. Horse working in a Pessoa training aid.

Equine training aids: can they really improve performance?

To be able to evaluate the impact of a training aid on a horse, we first need to define what constitutes a training aid and to understand the principles of training and rehabilitation, which underpin...