horse health - The Horse Physio - Sue Palmer

Tag: horse health

7.11.24 Behind the Scenes with Sue Palmer, The Horse Physio

By Sue Palmer on November 7, 2024

As a Chartered Physiotherapist, I’ve spent years focusing on equine care, but now I'm turning some of that dedication back to treating people in my Stafford-based clinic. I’m deeply passionate about understanding how sleep, nutrition, exercise, and stress management impact our bodies' incredible ability to heal. My goal is not just to live well but to thrive for the long haul—hopefully until 107, as I jokingly tell my son—without being a burden on loved ones. Along this journey, I continue to learn and adapt, seeking insights from inspiring podcasts like Feel Better, Live More. If you have your own health wisdom to share, I’d love to hear from you. Together, we can keep growing toward healthier, more vibrant lives!

Clinical Reasoning in Equine Rehabilitation: A Report on Dr Gillian Tabor’s Presentation at the 2022 IAVRPT Symposium

By Sue Palmer on November 7, 2024

Rehabilitation is a delicate balance between evidence-based medicine, clinical expertise, and patient needs. Therapists and horse owners often face hurdles like time, finances, and environment, making pragmatism essential. A structured, adaptable rehab plan is crucial. Clear communication ensures owners understand and can contribute to the process, moving from stable-based to in-hand and ridden exercises. Progression may be based on timescales or milestones, with each approach offering different advantages. Early rehab should address pain management, mobility, core stability, and sensory input like massage. Safety is always a priority, and recognizing when to advance requires monitoring movement quality and behavior. Building a robust, adaptable system prepares the horse for varied demands.

Kissing spine in horses

By Sue Palmer on June 13, 2024

Suspicion of or diagnosis of kissing spine in horses is a source of fear and misery for horse owners. In this article, I share some basic information on kissing spine and what you can do for your horse.

What do you love about your horse, and what are your biggest challenges?

By Sue Palmer on June 6, 2024

What do you love about your horse? In a recent survey I sent readers of my free newsletter, 'Horses: Health and Happiness', I asked them what they most loved about their horse. Here are some of their answers: Our connection How much they teach us His gentleness The companionship they bring The empathy I can feel with them The way she makes me reflect on myself. The connection and challenge of it all.

Embracing the Present: Finding Joy in the Journey

By Sue Palmer on April 4, 2024

She found it hard to bend. Her muscles held tight, keeping the joints from moving through their full range of movement. I held my hand gently behind her poll and breathed into the release. Working with my breath, I applied pressure and then eased off again. I felt the soft tissues lengthen slowly, gradually, in their own time.

Finding the Right Time: A Guide to Stretching Your Horse

By Sue Palmer on April 4, 2024

Determining when to stretch your horse depends on your goals. Stretching may improve flexibility, reduce injury risk, help monitor neuromusculoskeletal health (meaning relating to nerve, muscle and bone), and enhance your horse's overall comfort. There are no hard and fast rules, and here are some examples of when to stretch, based on the stretches that I share in my online course, “Stretching Your Horse: A Guide to Keeping Your Equine Friend Happy and Healthy.”

Why should I do stretches with my horse?

By Sue Palmer on February 25, 2024

As a horse owner, you understand the importance of keeping your equine friend comfortable and happy. Tight muscles can often lead to soreness. A 15-minute stretching session can make a significant improvement in easing tension and alleviating discomfort in your horse. The stretching routine doesn’t have to be complicated. Just getting your horse moving can make all the difference. Similar to how you feel after a 15-minute yoga session, your horse can feel looser and more comfortable after he has stretched. With regular stretching, you can help ensure your horse stays happy and healthy.

What is a stretch?

By Sue Palmer on February 21, 2024

The word "stretch" can function as both a verb and a noun. As a verb, it refers to something soft or elastic that is capable of being made longer or wider without tearing or breaking. For example, "my sweater stretched in the wash." It can also mean straightening or extending one's body or a part of one's body to its full length, typically to tighten one's muscles or reach something. For instance, "the cat yawned and stretched." As a noun, it can refer to an act of stretching one's limbs or body, such as "I got up and had a stretch," or a continuous area or expanse of land or water, like "a treacherous stretch of road."

Help me to help 100 horses (or more)

By Sue Palmer on February 8, 2024

Do you live in an area where it's challenging to get access to physio for your horse? Does the cost of physio mean that you can't have your horse treated as often as you'd like? Would you like to be able to do more for your horse? Would you happen to know someone who any of the above applies to? Please help me reach these people and their horses by sharing this blog. I'd love to help 100 horses this month; perhaps it's your horse I can help? If not your horse, wouldn't it feel wonderful knowing that you have made a difference by passing on the information someone needs to support their horse? I'm on a mission to help those who can't get the horse physio assessment and treatment they would like to offer their horse. I've carefully and lovingly created an online course, "Stretching Your Horse: A Guide to Keeping Your Equine Friend Happy and Healthy". There are ten stretching exercises (video included) and lots of information about how, where, when, why and what to stretch.

Brain, Pain or Training?’ Practical Exercises: Introduction

By Sue Palmer on May 11, 2023

This may be the most important chapter of this book.Here you’ll find a set of ten practical exercises that you can do with your horse to help assess whether he could be suffering some discomfort that might affect his behaviour or performance. The aim of these exercises is to assess balance, comfort, ease and freedom of movement, muscle tone, reaction to touch, soundness, symmetry of the musculoskeletal system, and symmetry of movement. Unexpected responses could flag up weakness, discomfort, stiffness, restriction in range of movement, muscle spasm, unsoundness, and asymmetry in either the horse’s musculoskeletal system or his movement.

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