Merlin Veterinary Physiotherapy

20/09/2024

Would my lovely clients (past or present) be up for giving me a wonderful birthday present, in the form of helping me grow my small business? 🙏
I could really do with some more reviews!
Either on here or Google, or both would be amazing 😀
It would help sooo much, so I can keep helping more horses & ponies 💞

https://maps.app.goo.gl/XVpNU6uDVcMkUiUJ7

Thank you 🥰🐎🐴💪

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

20/09/2024

Edit to add: This is a massive revelation!

The difference I feel in my whole body while walking, since getting barefoot style shoes, makes me think of horses...

I knew the theory of flexible soles & more toe room is better for the foot, but I never expected to start feeling looser all the way up. I now have a bit of an Elsa walk 😂

Which makes me think, when the equine foot has better proprioception on the ground, and has the ability to absorb impact and contract-relax with every footfall, encouraging circulation... it really does affect how the soft tissues respond throughout the body.

Now I'm not a hard-core preacher that every single horse should be barefoot. Because we all know individuals need decisions carefully considered, for all the factors around the individual horse.

But I think a LOT would benefit, especially when metal shoes are just automatically put on because of habit, without a specific reason.

Worth thinking about, especially if your horse feels a bit stiff in their body and lacking a free flowing movement...

[Original post]
My goodness the school run (mad rush) has never felt so comfortable!
Got these barefoot trainers for my birthday, and oh my days I never want to wear normal shoes again!
Would recommend to anyone. Shame we can't get them in riding boots or steel toecaps 😂

17/09/2024

Great news! I will now have slightly longer available on Thursdays, as my daughter is starting an after-school club.
So we're no longer limited to the extremely short days within school runs.
Meaning I can potentially travel a bit further, or see more horses/people on a yard in the same day -meaning you get to split travel costs!

Let me know if you could do with some help, either with your horse/pony looking or feeling uncomfortable, or you want to improve your own body to put less strain on them.
Here's to freedom of movement! 🥰🐎💃

16/09/2024

There's a bit of a misconception, that Physiotherapy is for 'maintenance' for competition horses.
This is partly the reason people also think it's just soft tissue work.

But Physiotherapy in the real world, i.e. the human health profession, is there to treat actual problems.
Can you imagine if someone with shoulder pain gets referred from the GP to the Physio department, to get diagnosed and the right treatment & exercises... only to get some PROM & massage?

Physiotherapy is there to find sources of problems, treat them in the most effective way, and help reduce pain & reduced function.

Leisure horses get pain, joint stiffness, muscle strain, myofascial tension, injuries, etc.
We want them to be happy, possibly even more so as happy hackers, that purely enjoy being together with no expectations of results.

So please don't think that Physio is a 'nice to have' 'luxury' treatment that only the elite can afford as part of their horse's routine needs.

I'm sure a lot of leisure horses & ponies would appreciate their musculoskeletal health being looked after more than a new match matchy set, or latest fad gadget...

15/09/2024

It's National Online Learning Day...
What would be better to mark it, than to dedicate yourself to learning something that will really benefit your horse? -and save you a load of stress (and probably money)!

The Arthritis Answer Vault contains everything you need to know about Osteoarthritis in horses.

Set up in bitesize videos of answers to each question that is most commonly asked, it's easy to digest.

Whether you're a seasoned equestrian or new to the whole game, you're probably living in hope that you can give your 4 legged partner something more.
You don't want them suffering with pain, you want to be able to enjoy life together without constant worry.

PM me 'AAV' to grab this opportunity of gaining the best insider knowledge, straight from a highly experienced professional!

13/09/2024

Get your horse better from Arthritis
#

11/09/2024

Getting on your nerves Cont’d…
Following on from my last post, let’s talk about nerve mobility.

You’d be forgiven for thinking the nerves are a set thing in the body. Kinda like bones; they don’t move unless seriously injured.

But nerves actually glide. As you’re moving, say swinging your leg forwards & backwards, the sciatic nerve is actually gliding up and down your leg. It’s about 2-4cm.

Moving your arms side to side glides the main nerve branches through your arms. Even your spinal cord has to have some glide, to allow you to bend your back and move your head around.

Why is this relevant?
For starters, different people have varied flexibility or suppleness of their nerves.
Just like we all have variations in hip joint shape (meaning some people can’t move their hips into certain positions & we all have varying range in each direction, which is NORMAL for us as individuals). Or some people are just not very flexible in their muscles & soft tissues, while others are extremely naturally flexible, without any problems from it.

I’ve come across patients that have very tight nerves, limiting their mobility, and others with very very mobile stretchy nerves! If it’s the same both sides and doesn’t give you any problems, it’s totally normal.

The problems though, are when your nerve mobility is reduced because of something.

If you have an injury (doesn’t matter what was injured) that has given you a bunch of scar tissue, this can act like superglue.

Picture a nerve like a piece of electrical wiring, with the protective casing around it, trying to move through a system with a lump of glue in the middle.

It physically can’t slide through, either the whole thing with the coating, or the internal wire through the coating if there’s not enough room.

There’s a whole load of other things that can give you nerve pain/symptoms, but my point was just to highlight the importance of the nervous system when it comes to whole body mobility.

Now the important bit, is that just like all other tissues, it’s exactly the same in horses!

In people, Chartered Physiotherapists assess nerve gliding and stretch when it comes to diagnosing symptoms. It’s harder with horses, because they can’t tell us if they feel pins & needles, or numbness, or what type of pain.

I rely on their behaviour, sometimes very subtle expressions, to tell me when something’s uncomfortable. I adapt the human nerve tension tests, to get it as close as I can for equine anatomy. I try to see a difference in that versus separate joint/muscle testing.

And as with a lot of things equine, it’s almost impossible for Vets to diagnose this sort of problem with scans.

So if your horse doesn’t move quite right, they look stiff or uncomfortable, please consider nerve mobility. Now this doesn’t mean go find some online course by an unqualified person to ‘release the nerves’!

I mean find a highly qualified professional, such as an ACPAT Chartered Physiotherapist, who can assess ALL the structures in your horse as a whole. With evidence-based practice in a healthcare profession.

For anyone in my area (45mins radius from East Grinstead, West Sussex); If you think your horse or pony may have an issue with nerve mobility, PM me to have a chat about how I can help 😊

10/09/2024

Wanna know something that gets on my nerves?

1. When every single person stretches their hamstrings, lifting the toes up.
2. The lack of appreciation or even recognition, of the nerves as part of the musculoskeletal system.

So every fitness or yoga or whatever movement class I’ve been to, if the instructor includes some stretches, they demo and encourage lifting the toes/pointing the foot upwards when doing the hamstrings. As if it’s a more beneficial stretch for the hamstring muscles.

Do they know where the hamstring muscles attach? Do you?

You don’t need to have in-depth anatomical knowledge, but I’m pretty sure most people know that the muscles on the back of the thigh (hamstrings) don’t actually go beyond the knee.
They attach from the hip area to the knee area, having an effect on the hip & knee, or top half of your leg.

So how would moving the ankle have any effect whatsoever on muscles that don’t go anywhere near it?

Well the reason you feel a ‘deeper’, more intense ‘stretch’ is because you’re actually stretching/pulling on the sciatic nerve.

As you can see in one of my favourite images (a real dissection of a human’s whole intact nervous system), the nerves in your body are one continuous thing.

The nerve endings, in your skin, into the muscles, joints, etc, all go up into main branches that travel up the limbs. Then go into the spinal cord, up to the brain, which is basically the main centre of nerve tissue.

There’s no separate bit.

So bending your body forwards, lifting the leg with the knee straight, then lifting the toes up, pulls the whole lot that runs down the back of the body.

It’s not a pleasant feeling, and feels different to a muscle stretch which is quite nice (in my opinion).

Now, I was going to go into another spiel about issues you can have with nerves, and how it relates to horses. But this post if quite long already! So watch out for my next post to elaborate 😀

08/09/2024

To celebrate my wonderful profession, I want to help more horses & owners feel better.

For locals (up to 45 mins of East Grinstead), discover my Autumn Vibrance programme...

A unique, intensive 1:1 course of Physiotherapy for you and your horse, designed especially for those with pain or stiffness limiting your riding enjoyment.
Get freer, stronger, and harmonious together!

For everyone, I'm re-launching the Arthritis Answer Vault.
The online resource that gives you everything you need to know, to help your equine friend with this painful condition.

I feel so passionately about the way Osteoarthritis is managed (or mis-managed!) in horses & ponies, I really want to change the entire culture to give our wonderful companions much better treatment.

PM me VIBRANCE or ARTHRITIS to get the details for the programme you're interested in.

Let's make this change of season a boost! 🐴💪

31/08/2024

This!
Lameness doesn't have to be a limb. They can have 'body lameness'.
But also horses can move ok but still show subtle signs of pain, with their behaviour or facial expression.
Doesn't mean they aren't hurting as much.
Thankyou Sarah at Equine Performance Thermography Ltd for such an important post!

30/08/2024

Did you know?..
Biomechanics is NOT merely an external visual thing.

Telling you where your leg should be, advising to sit straighter in the saddle, etc, is what I believe ALL good riding instructing includes. It doesn't need to call it fancy things.

Biomechanics = biological structures, moving.

What Biomechanics really means is how the joints, ligaments, muscles, tendons, nerves, and fascia all move functionally.

It's an internal body systems concept.
So you won't improve the angles from the outside view if you've got joint restriction, you've got scar tissue creating adhesions of a ligament, a muscle imbalance with weakness & tightness, or pain limiting how you move.

To really correct/improve rider biomechanics, you need to sort these things WITHIN your body.
Then get hands-on feedback to target where you need to be.

This is what happens in our unique Secrets Of Sitting clinic.

A collaborative clinic, combining brilliant hands-on instruction from the dressage instructress Julie Wi******er, with a Physiotherapy session to loosen up bits you need to use better.

We have 2 spaces available on Saturday 7th Sept.
Message me if you want to get your seat and aids more balanced, easier, and clearer for your horse!

27/08/2024

Yesterday was a fab start to my new clinic! A great group of riders, each with different stories, horses' issues, including a recently back-to-work Kissing Spine case.

Each rider showed some issues with their seat & biomechanics, and all had incorrect breathing patterns!

We loosened up a lot with the 'Physiyoga', got everyone breathing far more effectively, and made some brilliant corrections to seat & leg positions, absorbing their horses' back movements.

Everyone said they had something particular to take away & practise.

DM me if you'd like to join a waiting list for the next Synergy & Symmetry clinic 😀

22/08/2024

Move like nobody is watching!

Modern society has created an extra strain/tension on our bodies. Not just the physical lifestyle, but the subconscious mental & emotional impact. Because of our need to 'fit in' and be 'attractive'.

We get too worried about how we look, worried to look silly, so we don't move our bodies enough. We're always trying to suck in our belly, because letting it out is 'unattractive'. We want as few reasons as possible to be judged; society in general let alone the horsey world judgement.
Even exercise programmes and classes focus on 'core strength' and control, zipping up abs & fixing.

What we actually need is to breathe, move more, LET IT GO to result in better dynamic control.
I've got news for ya, nobody is watching you do an exercise class, they're all worried about themselves.
And when I teach, I'm wanting -needing you to loosen up, find your joints & fascia and let your diaphragm work.

Your horse needs you to do the same. To absorb the movement of their back not block it.
To stay balanced when they loose a footing or spook, you need muscle control in ALL ranges. You need the ability of your body & each section of your trunk to move in various directions.

Join my unique Synergy & Symmetry clinic, to learn how to move and be part of a strictly judgement-free zone. Have a laugh, pretend nobody can see, or challenge yourself to move without caring what it looks like!

PM me to book this unique clinic at your yard, for 4-6 people.
Currently offering bank holiday Monday 9:00, in East Grinstead area or West Kent.

18/08/2024

Psoas release with Lickimat...
This gorgeous boy was uncomfortable in a couple of areas of his body, so out comes the Lickimat!

Like a lot of horses I treat, he's much happier and it makes the necessary technique a more positive experience.

I think it also helped this psoas release be more effective, as he lengthened his body stretching forward for the food, helping the deep ventral myofascial chain to elongate.

17/08/2024

Get connection with your horse, and connect with your own body.

A fun, judgement-free, movement 'class' (I call it Physiyoga) to get your body loosened up and more symmetrical... plus learn how to breathe properly and apply it all on your horse!

The only clinic I know of that combines everything to make it actually functional for what we want when riding.

It can also really help confidence, giving you things to focus on if you panic when out and your horse spooks.

Bank Holiday Monday (26th Aug).

You just need to be based on a yard with 4-6 people that would like to join in.
(As we'll be getting your horses in & out; short ridden session to assess your symmetry, then horses away for the 'physiyoga' then back out for breath work & other bits)

PM me to book!

P.s. I can also add hands-on Physiotherapy session(s) beforehand if anyone feels something is too sore/stiff and wants to get the most out of the clinic.

16/08/2024

Who here knows they should do exercises as a Rider, but doesn't have time (or the inclination to exercise)??

14/08/2024

Mid morning Physio appt Thurs, especially for a leisure horse/pony or rider needing to sort discomfort.
DM me to take the opportunity to feel better!

12/08/2024

I see too many riders keep stretching their hip flexors. Or gluts/piriformis.

They can feel tight, restricting your ability to sit your pelvis neutral & symmetrical. Plus block the absorption of movement through your seat.

But here's the thing. When your body has a weakness and you're asking it to do things it hasn't built the strength & control for... your brain will send messages down to protect your body.

The messages create the feeling of tightness. Your muscles will guard that part of you.

It's an innate, totally subconscious thing.
But your conscious mind wants better flexibility and easier riding.

So you stretch it. And you keep stretching, because it doesn't seem to go away.

It's like you've got 2 parts of you fighting against each other!

How about trying a different approach? To work WITH the issue instead?

Strengthening and dynamic control exercises could fix it much more effectively.

If you're not sure which muscle(s) need Strengthening, or how to do the most effective control exercises for riders, just ask your Physiotherapist.

Improve your seat, improve your horse's comfort 😊

P.s. Not a Veterinary Physiotherapist that hasn't trained in humans; that's illegal; make sure it's a Chartered Physiotherapist.

09/08/2024

I remember when I first started Physiotherapy training in the human field, and we had done lectures covering biochemistry, etc, and some common conditions. But on placements, we were given a list of patients (real people that had been referred into Physio for a particular pain or concern), and expected to treat them.

We were expected to go back to our supervisor with some questions, check our diagnosis and treatment plans.

I was desperate to know as much as the senior specialists. To be the best blimmin' Physio possible.

I kept getting told that I'd get better with experience, the questions I had were simply because I hadn't seen that presentation yet.

Yes, we all learn from experience. But my biggest problem with this approach, was that I was hugely aware that I DIDN'T KNOW all the conditions people can have, to know what to test for.
What I wanted was for the supervisor to teach me. Because I didn't know what I didn't know.

If you tell me something that exists, I'll happily go away and look it up. I'll learn what symptoms it gives, how to test for it and how to treat it.
But if I don't know it exists, I won't know to research it!

That was 15 years ago, and I'm pretty confident now in my knowledge, that I can diagnose and treat (or advise) on any given pain/problem in someone's body.

But this phrase applies to everyone, in all aspects of life.

There will be things about horses that we weren't aware of. Things you hadn't ever considered before; not because you're thick, you just didn't know because nobody's told you before.

It's only when you start asking very open questions, like "is this actually normal, or is this behaviour a sign of something?".

Or "Can my horse feel even better?" even though you're giving them regular massage or therapies. (hint; massage isn't Physio, and could still be missing something vital)

Or "Could there be more to managing arthritis? Is it really just wear and tear?"

Start opening your mind to the possibility that there is more to know. Stuff that can help you & your horse a lot.
Challenge your thought processes around signs of pain. Keep striving to learn.

07/08/2024

Read more here!..

1. Stop comparing yourself to others; you only see what other people CHOOSE to show you, you don't see their struggles and sacrifices.

2. If your horse has medical or soundness issues that mean you can't go out competing or gallop around flying over jumps, or you just feel too guilty to push them into harder work... change the negative narrative into positive; think of all the things they can do, ridden or unridden.

3. You can get a surprising boost of endorphins and positive effects on your mental health by thinking of it like taking a dog for a walk. Nature-bathing is even better with your horse by your side! Plus they get enrichment with a bit natural foraging, and less expectations. A real relationship-boost -win win!

4. Putting up with aches & pains in your own body gets you down without even realising. Although people put their horses first when it comes to spending money on treatments, you could be adding to strain on their body, as well as not being in the right headspace. Get Physio for yourself when you have your horse done -and actually DO the exercises prescribed!

5. Most people don't actually breathe properly. It's even more important for riders to use the diaphragm, as poor breathing patterns reduce your ability to absorb the movement of your horse's back, blocking you both and leading to discomfort. Get your physio to assess and teach you, then remember to practise. ALL. THE. TIME.

06/08/2024

Can you tell I rather loved today?!
My job is so easy and rewarding when I 'click' with people.
All 3 new horses with very different presentations and completely different treatment approaches.
But feel like I've known them & their owners for years 😂
Thankyou Helen Yeo and Laura Prince for letting me play with your wonderful pony beasts!