Joint Ventures Veterinary Physiotherapy

23/06/2024

How does this tyre relate to your horse?

Well, just as replacing the tyre increasingly frequently every time it over wears to a side will get expensive and won't address the problem, so will throwing quick fixes such as shims, dumping the toes and draw reins not address the source of the problem.

Ultimately fixing the symptom never solves anything for long. For instance, this car needs to go for correct balancing and wheel alignment THEN tire replacement to solve the cause.

Further examples of the more horse-like variety:

Muscle asymmetry implies the horse is not using the smaller (more atrophied) muscle, but by just focusing on strengthening the muscle, say adductor muscle asymmetry, we may miss the cause, which could be stifle ocd.

Hoof asymmetry could be dealt with by the Farrier take very little of the flatter hoof and more off the higher hoof but ultimately the higher hoof could be offloaded due to p3 extensor boney changes and not matter how often the Farrier comes, the asymmetry will persist.

Resistance to come on the bit may be addressed by stronger bits or gadgets, but ultimately the horse could be more resistant due to unskilled hands, tooth pain, osteoarthritis in the neck... The list could go on... And on...

But hopefully this is painting you a picture.

If you don't address the cause, you will almost always be coming back to square one addressing the symptoms.

26/05/2024

Your horse doesn't have collar bones...

And neither does mine, in fact, none of them do!

These muscles "sling" the ribcage to the forelimbs, for the aforementioned reasons.

This is particularly useful information if you are a rider looking to get your horse to work as effectively as possible (particularly while you are on their back.)

Believe me when I say, this engagement doesn't come easy if you don't know what to look for or don't have someone skilled to help you while riding.

The purpose of this post is aimed at showing you what can happen, what it might look like on an anatomical level and why symmetry is important.

The goal - engaged sling:

Light at the fore
Engages and “lifts” through the wither
Uses the back effectively
Offers collection
Effectively carries the riders weight
Generally will be more symmetrical

What we want to avoid / work away from

Disengaged:
Heavy on the hand
Excessive loading of joints and tendons of the forelimb
Difficulty engaging the hind quarter
Resists collection
Cannot effectively carry the rider
Sling Weakness
Generally will tend toward asymmetry

You will see this fairly often in riding school horses adapting to beginners who haven't learned how to effectively ride or ask for engagement yet.

Disengagement comes hand in hand with asymmetry (generally). And yes, there is some level of natural asymmetry in all horses, even in you and me. BUT. Because we are requesting an animal that wasn't originally planning on spending its life carrying us around a course of jumps, we have to take some responsibility understanding and learning to help this animal carry us. Generally we should be trending towards symmetry in the ridden horse as much as possible.

Asymmetry - caused by or results in:

Unequal forelimb loading (lameness or weakness)
Uneven hoof wear/loading
Obvious shoulder muscle imbalance behind the wither
Rotation of the ribcage
Abnormal joint loading
Saddle slip towards the weak side
Poor riding or training techniques

14/06/2023

Range of motion intimatel determines our horse's abilities and potentially longevity - great post here, check this page out for more great info.

Range of motion- use it or lose it!

One of the things I work on a lot at clinics is helping people and horses find a better range of motion. Many aren’t aware that their horse is choosing to move in the same patterns daily, and by repeating them, their muscles lose flexibility and range of motion.

Instead of focusing on just transitions from gait to gait, I like riders to focus on how many different kinds of walks they can get. This is usually very eye opening and proves to be more challenging than it appears initially- finding different lengths of stride within one gait, and exploring all the ranges of motion possible.

This opens up the horse’s back, allows the neck to relax as the hind legs take more weight, gets the shoulders swinging and really helps improve deep breathing, which are all essential to developing a topline and a healthy way of going.

28/05/2023

5 minutes on fundamentals of bridle fitting with a not-so-well fitting bridle and a well-fitting bridle.

In summary:
Head piece - should not be pushing into the base of the ears and lateral corner of the wing of the atlas
Brow band - should not be pulling cheek pieces forward and should not press upon the temporal(forehead) muscles
Cheek piece - top buckle should avoid pressing on the temporal bone and ideally be in line with the eye
Throat latch - 3 figures between the bottom of the gullet/soft palate area and latch, avoiding pressure on the edges of the mandible/cheek
Nose band - avoid the edge of the facial crest and be aware of nerve outflows in this region. Ensure a two finger space between the nose band and mandible as shown in the video.

Excuse some very rookie video editing 🙈

27/03/2023

Same same but different. Just because both saddle seats are 17.5 inch does not mean the saddles will fit the same horse and rider combinations. Such a good post!

20/02/2023

How well can you spot signs of pain or discomfort in your horse?

Karina B. Gleerup et al endeavored to investigate the existence of an equine pain face and to describe this in detail.

These are not your obvious expressions, such as pinning the ears or grinding teeth, these are more subtle signs that may give us indicators of discomfort sooner than we may normally observe. The application of being able to pick up on these behaviors would help horse owners to pick up on subtle discomfort early and possibly prevent pain, lameness or severe aversion behaviors down the line. It must be said that these indicators are subtle and may take some time and practice for the observer to accurately assess.

First of all, we must be able to identify a comfortable horse to be able to see the changes in an uncomfortable horse. These are shown in the first image and are identified by the authors as signs of a pain-free horse:
Relaxed jaw musculature
Rounded muzzle appearance
Interested ears
Muscles around the eyes relaxed

Now we have a base line of signs of a pain-free face, we can look for identifiers of the “pain -face”. There was also evidence to indicate a correlation between the amount of signs and severity of pain in the equines observed.
1. Lowering the ears
The distance between the ears increases and they are often lowered and turn backwards or are assymetrical.
2. Triangular eye
The look in the horse’s eye is tense and retracted. The muscles around the eye are tense and form a characteristic, triangular angle.
3. Enlarged nostrils
The nostrils become angular and dilated compared to the normal, elongated shape. Most obvious on inhilation
4. Edged muzzle
Increased tension is seen in the lips and cheek, which gives the muzzle a more angular shape.
5. Tense facial muscles
The muscles at the horse’s cheek and jaw become more tense and marked.
A horse in pain may show several of the above symptoms, and even for experienced owners these signs may take time to consistently identify. The researchers did find, however, that with practice most horse owners will be able to consistently and accurately pick up pain signs with their identification system.
For more information on how to identify the equine pain face and grab a free downloadable form of the equine pain scale, check out: http://www.southwestequine.com.au/the-equine-pain-scale/

11/02/2023

Repost from a while back, as I’ve had a couple of questions about similar topics 🥰 • A little diagram of common kissing spine locations and a few related compensations ⭐️

The study conducted by Clayton & Stubbs (2016) found that 70% of horses in the study had at least one spinal lesion that was graded moderate to severe. This study was conducted on 33 horses, but certainly does raise questions and concerns about the representation of our equine population with spinal lesions.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0737080616302787

08/02/2023

Spoil your horse this Valentines Day!

So, we thought we might embrace the Facebook and Instagram competition thing 😉

To enter:
▫️ Like this post on Facebook or Instagram
▫️ Share this post
▫️ Like the Joint Ventures Facebook and follow the Instagram page

Other info
▫️Competition Runs till the 13th of Feb
▫️One lucky winner will be picked from a hat
▫️ This competition only extends to horses in Harare
▫️ Treatment will include a full assessment and treatment with massage, vibration and laser therapy

04/02/2023

See what happens to the saddle and the horses back when we mount from the ground.

29/01/2023

Today we take a dive into warm up and the principles thereof.
🤔 First of all, why do we take the time to warm up our horses and what are the benefits? The current literature indicates that warm up will:

*Increase blood and oxygen to the muscles that are in use
*Dilate blood vessels to pump blood easier
*Increase mechanical efficiency
*Increased body temperature increasing elasticity in the muscles
*Improve mental preparedness

Additional benefits of the points mentioned above include preparation of the body for work, reduction of lactic acid accumulation in the muscles, delaying the onset of fatigue and a potential performance advantage over horses which have not been warmed up adequately.

☝️ How do we achieve adequate warm up? I like to implement the RAMP protocol developed by Dr. Jeffreys in humans - 1) Raise, where the aim is to raise body temp, heart rate, resp rate, blood flow and joint viscosity, 2) Activate key muscle groups, 3) Mobilize key joints and ranges of motion used in the sport or activity, 4) Potentiate, incorporate sports-specific activities using rising intensities. It is important to maintain this order as mobilizing or stretching before performing the aerobic portion of the warmup may cause more harm than good. Avoiding small circles and full collection to start allows the horses joints time to reach optimal mechanical function along with a slow progression of warm up to help the horses body adapt appropriately for exercise to come. Walk should be the starting point for all warm ups as it minimizes concussion to joints that are not yet warm.

🤷‍♀️ Finally, when do we warm up? Warm up should be implemented at the start of every exercise, even a good old hack. Weather will also determine the duration of warm up.

❄️In the cold - it is advisable to start with at least 10-20 mins at the walk - even better if you can start on the lunge with some large circles or long-ling to prepare the horse before introducing the weight of your body. Additionally warming your body will also be of benefit as we know that the horse’s body is a mirror to the rider’s body. A stiff, cold, inflexible rider will be uncomfortable for the horse.

🔥In the very hot weather, horses will need less time for soft tissues (muscle, tendon, ligament, etc) to “warm-up” in hot weather. You should aim to reduce the time you spend warming-up by around 50%.

In summary, A good warm up will last from 10-30 mins depending on weather and type of sport and will prepare the horse for work. Never assume that if your horse has been in the paddock that he is already warmed up for you to ride. Horses in their natural state move around with short bursts of energy followed by being still. This kind of movement does not prepare their body for the kind of consistent movement and energy expenditure we require when riding. Finally, always remember that we work horses with additional weight on their back, and therefore warm up cannot EVER be overlooked for the sake of the horse’s longevity.

28/01/2023

26/01/2023

Yesterday afternoon I had a fantastic meeting with and Dr. Karl Van Laeren of Borrowdale Park Veterinary Hospital. In this meeting we observed and discussed boney anomalies of the equine neck and presentations of neck pain in the living animal.

In the second image we have C6 followed by C7 with the C6 on the right missing a large percentage of bone. As classified by Sharon May Davis, this vertebra presents with equine complex cervical malformation. An exciting discovery for us and a first of the case in Zimbabwe.

In the third image we have an unusual foramen placement at C1, there was also joint surface changes at this vertebra which may have been the reason for the addition and unusual foramen (foramen are holes in bone that allow blood vessels to pass through)

And in image 4, we have some unusual presentations in the sizes of the facet joints with one surface being unusually larger than the other, indicating a level of instability.

We are all endeavouring to find out more about pathology at the neck, how to diagnose it and appropriate treatments going forward.