Physiotherapy helps the horse who is on box rest.
Your Physio can help from day one.
Treatment can reduce discomfort, reduce stiffness forming in muscles and joints, maintain core stability so the body is better prepared for when it’s time to come back into work. Also by giving the owner work to do with the horse in the box, help relieve boredom of both horse and owner.
Horses have to go on box rest when injured or after surgery to stop them moving in an uncontrolled manner. Horses react off instinct and if they were out in a field and either their nearby companions started to play around or something surprised them, they would run around – even if injured.
That uncontrolled movement impairs the healing process, further injures the area or damages a repaired operation site. Hence we place them in a small area to control their movement. But it does not mean they have to completely decondition.
Physiotherapy can also provide bespoke rehabilitation programs for when your horse starts to be walked out the box. Whether your horse was on rest from tendon, ligament injury, leg or back operation, colic op or a wound, physio rehab works to optimise healing and prepare the body for coming back into work.