Alice James Veterinary Physiotherapy

16/07/2024

It's been a particularly busy few weeks and I'm particularly bad at remembering to do posts 🙈😆.....
So here is a horsey highlight reel of the last few months including some of my lovely clients enjoying their sessions, my own ponies out and about and a snippet of a brilliant demo I attended. 🐴

21/06/2024

It's all about anatomy 🦴🐴

Thank you Pinkham Equine Veterinary Services for organising a great evening lecture/demo with Horses Inside Out at Hilltop Equestrian!
Guinness (ridden by Megan) and Cruiser were excellent models all evening.

Anatomy is the fundamental to how and why the horse moves like it does, and ultimately why things can go wrong. Gillian always presents the musculoskeletal structure of the horse in such a fun, interesting and interactive way.

It was great to hear someone else also say "I love walk poles" 🤣 and repeat some important messages:
🐴 core is key
🐴 posture = performance
🐴 polework is beneficial
🐴 anyone can incorporate some groundwork (or 'pilates') exercises withing their horses daily routine.

As well as some food for thought:
🤔 do you consider when you apply your leg aid in order to achieve the best musculature response and biomechanical effect?
🤔 when you do an exercise, either on the ground or ridden, do you consider why you are doing it? What movement your horse is doing and how they are achieving it?

30/05/2024

Yesterday, my last client of the day was this gorgeous girl 🥰 and she was so lovely to work with!
Polly had a routine MOT as she is gradually upping her work and her owner wanted to make she is feeling tip top 👌

11/05/2024

I hope everyone is making the most of the sunshine 🌞! This could be all we get 🤣

😎🐴🤎

08/05/2024

Pocket Rocket 🚀 looking fabulous and pointing her toes in the Badminton Horse Trials trot up 🩰.
Good luck to Kirsty and Rocket for the dressage on Friday! 🍀 Team Opposition

02/05/2024

Arrived back on Monday from a brilliant week at Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event 🇺🇸 with this beauty 🤎🐴. A massive thank you to Team Opposition for having me!

Straight back to a busy few weeks (and digging out Winter coats apparently 🥶). If anyone knows a sundance..... now is your time to shine! 🙏☀️

27/04/2024

XC Day at Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event ... the 5* kicks off 1.30pm 🇺🇸 7.30pm 🇬🇧.
Here is a snap shot of the course from our walk yesterday.
Good luck Betty and Kirsty 🍀🐎 Team Opposition

22/04/2024

Very excited to be at Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event 🇺🇸 to support Betty and Kirsty ( Team Opposition ) 🍀🐎 . Betty looks in fab form thanks to supergroom Sarah-Jane Tetlow.

I have access to WiFi and best to contact me through WhatsApp or email. I will respond to messages as quickly as possible. (I'm back Monday 29th).

08/04/2024

This chilled little chap was particularly enjoying the last part of his maintenance session last week 😴🐴

Why do we do maintenance or follow-up sessions?

Well, the primary reason is to monitor your horse and catch any changes as early as possible. Prevention is better than cure.

We evaluate if there are any dynamic changes, if there is any change in tissue when we palpate. Are they sore in an usual area? Have they changed their posture or how the look in their body?

The benefit of regular check ups is that it allows us to get to know your horse (and you as owners) and work out what is "normal" for them.

The frequency of sessions or duration inbetween can vary depending on work load, underlying conditions, any current pathology/injury and age. Equally, changes detected by you, as owners, may influence being seen sooner rather than later.

Then, there are always the ones that are a bit accident prone 🤕 that may need some extra special attention 😆.

19/03/2024

The glitz and glamour of being a physio. If I'm not covered in hair, dirt, mud and/or hay, with a spritz of eau de horse, it's probably been a quiet day 😆

01/03/2024

Happy 1st day of Spring! 🌼
I hope you have all enjoyed the thunderstorm ⛈️, winds, sleet and cold 🥶 that today has brought (don't forget the mud!!).
No, this photo was not taken today but when we had a thing called sunshine.
Here's to complaining about the heat and flies.
Keep going, it's nearly here 🤞🙏

21/02/2024

A great day out with Team Opposition at World Class training (once I made it through the torrential rain 🌧 driving up). All the girls looked 👌 and ready to start the season shortly.

19/01/2024

I don't know if it's just me?.. But I seem to be constantly glued to various weather apps at the moment to try and pre-plan the 🐴's exercise.

Variety within exercise programmes is great. Coming up with a programme that includes cross-training and surface variety, whilst trying to make sure ridden work is combined with non-ridden work, some cardio, some strengthening, conditioning, core and suppling work..... and then throw in the British Winter weather 🤯😵‍💫

However, here are a few considerations whilst we seem to yo-yo between extreme bursts of weather at the moment 🌧❄️🌧❄️🌞🌪🌧

We do want our horses to train on a variety of surfaces but we need to think about the type of surface and amount of work we are doing on it. Especially, if the horse is not conditioned to the type of work or surface, as this is when there is a higher risk of injury!

Arena surfaces have taken a bit of a battering recently and if you find yours is frozen or very wet (or maybe you are having to do more roadwork out hacking).... think about how you could adjust the session to still get something physically and mentally out of it for your horse.

Could you do (this applies to those that do and don't have access to an arena):
🐴 an in hand or long rein session
🐴 work over walk poles
🐴 lots of walk/halt transitions and forward/collect transitions within walk
🐴 lateral work
🐴 work on steps of rein back

Just a few ideas 💡 but I would love to hear if there is anything else you particularly do?

17/01/2024

Thank you Celtic Equine Vets Limited for a great in-person CPD evening. Kirsty and Melita gave two interesting talks aimed at engaging musculoskeletal practitioners and encouraging a team approach.
As physios, we work closely with vets (and other members of the care team) to ensure the best outcome for your animals 🐴🐶

13/01/2024

📢There is some appointment availability Friday 19th and Wednesday 24th📢
Please drop me a message if in need. 😊

25/12/2023

Merry Christmas 🎄 everyone!

Thank you to all my lovely clients for your support this year and see you in 2024!

24/12/2023

Christmas 🎄 is a time for giving and one of my lovely regulars thought he would share his haynet with me on Friday 😆 🎁
It's not a glamorous job but I love ❤️ it. 🐴

24/11/2023

When your own pony finally gets "booked" in a little treat 😆

Some availability for appointments in December from Friday 8th. If anyone is in need of maintenance or a Winter check up.

17/11/2023

All set up for a day of CPD at the London Vet Show 🤓☕️🐴🐶

16/11/2023

Time for a well earned holiday for my little Ginger monster 🧡🐴.
She has had a lovely well-rounded education the last few months. Elsie even managed to have her first little outing to Braishfield indoor for a loose jump, followed by a little ride once she removed some of her "energy".
Let's see what next year brings..... 😬🤞

06/11/2023

If Carlsburg made clients..... 🫶😆 Roary is a delight to work with!

28/10/2023

Good luck to Kirsty, Betty and Rocket today on the XC at Les 5 étoiles de Pau 🐎🤞 🍀!
Final event of the year for this gorgeous pair and Team Opposition.

28/10/2023

An important message! 📢 Especially on these dark, dismal Winter days. Keep you and your 🐴 safe!

The power of Hi-viz - this horse and rider were some distance down the road, you can clearly see the rider but the horse is not so easy to see.
Without wearing any hi-viz at all on a dreary day like today it would have been very difficult to see them. There really is no excuse not to wear at least something that makes it easier for drivers to see you, after all we're the first ones to moan if they don't slow down so let's give them plenty of time to do so!

18/10/2023

Maybe not her best angle but just one of the happy customers I had the pleasure of working with today! 😴🤍🐴

Although we seem to be heading rather quickly into Winter ☹️, it's a good time to make some assessments. Have you achieved what you want to this year? Are there improvements to be made? Have you got any goals/aims for next year? Have you noticed any changes in your horses behaviour, posture or movement?

It's a good opportunity to work with your horses care team to address any issues, work together towards next year and most importantly.... make sure your horses are feeling tip top 👌😊

National Association of Veterinary Physiotherapists (NAVP)

06/09/2023

It's not often you get to physio a real life unicorn! 🦄 Also, a sleepy one at that! 😂 (it was the end of the session 😴)

30/08/2023

No better way to end the day than mooching about the forest with my own 🐴 after getting to treat some lovely ponies today!

26/07/2023

Today, I swapped 🐴 for 🐄 in support of Team MacLean at the New Forest Show (and being a 🧚‍♀️ Godmother).
Lovely Batch Skylar (pictured) came home with a 🥈👏 and enjoyed some scratches.
So much effort goes into getting these animals prepped for shows! However, now back to my normal four-legged friends.

09/06/2023

Useful advice for those out and about this weekend! 😎

Scientist dedicated to animal health and welfare. Interests include evidence!

16/05/2023

Everyone knows I have a soft spot for a 🧡!
It's been great working with the gorgeous Mila and her owner over the past couple of years. I love working with owners to help them achieve their goals and make sure the 🐴 are feeling tip-top in the process.

A visit from our lovely physio .james.25 tonight for some fine tuning for Mila ahead of our trip to Exmoor. Mila is improving every time she has a visit with Alice, and she's paid a huge part in our success this year.

I haven't posted about Golden Horseshoe much lately as I haven't been wanting to jinx anything. A little superstition setting in perhaps?

We waited until almost the last minute to enter, which isn't ideal for ride organisers but I was rather torn between going for the 1 day 80km or the 2 day 120km.
Physio approval has put a few fears to rest, and we've been aiming for the 120km Exmoor Stag all spring, so I'm trying to stop doubting us, and we're going to give it our best shot!

16/05/2023

The lovely Ruby enjoying some soft tissue work as part of her treatment and having a few stretches and releases inbetween snoozes 😴