News & Articles

I have been writing some useful articles for a very popular equestrian magazine that you might be interested in, Everything Horse UK.  Every month there is a wide range of great articles, such a good read.  I had a few published in the July, August and September 2014 issues on my top 10 tips for keeping your horse in tip top condition, stress and the competition horse, and recognising signs that your horse has a musculoskeletal problem.  I have just started writing a series of articles for them the first of which has just been published in the November issue on musculoskeletal injuries, looking into the main types of musculoskeletal injuries that can occur in our horses; tendon injuries (November issue), muscle injuries (December issue), bone injuries (January issue), and ligament injuries (February issue). This will hopefully help owners understand how these types of injury occurs, how they heal, how they are treated and rehabilitated, and how they can be avoided.  I think this is really important as pain due to musculoskeletal injury is the most common cause of performance loss in horses. Most cases will initially present as a behavioural problem or a performance/training issue, and early diagnosis and treatment will improve the long term outcome.  This is a printed magazine and an online magazine, so if you have missed any of my previous articles and would like to catch up you can do on line at www.everythinghorseuk.co.uk.  You can also sign up to subscribe to receive future issues of Everything Horse UK magazine in your inbox, so you never miss an issue, and even better is that it is all free, both the printed version and the online version.  Happy reading!!

Over the last couple of months I have done some great CPD courses to further improve and expand on the therapies and treatments that we already offer, to be able to give animals a better all round holistic treatment encouraging optimal performance and health.

The first one I did was t-touch, which is an effective method of activating the function of the cells by opening the neural pathways, using a combination of specific touches, lifts, and movement exercises helping to release tension and increase body awareness.

The next one I did was advanced stretching and mobilisation which as an already big fan of the enormous benefits of stretching for loosening tight tissue, mobilising joints and easing away adhesions, I was really looking forwards to this one.  Although most of these moves I was already doing it was good to be reminded of a few that I perhaps don’t use as much that can be really useful, or using others in a different way for a different effect.

The last one that I have just done, that I have been really impressed with is myofascial release.  Mind bogglingly effective for physical and some psychological issues, even though it may appear as though you are not doing much the results can be very dramatic.  Fascia is interconnected through the entire body, due to stress (physical & emotional) water is pushed out of it leaving it hard and gel like.  This causes it to shorten and compress the capillaries and nerves causing ischemia, pain and imbalance, which can have far reaching effects over the entire body.  The release techniques cause the collagen fibres to reorganise, allowing more hydration of the tissues and force the adhesions to release, which at the same time can cause a big emotional release and unwinding too.

Where required I have been integrating what I have learned in all these cpd courses, putting them into the treatments I have been doing recently, and getting some great results! For more information or to discuss your animal feel free to give me a call.

This is video is aimed at every horse owner, it gives you some basic stretches that I would recommend carrying out after ever exercise session to improve your horses over all musculoskeletal health.  Stretching helps to mobilise the joints, release tension, loosen tight tissues, improve circulation, and ease adhesions, as well as improving the overall strength tone and flexibility of the muscles and tendons.  There are a few important points to consider first:

• Never stretch a cold horse, warm the muscles up first through exercise, solarium, massage etc.
• Don’t put yourself at risk both with lifting (think of your posture – knees bent back straight) but also ensure the horse knows where you are
• Don’t push the horse to far to fast  – take it slowly, wait until they relax, never push them out of their comfortable range.  When you first start they may not be able to reach very far but every day they will stretch a little further
• If you are unsure of anything please ask me – in person, phone or email

We aim to be a part of all horses’ and dogs’ overall health program to improve well-being, welfare, health and performance. We are completely focussed on helping you to get the best from your animal by offering a range of services all individually tailored to your animals’ specific needs at competitive prices, making it available for not only the elite athletic animals but for all horse and dog owners as part of their regular care routine. Services, therapies and techniques include McTimoney, body work, sports massage, spinal therapy, stretching, physical therapy, musculoskeletal manipulation & adjustments to realign sub-luxations, kinesio taping, stress point therapy, natural horsemanship, riding, hot and cold therapy, magnetic field therapy, schooling, training, rehabilitation, coaching, and education. Check out the rest of the website for more information, if there is anything you can’t find or would like more information on please feel free to contact us.

We cover all areas of Cheshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire, West Midlands, South Lancashire, Derbyshire, North Wales, South & West Yorkshire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester. You can find us on facebook and twitter or keep a check on this blog, to keep up to date with new services, special offers, where to find us, which shows and events we will be at, etc. We will be writing monthly articles on subjects of interest on this blog, and we are hoping to open an online store very soon for all of your animals alternative therapy needs, keep an eye on the site for more details.