Physiotherapy Assessment and Treatment of the Equine Forelimb
Introduction[edit | edit source]
Physiotherapists do not play a significant role in the management of horses with forelimb injuries. Usually these animals will require veterinarian intervention - any soft tissue involvement that physiotherapists can help to manage is often compensatory.
This page will discuss key considerations for the animal physiotherapist, including the importance of working closely with the multidisciplinary team (i.e. veterinarian, farrier, rider), the need to obtain a thorough history, as well as the basics of assessment and physiotherapy interventions.
Physiotherapy Assessment[edit | edit source]
Once the horse has been given a diagnosis by a veterinarian, the equine therapist needs to obtain a full history of the patient’s presenting condition. This will provide important information about the horse’s level of disability, time-line and progression of the condition, and any past history that is relevant to the current presentation.[1]
Questions to ask include in the subjective interview are:[2]
- When did the horse go lame?
- How lame is the horse?
- What interventions have been tried so far, including medications?
- What occurred in the lead up to the injury? (including training, shoes, boots, surfaces, supplements)
- What type of work does the horse do? What is the horse’s expected level, schooling, breeding, and training programme?
- Have there been any changes in saddles, bridles etc?
- Does pain / lameness improve when the horse has warmed up or does it get worse throughout the ride? Is it worse on small circles or with a change of direction?
- Are changes more subtle? (e.g. loss of height in piaffe / passage, dropping foot over bigger fences, changing lead at gallop)
It can be useful to also discuss the patient’s history with its grooms, and handlers - particularly when attempting to determine what other interventions the animal has received.[2]
While obtaining the subjective history from the owner, the therapist is also able to observe the horse’s demeanour, behaviour, condition, conformation, gait and posture.[1]
