Rider Physiotherapy

At Pegasus we understand the demands of the different disciplines of riding but more importantly that you want to get back into the saddle ASAP! We also understand that you often want to improve your performance in competitions and we want to help you do that.

A rider physiotherapy assessment includes postural and movement analysis, as what you do on the floor you will most likely do when riding. It also includes assessment of joints, muscles, flexibility, strength and stability. We them discuss our findings with you and will create a treatment and rehabilitation plan for you.

You can have rider Physiotherapy when you are injured or in pain but also to help with things your instructor regularly tells you (mainly posture and symmetry!). If you are repeatedly told to correct the same thing you may not have the physical ability to maintain the position or movement asked of you. This is where a detailed Physiotherapy assessment can provide invaluable information to you. You also need to consider how your riding effects your horses movement as research begins to emerge showing correlations between riders in pain and lameness. Looking after yourself helps look after your horse as your optimise your relationship together.

Following your assessment and treatment you will receive an email with a breakdown of your current movement patterns and the corrections if they need some correcting or tweaking. Clear photographs of you doing your exercise will help you do them at home.

Equine Physiotherapy

Equine physiotherapy is appropriate for most ridden horses from the top level eventer to the happy hacker because having you on their back isn't easy! Horses are athletes which can get sore and tight muscles from exercising, discomfort from a tightly fitting saddle or injure themselves when horsing around. Being a prey animal means they are stoic and don't always show us obvious signs that they are in pain. This means that the owners can report anything from subtle to obvious movement or behavioural changes. Once lameness has been ruled out physiotherapy can then begin to try and reduce their discomfort, muscle tension, stiffness etc through manual therapy and rehabilitation exercises.

Most times just having a Physio MOT can show problems when the owner hasn't noticed any changes. That's why I recommend all horses in work should have at least 6 monthly appointments to stay in optimum shape along with regular saddle and teeth checks. Be proactive rather than reactive- don't wait for a problem to get the Physio out!

The Physiotherapy assessment will last 1-1.5 hours, we will assess movement in straight lines and circles (where possible) to gain as much information about their biomechanics as we can. We will then assess the horses flexibility and muscles before discussing with your the findings and the treatment plan. You will be given specific exercises to do and advice on management where appropriate. If, after the assessment, we feel the horse is lame we will not treat the horse and will recommended a veterinary assessment: only vets are allowed to diagnose and treat lameness.

Unlike in our human practice, where you can self refer and not need the Doctors consent, The Veterinary Surgery (Exemptions) Order 1962 only allows for the treatment of animal by physiotherapists provided that the animal has first been seen by a Veterinary Surgeon. This doesn't mean that you can't self refer and book an appointment with Pegasus but it does mean we have to have consent from your Vet prior to the physiotherapy assessment. We can contact the Vet on your behalf or you can download our consent form to discuss with your Vet. ?There are lots of different equine practitioners that can treat your horse, some with qualifications and others with none. It is always advised that you check the qualifications of the person treating your horse to make sure they have the correct insurance. As a member of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Animal Therapy we have to adhere to and maintain high professional standards in both human and animal practice.