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Physical Therapy for Horses

The therapeutic value of massage has been proven through many years. We can now give horses the benefit of manual therapy as well, improving their performance through enhancing the bloodflow and optimising their movement.Different massage techniques are used on muscles that cannot relax out of their own accord anymore. Many of the muscle problems come from orthopeadic complications or are the results of an injury or illness. On the other hand the problems can arise due to overworking the horse. Every time we use muscles there are small tears that appear, which is normal, and it is important that enough time is allowed for it to heal itself again. When we then want to increase the performance of the horse,…

Shoulders

There are a lot of ways our shoulders influence our riding. If we think that we communicate with the horse by saying we want our shoulders to be parallel to that of the horse, that is only the beginning. In the accompanying video clip, you will see how the rider drops her inside shoulder when she wants to turn her horse. This is then followed by collapsing in her ribcage on the same side which then means she is putting more weight on the inside. The horse will follow suit by having more weight on his inside shoulder and then “falling” over that shoulder. The most automatic response of the rider is to try and correct the horse’s shoulder by…