Sarah Read Equine Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation

04/11/2024

25/10/2024

Another AI fail…! Anyone else obsessed with what on earth is going on with this horse’s legs in the opening credits for Rivals?! 🤭

In case you’re wondering exactly why this looks so odd…thanks to the reciprocal apparatus of the hind limb, the hock and stifle can only flex or extend together. The exception to this is in the case of rupture of the peroneus tertius muscle where the hock can be extended in isolation 🐎

23/09/2024

Don’t you just love it when you find a whole load of emails stuck in your outbox 🤦‍♀️…apologies to all those expecting reports from the back end of last week, they are on their way to you now! 📧💨

03/09/2024

Phew…what a crazy few weeks!

Thanks for everyone’s patience over the holidays, I *think* I have got back to all those outstanding on my list but if I haven’t please accept my apologies and give me a nudge!

Back to school tomorrow so normal service can resume 😆

P.S. anyone know a good PA?! 😂

01/08/2024

Walking backwards - rein back - step back

This has always been an exercise I recommend and a recent article has used 3D motion capture to explore back and pelvis motion during the movement - Jobst, Zsoldos and Licka, 2024

'A significantly larger maximum and a greater ROM was reached between the withers, thoracic region and sacrum (labelled D-angWmT16S2) in Backwards Walking compared to Forwards walking, indicating a lifting of the back, an effect necessary to facilitate strengthening of the horse’s core and therefore often desired in equine physiotherapy and in equestrian sports (Clayton, 2016; Shakeshaft & Tabor, 2020)'

A few steps backwards - Unmount SD Cardnted - as part of groundwork and before mounting are a really good idea to mobilise your horse's back.

Link to article:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1090023324001412?via%3Dihub

25/07/2024

Teamwork makes the dream work! Best of luck to all our Team GB riders and the support team heading out to Paris 2024 🙌🐎

10/07/2024

Fantastic collaboration day at the The Royal Veterinary College (RVC), working up an interesting case and discussing both vet and physio approaches to treatment and rehabilitation…also the challenges we are faced with in the field where we can only dream of such amazing facilities! 🐎

Really interesting to compare our findings with gait analysis software (happily with pretty good correlation!) and discuss how we can all work together to achieve the best possible outcomes for our patients 🙌

02/07/2024

Urgent appeal for foster mare…

💕UPDATE - potential foster mare has just arrived🤞 for a successful bonding. 💕

A huge thanks to everyone that shared the post - Facebook can be an incredibly positive tool sometimes ❤️

Please share
Can any of our lovely clients help?
Do you know of anyone with a foster mare??
Needed ASAP in Cornwall for a 1 month old.
(It’s not this foal!)
🤞🤞🤞

05/06/2024

Good luck to all my lovely clients competing at the Royal Cornwall Show this week 👏🍀🏆 🐎

23/05/2024

Wise words! Don’t leave it too late to start your horse’s rehab journey…

Rehab starts too late and finishes too soon

I was intending on writing a post about kissing spine rehab but when I thought about what I wanted to say it occurred to me that the point I want to make isn’t just about rehab following surgery. it applies to any situation where we have had a change to management and we are aiming to restore normal function.

When we rehab people we get them moving really soon even with major surgery such as hip replacements. People are discharged from hospital on the same day and when they have spinal surgery they’re often walking around the day after their operation.
I understand that we have different factors to consider such as the environment, keeping the wounds clean and the behaviour of the horse but I think we all agree that keeping a horse on box rest for four weeks after having an ISLD- ligament snip operation with not being allowed to start any physiotherapy exercises is far too conservative. I personally believe this is going to limit the potential for rehab.

I am fortunate to work with vets that are really up-to-date on their understanding of recovery and the stages of rehab so I start programs following the veterinary intervention early. However, it frustrates me when I hear that this doesn’t happen around the country or around the globe.

Controlled and progressive loading, with a protocol individualised for each horse starting as soon as possible is essential. Obviously, this must take into account the experience of their owner, the injury or surgery, the environment, the pre-existing injuries, their goals, their facilities and all the other factors that influence designing a rehab plan.
But, a safe low intensity selection of exercises is going to start the progress to resuming function soon, taking advantage of the veterinary intervention and being both mentally and physically productive.

Then at the other end of the time frame, I don't actually think any rehab is ever over! Transitioning to normal work but keeping some of the useful strategies and exercises employed during rehab - scaling these up and down - is for life after injury or surgery.

17/05/2024

A much appreciated thank you gift from a client to end a super busy week 😮‍💨 always nice to end on a high note 🤗

Hope everyone has a relaxing/fun/successful weekend whatever you are doing ☺️

03/04/2024

‼️Limited availability for the rest of April…please give me a nudge if you’re due an appointment🐴 📅

Monday 15th: Newquay area - 1 space
Wednesday 17th: Liskeard area - 1 space
Friday 19th: Roseland/Truro area - 1 space

Monday 22nd: available
Thursday 25th: Redruth area - 2 spaces

Monday 29th: Bodmin/Camelford area - 2 spaces

22/03/2024

We are looking at conformation of horses diagnosed with kissing spines to investigate some discussed factors such as back length. But we need a control group of horses that we know don't have kissing spine on x-rays (radiographs).

The study is an MSc project at Hartpury University (ethical approval gained) and will feed into current and future studiea of posture and back pain.

What's involved - a short questionnaire and measurements of body angles and ratios via analysis of photographs. Can be UK or international!

Please comment, DM or email me [email protected] and we'd be grateful if you share the post!

20/03/2024

⚡️Exciting new series of Webinar-Podcasts exploring INDIBA for pain and MSK rehabilitation ⚡️

The educational webinar series delves into the role of Indiba therapy in human, equine and small animal rehabilitation using global leading radiofrequency technology.

The first Webinar-Podcast in this series is focusing on Indiba's in vitro and in vivo clinical research and its efficacy, clinical applications, and benefits in optimising the healing, recovery and performance and pain management of humans, horses and small animals.

This webinar is free and directed to veterinary surgeons, physiotherapists, veterinary nurses, practice managers and manual therapy rehab professionals.