McTimoney Chiropractic

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When to seek help

A veterinary surgeon should always be your first port of call but you should consider McTimoney treatment if your horse displays any of the following signs:

• Unlevelness, especially behind
• Uneven wear of shoes
• Sore or cold back
• A reluctance to exercise
• Unexplained deterioration in performance
• Stiffness on one rein or a disunited canter
• Unexplained reluctance such as bucking, rearing, refusing, napping
• Uneven muscle development or atrophy

You may notice some more specific signs affecting performance in particular disciplines that may indicate discomfort:

Jumping Horses

• Refusing
• Not basculing correctly
• Trailing a leg over fences
• Rushing fences

Dressage Horses

• Horse not working across his back correctly
• Finding lateral work uncharacteristically difficult
• Becoming fussy in the mouth or backing off from the hand
• Reluctance to move in self carriage or leaning
• Not stepping through evenly behind
• Finding transitions difficult

Race Horses

• Reluctance to "open up" and gallop
• Stiffness after work
• Becoming clumsy or pecking over fences

Assessment - A full history will be taken including information about exercise regimes, work type and intensity, any previous accidents or health problems as well as the current symptoms.

Your horse will be checked for any obvious lumps, bumps or swellings and then a dynamic assessment will be carried out, to understand how your horse moves and carries him or herself. In some cases it maybe useful to see your horse lunged or ridden depending upon the problem.

Treatment - Your practitioner will use her hands to assess the balance and symmetry or your horse at frequent bony landmarks, mostly along the spine and pelvis. Where necessary adjustments are used to correct any imbalances found using quick and precise movements of the hands. No anaesthetic is involved.

This process of realignment frees up the joints in the adjusted area, promoting flexibility and suppleness and freeing up the nervous system to work at its optimum. This allows for the relief of muscle spasm, pain and restriction, allowing your horse to feel fit and strong again.

Aftercare - It is important that your horse is able to rest and be quiet after treatment - a healing process has begun and this can be tiring both mentally and physically. Each horse's requirements will be different due to factors such as age, work level/type, level of fitness and the nature of the problem but some general rules apply:

• 48 hours of quiet time. - He/she can be turned out if they are sensible in the field. Otherwise a 20-minute walk in hand twice a day would be more suitable.
• Gradual return to work. - after his/her rest period, bring your horse gradually back into work, with a 30-minute quiet hack to begin with. Where no hacking is available, then try to work in straight lines in the school with no tight turns or circles. Leave lateral work for another day. Gradually increase your horse's workload over the following 4 days until you reach pre-treatment exercise levels.
• Ensure access to plenty of water - they can be very thirsty after treatment as the adjustments can help to release toxins built up in tight muscle and the extra water is used to flush them out.
• They may need an extra rug the night after treatment. - they seem to feel the cold more immediately afterwards, especially at cold times of the year.

Riders

If your horse is having recurrent problems or you are finding that you are weaker or more unbalanced on one rein then it is very possible you could benefit from treatment. Be the best rider you can be by optimising your own balance and suppleness by booking yourself in for a treatment today. This will make you feel great and give your horse the best chance of recovery and sustained fitness. Special horse and rider packages are available: 01225 421231 / 07968 396303 katya@mctimoneyinbath.co.uk

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