https://www.facebook.com/345159303256319/

JT Veterinary Physio and Coaching

Home
United Kingdom
Aberystwyth
JT Veterinary Physio and Coaching

Veterinary physiotherapist and BHS Stage 3 coach based in Aberystwyth, West Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

01/03/2025

❗️STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING CLINIC ❗️

Last call for the clinic coming up on the 8th March!

🔹 Using gait AI software to observe your horse’s way of going
🔹 Talk through weaknesses and how to build strength without force
🔹 Learn techniques to relax and develop suppleness in your horse

We will also have a photographer to capture memories of the clinic 🥰

Message me to book on

24/02/2025

❗️REMINDER ❗️

Could all clients please fill in the onboarding form for your animals as soon as possible please!
This will ensure prompt appointment bookings!
Thank you ☺️

23/02/2025

The next training aids we’re going to discuss are…

💥SIDE REINS💥

Side reins have long been used to introduce a consistent contact to young horses, so that they develop feel of the bit. They do this by applying pressure on the bit when the horse is in an ‘incorrect’ frame! BUT…

❓ Do they release the pressure when the horse is in a ‘correct’ frame? Well let’s be honest, NO they don’t! Which suggests that wherever the horse puts their head, there is no release, therefore no reward! What is that teaching the horse?
To be honest, the only place where the pressure disappears from the side reins is if the horse tucks their nose behind the vertical, bracing through the neck and dropping their back 🤷‍♀️ Also what physically abled rider holds the reins down by their knees? So how is that contact going to be the same as a riders?

Side reins claim to develop balance and rhythmical gaits! Let’s have a look!

Again, like the majority of all other aids, they focus on head and neck position, restricting the movement. It has been shown in studies that if the head and neck of the horse are restrained in a higher position, that stride length and extension and flexion of the caudal back were significantly reduced (Rhodin et al, 2005).
This means that incorrect muscle groups are going to be used and the horse will be unable to find their own balance or develop strength.

They also claim to aid in development of a well-muscled top line…

A study carried out in 2009 by Cottrial and team showed that there was no increase in muscular workload from longissimus dorsi (main trunk carrier) when side reins were applied, so how do they help if they aren’t activating more work from one of the main spinal stabiliser muscles compared to no aid being used?

The only time that a side rein could possibly be helpful is if the horse being lunged is strong through their back and core, and actively working through towards the contact, and the side reins are there to stop them from collapsing onto the forehand, but to be honest, this could also be achieved through regular polework and hill work!
What is most worrying about the use of side reins is that horse owners do not how to correctly fit or use them❗️
This was shown by Gehlen et al, 2021. They found that half the participants in the study did not change the reins at all during the session. Some even over-tightened the reins, not even adjusting them when the horse started to display breathing issues!!!!

As always observe the pictures, note the way of going, note the muscle development, note the tightness of the side rein. In both pictures you can see weakness through dorsal neck musculature. The chestnut horse shows that an overdevelopment of the splenius muscle.
Prolonged periods of keeping the head in a forward, rotated, and downward position can cause this!

Again, I have included a picture of my old horse wearing side reins. With him I notice the short stride length, the nose being slightly behind the vertical and the lack of core activation. He is not trying to find the contact from the rein because horses don’t tend to move into pressure, they move away from it!

20/02/2025

Only three spaces remaining!!!!!
Book in now to avoid disappointment
🫶🏻

18/02/2025

Evening everybody!!
As I am hoping to move on to some new software to make the business easier to manage, I will be emailing out ‘onboarding forms’ to all of my existing clients. Please could you fill these in with as much info as possible, as soon as you can, to ensure that I stay up to date 🥰
I’ve been informed that the form might go into your junk folder so please check there if you haven’t received anything ☺️
If you are interested in getting your animal looked at then drop me a message with some info and I can hopefully get you booked in 🫶🏻

16/02/2025

There’s always a lot of opinions about training aids so I thought I would pick on one each time so I can focus more on the individual effects.

First up ……… THE PESSOA!

So taken from the website:
“Based on the principles of pressure and release, the Pessoa helps to place the horse in a better position to assist muscle build-up and increased use of the horses back muscles.”

The whole concept of the Pessoa forces the body of the horse into a position that it might not be strong to maintain, resulting in compensatory movements potentially leading to injury.

Like the majority of training aids, the Pessoa has an element of head and neck control. They talk about pressure and release but the only ‘release’ the horse gets when they tuck behind the vertical as you can see in all 3 pictures. When a horse constantly works behind the vertical, their muscle development is far from correct! A posture in which the poll is low and the head is behind the vertical is not natural for the horse. You can see over flexion between C2 and C3 which leads to an overdevelopment of the splenius muscle, resulting in weakness through other important neck muscles.

The Pessoa has to be used with a roller. It has been shown that a roller causes pressure points on the spine, and with the Pessoa attached, this pressure becomes greater than the amount that is thought to cause back discomfort (MacKechnie-Guire et al, 2018). This pressure would increase on a spine with poor musculature, so consider that. If your horse is rehabbing from an injury, the likelihood is that their spinal stabilisers would be weak. Adding a Pessoa workout into that rehab is likely to cause pain, and it has been shown to have a negative effect on longissimus dorsi which is a main trunk stabiliser. If the back is weak, it is likely that the core is weak, and with one of the big trunk stabiliser muscles being negatively impacted, everything ‘drops’ with no engagement.

The Pessoa also has been proven to affect whole horse locomotion. Walker et al (2013) has shown that animals ‘working’ in the Pessoa experience a reduction in speed, stride length, head angle and lumbosacral angle. When used on a horse with sufficient back musculature, the Pessoa does not increase the effort put in by longissimus dorsi so it begs the question why use it at all?

The ‘benefits’ stated on their website can be achieved without rushing the horse or tying their heads down, using polework, hill work and other methods!

As with everything to do with horses, every day is a school day and to show that we can all learn and adapt our way of thinking, I have added a picture of my own horse working in the Pessoa highlighting the issues that come from it.

What are your thoughts and experiences with Pessoa use?

15/02/2025

💚 CLIENT SHOUTOUT 💚

I don’t think I have met a more dedicated family than Casper’s. Casper was bought as a mother/ daughter share as a young horse, and couldn’t have got more lucky!
I started treating Casper in 2022 and quickly noticed that he had a big overdevelopment of his gluteals and hamstrings. We decided to treat him regularly and see if we could help him.
Unfortunately during that time Casper sustained a neck injury in the field which on investigation turned out to be a fracture of a facet joint. Whilst at the vets, they investigated his hocks and diagnosed juvenile arthritis and treated those (first pic 2023). He also managed to jump out of the field and damage nerves in his right shoulder.
Casper received weekly physio sessions in his recovery and has had a lots of ups and downs, but his family have done everything for him and listened to every bit of info that could help him. They have been more than patient and fully deserve the fun that they are having at the moment (second pic 2025) 💪🏻
Casper has completely changed over the last two years! The hindquarters are more even, the neck is developing correctly, and the shoulders are getting stronger!
I’m so proud to be, just a little bit, of his journey 🧡

14/02/2025

💥BOOKINGS NOW OPEN💥

DM to book in!!

For my equine strength and conditioning clinic!

🔹 Assess your horse’s gait symmetry using AI software
🔹 Find your horse’s weaknesses
🔹 Learn how to strengthen them
🔹 Learn some simple exercises and massage techniques to improve your horse’s way of going

🔶 £60 for 1.5 hr slots 🔶 Limited slots available 🔶

Location - Banc Y Pennau, Bow Street
Date - 8th March 2025

09/02/2025

🧘🏼 BALANCE PADS 🧘🏼

Balance pads are a really useful tool to develop strength and balance in your horse. They can stand on with 1, 2, 3 or all 4 feet depending on what area you are trying to help!
Standing on the unsteady surface of the pads requires your horse to make small adjustments to their posture to remain stable.

Benefits of balance pads include:
🔹 Improve joint stability
🔹 Activates core muscles thus improving core strength
🔹 Improves proprioception and body awareness
🔹 Develops a healthy posture as good balance requires good posture
🔹 Has a calming effect
🔹 Low intensity workout so prefect for any horse in good health

If you are interested in seeing how your horse would respond to the use of balance pads, then give me a message ☺️

08/02/2025

💥REMINDER💥

Just a quick reminder that my prices will be going up by £5 as of the 1st March 2025.
Thank you all for your continued support ☺️

30/01/2025

💥EQUINE STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING CLINIC💥

DATE: 8th March 2025
LOCATION: Banc Y Pennau, Bow St
PRICE: £60

🔹Come and discover whether your horse needs additional support to achieve top results!
🔹Exercises prescribed will be individual to each partnership to ensure that you have access and ability to get the best out of your horse!

✅ SPACES WILL BE LIMITED ✅

Please comment below to register interest, then closer to the date I will open up for payments to secure your space 🥰

28/01/2025

Let’s talk about the elephant in the room…….
🐘🐘🐘
LONG AND LOW!

At some point I feel like the concept of ‘long and low’ and what it is actually meant to achieve has been lost!
In basic terms, ‘long and low’ is the name given to the exercise of stretching the horse’s neck down towards the ground, whilst maintaining ‘lift’ through the shoulder and the whither, with the nose on or in front of the vertical reaching for the contact. A horse is able to do this when strong in self carriage.
As a coach, as well as a physio, I see a lot of horses that are nowhere near able to carry it out correctly, but other professionals are recommending it as a ‘strengthening’ exercise for them. This results in what you can see in the first picture!

First picture - the horse is not stretching correctly within the ‘long and low’ concept.
- IT IS ON THE FOREHAND!
- The whithers are slightly lower than the croup.
- The core is not engaged, resulting in a dropped back.
- The nose is behind the vertical, tucking away from the contact.
- Basically the horse looks like it is about to plough into the floor!
This horse is either not strong enough to carry out this exercise correctly, or the rider does not understand why we carry this out, and has taught the horse that this is the desired result 🤷‍♀️

Second picture - this horse is just starting to find self-carriage again after injury. Yes, he is not currently stretching all the way down to floor, but the neck is out away from the chest, and he is pushing up and out!
- The whithers are slightly higher than the croup.
- The core is engaged, meaning he can work more efficiently over his back.
- The nose is on the vertical.
- This horse has been hacking, carrying out polework in walk, and has been lunged with no gadgets. He also performs baited stretches daily!

Ok, so I know it’s hard to make very direct comparisons when one horse is in walk and carrying a rider, and the other is trotting on the lunge. BUT the point of my post is…..

‘Long and low’ is a fantastic way of visualising what we want to achieve HOWEVER, we also need to remember that it is a very challenging exercise for a weak horse.

I would like to put forward a new concept which can act as a precursor of ‘long and low’. The idea of ‘LEVEL AND OUT’, which refers to the neck being level with the whithers and the nose being out! This will hopefully ensure that riders understand what we are trying to achieve, by breaking it down into smaller chunks. This then leads on to the horse building the correct foundations so that they can succeed as you move up the scales of training, remaining in balance and self-carriage!

Rant over!!!!

24/01/2025

Gait assessment software coming in handy again today! On and off lameness, some explained, some not, on a growing 17.2hh 7yo Warmblood🐴 who has always struggled with his left canter!
Ran him through the software to get quantifiable answers, and noted compensatory lameness on the RF with the main source of the issue being the RH! The decision has been made to investigate the lameness further through the vet 🥼💉
Really interested to hear the vet’s opinion and get this big guy feeling comfortable 🫶🏻

22/01/2025

Wow! After a lot of interest for my clinic, I have a question ……

🔶 What days would suit best? Weekday or weekend? Specific days of the week would be helpful ☺️

Due to the time, there will be limited spaces but I am very open to holding many more throughout the year.

I am also open to arena hire recommendations for various areas so let me know if you have any preferences and I will see what I can do!

21/01/2025

Would anyone be interested in a clinic????

Would include:
🔶 A dynamic assessment on the straight and on the lunge with software analysis
🔶 A ridden assessment (if needed) OR a more in depth look at the horse moving on the lunge
🔶 A bespoke plan for your horse dependant on issues/weaknesses identified
🔶 Demonstrations of relevant polework exercises
🔶 Ways to develop proprioception
🔶 Exercises aimed to develop strength without the use of an arena

⏰ Sessions would be 1.5 hrs long

14/01/2025

💥 TUESDAY AVAILABILITY 💥

I am now able to open my diary up to physio appointments and/ or coaching on Tuesdays 🙌🏻

Get in touch to ensure your horse is feeling in tip top condition or if you need some motivation to achieve tour goals in 2025!

13/01/2025

🔶 RARE FRIDAY AVAILABILITY 🔶

05/01/2025

Welcome to 2025!

Learn a little bit more about JT Veterinary Physio ☺️

Address

Aberystwyth
SY23

Website

facebook.com

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when JT Veterinary Physio and Coaching posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to JT Veterinary Physio and Coaching:

Videos

💈POLEWORK💈🐶DOGGY STYLE🐶

“A dog stepping over obstacles, as in cavaletti, increases flexion of certain joints. This encourages a greater active range of motion and muscle strengthening through a greater range. In addition, body awareness and joint position sense are challenged by stepping over obstacles, especially if there are different rail heights and configurations.” - Darryl Millis 🔺Cavaletti can help burn off mental and physical energy when a long walk is not an option. 🔺Cavaletti strengthens muscles, challenge the brain, and helps build the dog-owner bond. REMEMBER WARM UP and COOL DOWN! Before and after the cavaletti session with a walk or pooch pushups! #animalphysiotherapy #animalmassage #canine #dogsofinstagram #minischnauzer #schnauzer #exercise #polework #doggydays #vetrehabbers #vetphysio

Some lovely releases from this expectant baby momma 🤰🥰 Today was all about making sure she was as comfortable as possible before she foals, which technically should be happening in 2-3 weeks time. Just some effleurage and very mild compression techniques where she was slightly sore, so that we don’t disturb anything or encourage her to foal before she’s ready 💪🏻

🔥 EPIONY HEAT PAD PLUS 🔥

A few clients have asked why I still use my @epionyuk heat pad in treatments even though it’s becoming quite warm! Here’s why…… 📍The heat pad gives off controlled temperatures so I know what temperature I am heating the areas. 📍I can vary those temperatures depending on what area of the animal I am treating and if the horse is clipped or hairy. 📍I can administer a known temperature for a certain amount of time, again depending on what and where I am treating. ✅ BENEFITS OF HEAT THERAPY ✅ 📍Heat dilates the blood vessels of the muscles. This increases the flow of oxygen and nutrients to the muscles, to help repair any damage. 📍Heat stimulates the sensory receptors in the skin. This decreases transmission of pain signals to the brain, partially relieving discomfort. 📍Heat therapy decreases stiffness, improving comfort and flexibility.

Another release thanks to LASER therapy! 💪🏻💪🏻

🌟🌟 THANK YOU 🌟🌟 2023 has seen massive growth for JT Veterinary Physio, and that is all down to my amazing clients! Running a business alongside a full time job can be very tiring and stressful at times, but seeing my clients progress whether it is from a physio perspective or coaching, just makes all the long and difficult days worth it! So thank you all! Now let’s see what 2024 has in store!! Happy New Year everybody 💛 Jen (& Ned) 🖤