Rehabilitation Stories

First horse rehabilitation.

Meet Sweet Boy. He is a true gentleman and is as kind as they come. He came to me as a strong and solid boy with a health issue that makes him unrideable. He has THO, or Temporohyoid Osteoarthoropathy. The nerves for the body are all tied to the hyoid in one way or another so when his symptoms worsened, he presented with severe neurologic difficulties. Even in his time here, he has gone through a lot and continues to come out on top. An important part of rescue and rehabilitation for all of my equines is individualized care. However, all of them receive osteopathic bodywork, veterinary care, farrier care, and exercise routines that are tailored to each equine’s needs and abilities. He now loves engaging with people to the point that he may be considered for equine therapy in some cases.

Upper left: Pre-adoption, upper right: First day in his second boarding home, lower: Current photo

Rehabilitation for broken leg.

He had a spiral fracture in his left front leg and was splinted and high lined for months. As it slowly healed, we began slowly introducing him to stretches for strengthening and flexibility, walking, moving up to trotting. He spent all summer in rehab and is now doing really well. He is ridden regularly and has had time to be a horse again before going back to work. As a result of this time, I have gained confidence in working slowly from the ground up during the rehab process.

The start of abscess care.

Abscesses are very common in some horses and less common or non-existent in others. In this case, he had this first abscess since adoption and has dealt with some very significant ones that took weeks to months to heal fully from. As a result, learning how to perform the care needed for minor things like this became very important. Teaching each equine how to tolerate treatments has also allowed for resolution of various ailments including abscesses.