News & Articles

Veterinary thermography is becoming very popular and I am a big fan of it especially for horses with non-specific difficult to diagnose lameness, multiple limb lameness, to determine if a horse is in pain, or to monitor rehabilitation and treatment.  However, there are some thermographers, physio’s, physical therapists, vets, companies etc. out there using industrial instead of medical/veterinary grade cameras, or even worse a thermal camera that attaches to a smart phone. 

Having completed some thermography training myself I understand this is simply not acceptable for many reasons.  These cameras are not specifically designed for physiological testing, they are not calibrated for measuring metabolic heat (which has a very narrow temperature range), which means they are not accurate or sensitive enough to provide useful information.  The images are not taken by someone specifically trained to get the best images to see problematic areas. The images produced need to be interpreted by a veterinarian that has been specifically trained to report on these images as a ‘hot spot’ is not necessarily related to the area they are seen on the image, due to the heat following the metabolic and neural pathways. A vet or other person not specifically trained to interpret the image may start trying to self-diagnose and treat from the image which could cause serious harm to the horse and neglect of the area with the actual real problem, which obviously poses a serious welfare issue.

For my clients I only ever recommend Syncthermology for all veterinary digital infrared thermographic imaging.  They are the only company using medical grade cameras in the UK, the only company that performs a stress test as standard, their technicians taking the images are highly skilled to get the best images, they have their own veterinary surgeons specifically trained to interpret and fully report on the images.  These results and veterinary reports will include objective opinion, recommendation and information that will assist your own vet in making a diagnosis, in selecting further diagnostic tests if required, helping them to select treatment options and monitor recovery.

Thermography is a great tool in the right hands!!  For more information see http://www.syncequine.com/ and please do not let someone with an industrial camera or smart phone app take thermal images of your horse, it may appear to be a good low cost option but chances are they have no idea what they are doing or what they are looking at!

For anyone in the North West region that wants to know more the Sync North West Team will be attending the Joanne Shaw Equestrian working hunter Clinic on Saturday 13th February.  They will be holding demos throughout the day and the team will be happy to chat to you about the services they provide, and I will be there too.  The address is Joanne Shaw Equestrian, Red House Farm, Barkers Hollow Road, Preston-On-The-Hill, WA4 4LL.

We did our first camp with Kirsty Edwards from Fit2Ride on the weekend of 14th August 2015 at her yard in Nantwich. Great fun was had by all along with lots of learning.  This camp was focussing on core work for rider and horse. Participants began with group equipilates with Kirsty, then a painted horse demo with me where we did a bit of anatomy and physiology, hopefully not too much to bore participants to death, but enough to give a basic understanding for when we moved on to the next section based in the class room where I taught some of the foundations for keeping their horses back and musculoskeletal system in good condition, & theory behind the practical in the afternoon. In the practical participants learned how to check their horses back, how to check their saddle fit and carrying out some basic massage and stretches  for their horses to help keep them in top condition, and they practised these on their own horses.  Kirsty did individual mounted pilates sessions  then she did a mobility, breath and relaxation group session for the riders.  For tea that night we all went to a gorgeous local pub the Combermere Arms for some top nosh.
In the morning Kirsty began with individual postural assessments, then I gave individual lessons on using ridden pole work to engage the horses core, then I continued this theme in the next group session of teaching the participants how to use ground work and pole work from the ground to engage the horses core.  Have a look at some of the pictures below.  The next camp is planned for 9th – 11th October 2015 then this will be the last one for the year, they will restart again in April next year when the weather should be getting better again! If you are interested in booking on this last camp for this year let me know as we only take a small number of participants so you get a more one-2-one experience, which means places fill up quickly.  Looking forwards to seeing you there 🙂

Fancy an intense weekend camp workshop for horse and rider? In association with Kirsty Edwards from Fit2Ride – specialised personal training for horse riders we a re running a summer camp workshop for horse and rider.  Will include group Equipilates, painted horse demo, back/core and saddle check and learning how to do this for yourselves, individual mounted pilates sessions, learning stretches and massage techniques for your horse, mobility, breath and relaxation for the rider, individual postural assessment, private mounted pole work lessons, ground work with your horse, plus handouts to take home so you can continue the good work back at home.  14 – 16th August in Nantwich, Cheshire. £200 per person which also includes stables &/or grazing, BBQ, breakfast and lunch, accommodation is in your own lorry or you can sleep in the studio, camp in tents or accommodation in local Nantwich town is 5 mins away (not included in the price!).  Contact me or Fit2Ride for availability and booking, hope to see you there 🙂

• Highly qualified
• Vast experience with horses of all ages, breeds, sports, injuries and problems; both physical and bahavioural
• Multimodal whole body treatments – i.e. not just physio, not just massage, not just body work, not just McTimoney, and not just working on the spine area.  We use all of these therapies and many more integrated depending on what your individual horse needs to give a better holistic whole body treatment.  This enables us to get to the root cause of the issue rather than just treating the symptoms.  Therapies include McTimoney manipulation, equine body work, sports and remedial massage, stretching and mobilisation, myofascial release, Reiki, t-touch, kinaesthetic taping
• Also, a qualified and experienced coach, trainer and rider gives further insight to help your overall performance
• We get fantastic results and great customer feedback with horses feeling freer, more supple, more agile and fitter, with improved performance, fewer injuries, better recovery, and improved career longevity.
• Reliable, knowledgable, friendly, professional service, fully insured, competitive prices, group discount available, no travel costs within 5 mile radius of Crewe/Nantwich
• For your convenience early morning appointments, evening appointments, and weekend appointments available
• Appointments available for overall check ups, general maintenance, as part of poor performance invesigations, or to aid specific areas of pain, strain and other issues
• Call, text, email or pm to book or discuss your horse – Michelle Woolrich, 07515 552 694, mcheers@cheshireequinetherapy.co.uk, find us on Facebook & Twitter

Want to get your horses’ back & musculoskeletal system checked, but want to keep the costs as low as possible?

Want to get your horse to their peak physical health & increase their longevity,

but not sure where to start or if you are doing the right thing?

Do you want to learn:

• How to assess your horse to pick up any areas of problems
• How to assess your tack and saddle fit
• What you can do to help?
• Learn some massage, stretching, riding and training techniques
• Learn how physical therapy can help?
• Learn more about the do’s and don’ts from a musculoskeletal point of view

Why not organise a clinic, demo, talk or lecture at your livery yard, riding school, pony club, place of work?

For little cost, this could make a big difference to your horse.

• As the organiser, your horse can be used as the demo horse, so gets some treatments and assessments done free on this day, but also gets their next session half price.
• Anyone attending who makes a booking on the day will receive a 10% discount
• We provide poster for you to advertise, and tickets if required.
• You don’t need any special facilities (although a well lit indoor space would be useful in case of bad weather – indoor barn, school, or large stable etc.)
• Cost: all I ask is that my travel fees are covered (this can be worked out when organising) and that everyone attending makes a minimum contribution of £2 which will be donated to an equine charity
• Contact today to book in, first come first served, once all available dates for 2015 spring/summer are gone, bookings will be taken for 2016.

Contact Michelle for more information

If you have one of our 2014 price list cards, keep hold of it as prices are being frozen for 2015. A full price list of all our services and special offers can be found on the prices page http://animaltherapyuk.com/price-list/ if there is anything not listed feel free to contact us for a quote

Have a look at this video on my you tube channel.  This is my horse Floss I painted her up with the skeleton to get some pics of her and popped her on the lunge to take a quick vid.  The video isn’t the best quality (and neither are my artistic skills!!), but it does give you a quite a good insight into what is going on under the surface in a walk, trot and canter, and even a few bucks as she was getting very excited in the wind.

Here are some pictures of a painted horse I did a little while ago showing the deep muscles of the horses body.  I am no Picasso so some of them may not be quite 100% pin point accurate due to lack of artistic skill but they are not far off!!  Some of these pictures can be seen in my December article of Everything Horse UK magazine on muscle injury

How many can you label?

This picture shows how the saddle should sit in relation to the scapula

A typical hind limb stretch that you can do after exercise to stretch out the hamstrings.  Hold the stretch for about 30 seconds allow the horse to relax into it, take it a little further and hold for another 30 then release.  Never push your horse too far, and if they are uncomfortable release immediately.  Always keep the limb in the natural line of motion unless you are advised other wise by your physical therapist.

This picture is showing a typical forelimb stretch you can do after exercise to stretch out the shoulder and triceps area in particular, be careful not to let the horse lock at the carpus (knee), keep a slight bend in the knee, hold for about a minute.

Neck stretch, do both sides equally, you will find that one side is easier for them than the other but this will become more even the more you do.

Part 2 of my series on musculoskeletal injuries is in this months Everything Horse UK Magazine on page 22, this month looking at muscle injury. If you missed part 1 on tendon injury you can still catch up on line. Lots of other great articles too plus the Christmas gift guide. Well worth a read. http://www.joomag.com/magazine/everything-horse-uk/0225542001417542577?preview

I am always being asked are you able to do this, and can you do that ? So just to clear up any misconceptions a few of the more common “can you . . .” questions

Can you tell me what is wrong with my horse?

I can tell you that your horse has issues/pain in certain places, I can show you that they are not moving correctly, and I can treat them using the techniques I am qualified to use, I can give you useful exercises to relieve their discomfort and aid their recovery,  but I can not give you a diagnosis, this is something that ONLY a veterinarian can do. If you are seeing another therapist and they are diagnosing problems with your horse they are doing this against the law.  I may make suggestions of z, y and z things that I think the problem could possibly be based on the symptoms I am seeing/palpating but can never diagnose, as I do not have x-ray eyes or magical blood tests! Sometimes I may give you a few hints such as, “He is carrying a little extra weight, has he ever had laminitis before?”, or “next time your vet comes you may just want to ask them about . . . or to have a look at  . . .”, but I am not allowed to say your horse definitely has laminitis/ kissing spines etc., just recommend that you ask your vet, and I will do my best to ease their pain in the mean time.

Can you check my tack?

I have completed some cpd courses and additional learning in saddle fitting so I know my way around a saddle and can normally spot areas where there are tack fitting problems.  If required, I will recommend getting a fully qualified master saddler in to correct any problems, as they know a lot more than me.  I work very closely with an excellent saddler so if you think your tack maybe an issue mention it to me at my next visit, I can have an initial check and refer you over to my saddler if required.

Can you recommend a feeding regime for my horse?

NO. Even though I do have a good rounded knowledge of nutrition it is not my area of expertise so I would always recommend contacting a equine nutrition specialist, which is what I do for my own horse! Most of the leading feed manufacturers have help lines for that purpose or you can email them.  Sometimes I will recommend particular joint or mobility supplement or electrolytes but that is about as far as it goes.

Can you give me riding  lessons?

Yes. As a freelance fully qualified and highly experienced coach I am able to give you riding lessons on your horse at your location.  My particular areas of interest are show jumping, confidence issues (horse & rider), behavioural problems and being able to still improve horse and rider while rehabilitating injury.  I am up to date with equine specific first aid and child protection.  People seem to find my lessons fun, educational, useful,  and relevant for them and their horses’ individual needs.  They often say about how good it is that I am a physical therapist and an instructor as I can be helping them and their horse to improve on so many different levels –  from a physiological point of view, behavioural, fitness, suppleness stamina, skills, relaxation, equitation, and as I have competed on some level in most disciplines I can use this experience to help my clients achieve their goals.

Can you help me find a horse to buy?

Yes. I know the pain for trawling through the classifieds, going and trying out horse after horse and it just not being right, then you think you have found “the one” and it fails the vetting! I can help by taking some of the task over for you.  I like to see you ride so I know what sort of level horse you require and have an in depth discussion about your aspirations and goals for the horse you are wanting and within budget. I will then find appropriate horses and even go ride it first and if not suitable you don’t even have to leave your house.  When you do go to try a horse I can be there to ensure you purchase with your head not your heart.  I can do some initial basic checks and assessments so that when it comes to vetting time there hopefully shouldn’t be too many nasty surprises.

Can you help me to sell my horse?

Yes.  I can help through the entire process. I can give your horse a thorough assessment and if tweaks need to be made before sale such as some schooling, physical therapy, behavioural work, or even just a tidy up (mane pulling, bathing etc.) I can do all that, take the pics arrange adverts etc. and can even carry out the viewings for you. For a set fee or % of sale price.

I don’t know how to lunge/long rein/do ground work, and my horse has never been lunged before, can you teach me how to do it?

Yes. Being able to work your horse effectively from the ground is highly beneficial and provides some much needed variety to your work, but you must do it correctly in order to gain any benefit from it, and I can teach you how to do this.

Do you do any lectures, clinics or demo’s?

Yes, keep an eye on facebook, twitter, and the website for dates and venues, or alternatively if you would like to organise one for your yard, work place, riding club, college etc. please contact me to arrange.

(Pic is a painted horse I did showing the deep muscles of the horses body in preparation for a lecture series)

Can you school/compete my horse for me?

Yes. I can, I may not be the most aesthetically pleasing rider but I get the job done!  I love schooling and my own horse hates it she just wants to jump.  I am quiet but confident when I ride.  I enjoy schooling youngsters most, doing their basic training and show jumping, improving their skill level, confidence and fitness, at the same time ensuring their musculoskeletal system is developing correctly. If you need someone to complete your horse for you weather as a one off or on a regular basis I can do this, dressage up to medium level, BSJA up to Foxhunter level, BE up to Intermediate, local and county showing in hand and ridden classes. I can also help you prepare for competitions, planning your competition season, training, transport, grooms, entries, etc.

(Pic is me and my mare chilling between classes at riding club show)

If you have any more question not covered here or in the frequently asked questions section please fell free to call, email, facebook me.