Herts Horses Hydrotherapy and Physiotherapy Centre

27/10/2023

Busy week for Jess and Chloe on the physio side this week!

If you need to book in for physio this side of Christmas pop us a message as we are filling up! ☺️

**PLEASE REMEMEBR TO ENSURE YOUR HORSE IS DRY AND CLEAN ON THEIR NECKS AND BODIES FOR OUR ARRIVAL NOW THE WEATHER HAS CHANGED** we cannot treat efficiently when horses are damp! Rug up even if it’s a rain sheet please 😃🐴

Picture: one of my lovely event clients Dylan enjoy basking in the sun on Wednesday post treatment 🤍bloomfield.71

22/09/2023

I thought I would share this to all our followers!

Engagement is THE BIGGEST element I constantly go on about- and this doesn’t mean go faster!! Getting engagement takes time in training the horse, especially when the horse may not be naturally built for it e.g straight conformation in the hind limb joints, but we can always encourage engagement.

A lack of engagement could be due to lack of correct training, or is there is discomfort behind this will reduce the amount of correct engagement a horse is able to give.

But worth thinking about when you next get in the saddle! 😀

Have a great weekend!

COLLECTION TO COMBAT KISSING SPINES

Kissing spines seems to be the lameness du jour these days. I’ve seen a bunch of posts and articles on the subject lately. Here are a couple of my observations. Nobody in those posts talks about training proper collection by engagement of the hindquarters. Most only mention lowering the head/neck. The thoracic sling is not, does not, and can not lift up the front end of the horse. That’s the job of the hindquarters.

22/09/2023

What a transformation!!!! 😍

This mare arrived mid august and we said goodbye to her today, look at the difference!
This mare has had hydrotherapy 6 days a week including sessions using the belly bands.

Turnout daily, some stretches daily and just look at the difference!

Seeing is believing !!

Don’t believe the water treadmill can work wonders for your horse? Then just take a look at this 😍😍

14/09/2023

What we have to offer!!

We can offer so much more than just the water treadmill!

Maybe you are going on holiday abs would like your horse kept in work
Or you are struggling with rehabilitation of your four legged friend. WE CAN HELP!!

Get in touch with us for more information, we can’t wait to hear from you 🥰

31/08/2023

We have a couple of spaces becoming available for our livery option! 😃

Short term livery offer
Monday 4th until Thursday 7th September
Monday 18th September

Weekly livery/ long term livery
Availability from week commencing Monday 18th September! ☺️🐴

Get in touch to book!

23/08/2023

Always love treating all our clients! They all mean a lot to us to keep him feeling on top form!

This boy melts my heart every time I see him!

🫶🏼🫶🏼

31/07/2023

Tomorrow we say goodbye to one of our recent rehab inpatients- below is him on arrival and top is him today! Just look how much he has changed 🥰

We love seeing his little face over the door every day, of course Ellen had to get a cheeky photo with him before he departs 🥰

24/07/2023

If you don’t like needles look away!

But I thought this was a great video to show what is entailed with sacroiliac medication. I have a lot of clients who have this done with their horses (not that as a physio I send my clients straight to the vet route) but many horses to struggle in this area!

When we are trying to improve a horses way of going and muscle/ posture it is important to keep an open mind in whether a client needs help from their vet- if a horse is going through a pain cycle it may be necessary to break this cycle!

In a perfect world we wouldn’t medicate, but due to many external factors such as surface, work load, conformation, tack, farriery, denistry, not spotting early enough if your horse is off, riders, trainers- the list is endless if does mean that many horses are being medicated to make sure they are comfortable for the job that is being asked of them, whether that’s hacking or Grand Prix.

Do I think it’s right? No I don’t I think professionals should be more rigorous, take more care, ultimately do better, I think horses shouldn’t just be investigated when there’s a lameness, we should be identifying mild issues way before this. This may be picked up by your therapist, farrier, trainer, dentist, and then vets should be notified and it should be taken seriously- but in my experience this is very rarely the case 😣

So ultimately this is a necessity to keep our horses comfortable…. Which is the most important thing 🫶🏼

19/06/2023

Let’s take a look at the extensor and flexor tendons!

Tendons attach muscles to bones!

the extensor tendon runs down the front of your horse’s leg and extends (straightens) it
the flexor tendons run down the back of your horse’s legs and flexes (bends) it. There are two flexor tendons these are the superficial digital flexor tendon and the deep digital flexor tendon.

The superficial digital flexor tendon divides into two branches at the pastern, and crosses either side of the deep digital flexor tendon to attach onto the back of the long and short pastern bones.

The deep digital flexor tendon continues further down into the hoof, passing over the back of the navicular bone and attaching to the pedal bone. Both flexor tendons have their own check ligament, these anchor to the back of each tendon to the underlying bone, preventing them from overstretching.

16/06/2023

Such a super star on his first session! ⭐️🫶🏼🐴💦

06/06/2023

This week let’s look at the lower limb anatomy!

Here we have labelled the structures for you to have a look at :)

Do you recognise any?

Throughout the week we will discuss injuries seen within the area and how using the water treadmill can be really beneficial to those rehab clients!

Do you know common injuries to this area?