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Equi-9 Veterinary Physiotherapy, Faccombe, Andover (2026)

04/01/2026

Happy New Year 🎊

We are back to work tomorrow 💪🏼 I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas break and I look forward to an amazing year ✨

24/12/2025

Wishing all my lovely clients and their animals a very Merry Christmas 🎄⛄

Thank you for all your support this year, and I look forward to seeing you all in the new year!

24/12/2025

🎄 Anatomy Advent - The Stifle 🎄

21/12/2025

🎄 Anatomy Advent Day 21 - The Hamstrings 🎄

In horses, the term “hamstrings” refers to a group of powerful muscles on the back of the hind limb and rump. They are larger and more complex than in humans because they drive propulsion and support the horse’s weight.

The main muscles included are:

•Biceps femoris

•Semitendinosus

•Semimembranosus

⚙️ Function

The hamstrings are essential for:

•Hip extension – pushing the hind leg backward

•Stifle (knee) flexion

•Propulsion – powering forward movement

•Collection and engagement in ridden work

•Stability of the hind limb during weight-bearing

Without strong hamstrings, a horse cannot move efficiently or powerfully.

Well-developed hamstrings are critical for:

•Jumping

•Dressage (collection, sitting, impulsion)

•Racing and speed work

•Trail and hill work

•Quick acceleration and turns

They are a major contributor to what riders call “engine power.”

Hamstrings are prone to injury because of their size and workload. These can include:

-Strains or tears (often from slipping or overexertion)

-Tying-up

-Soreness from poor conditioning or imbalance

-Secondary tightness due to back or pelvic issues

Signs of hamstring injury/soreness may include short stride, reluctance to engage behind, stiffness, or asymmetrical muscling.

21/12/2025

🎄 Anatomy Advent - The Sacrum 🎄

The sacrum is a single, rigid bone formed by the fusion of five sacral vertebrae in the adult horse.

It lies between the lumbar spine and the coccygeal (tail) vertebrae.

The sacrum is wedge-shaped, broad cranially and narrow caudally.

In young horses, sacral vertebrae are separate.
Fusion typically completes between 4–6 years of age, coinciding with skeletal maturity.

⚙️ Function

•Weight transmission: Transfers forces from the hind limbs to the vertebral column.

•Stability: Provides rigidity needed for propulsion and load bearing.

•Muscle attachment: Serves as an anchor for powerful epaxial, hypaxial, and pelvic muscles.

•Protection: Shields sacral nerve roots that contribute to hindlimb and pelvic organ innervation.

20/12/2025

🎄 Anatomy Advent Day 20 - The Pelvis 🎄

The equine pelvis is a bony ring that connects the hind limbs to the spine and supports locomotion, weight transfer, and (in mares) parturition.

🦴 Bones of the pelvis

Each hip bone is formed by the fusion of three bones:

1. Ilium

•The largest and strongest part
•Connects to the sacrum at the sacroiliac (SI) joint
•Key landmarks:
Tuber sacrale (“hunter’s bump” area)
Tuber coxae (“point of the hip”)
•Major attachment site for powerful hindquarter and back muscles

2. Ischium

•Forms the caudal (rear) part of the pelvis
•Includes the tuber ischii (“seat bone”)
•Important attachment for hamstring muscles
•Contributes to propulsion and engagement of the hind limbs.

⚙️Function of the equine pelvis

-Force transmission from hind limbs to the trunk

-Locomotion and performance (collection, jumping, acceleration)

-Shock absorption

-Protection of pelvic organs

-Reproductive function (pelvic shape and dimensions are especially important in broodmares).

🐎Biomechanics and performance

-The horse’s pelvis is long and narrow, favoring speed and stride length

-Limited flexibility but extreme strength

-Asymmetry or restriction can significantly affect:

-Hind-end engagement

-Straightness

-Canter quality

-Jumping power

Pelvic and pelvic-related issues may include:

-Sacroiliac joint dysfunction

-Pelvic fractures (often subtle and performance-limiting)

-Muscle strain at pelvic attachment sites

-Secondary back, hock, or stifle problems due to compensation

Signs often present as poor performance rather than obvious lameness.

20/12/2025

🎄 Anatomy Advent - The Sacroiliac Joint 🎄

The sacroiliac joint connects the sacrum (the fused vertebrae at the base of the spine) to the ilium (part of the pelvis). Horses have two SI joints, one on each side.

Unlike many joints, the SI joint has very limited movement. Its primary role is stability, not flexibility.

⚙️ Function

The SI joint is a major force-transfer hub in the horse:

•Transfers power from the hind limbs to the spine
•Stabilizes the pelvis during locomotion
•Supports collection, engagement, jumping, and acceleration
•Helps absorb shock from the hindquarters

Because of this, it’s critically important for performance horses.

The SI joint is deeply supported by very strong ligaments, including:

•Dorsal sacroiliac ligaments
•Ventral sacroiliac ligaments

And is surrounded by large muscle groups (gluteals, longissimus, hamstrings).

This heavy support makes the joint very strong, but also hard to image and diagnose.

SI issues are common but often underdiagnosed. Problems may include ligament strain, inflammation, or joint dysfunction.

Typical signs of SI joint dysfunction:

-Poor or uneven hind-end engagement

-Difficulty collecting or maintaining impulsion

-Resistance to transitions

-Crookedness or drifting behind

-Bunny-hopping canter or disunited canter

-Reduced performance without obvious lameness

-Sensitivity to palpation over the croup or tuber sacrale.

Because the SI joint links the hindquarters to the spine, dysfunction here can:

-Mimic hock, stifle, or back pain

-Lead to compensatory injuries

-Severely limit performance if untreated

20/12/2025

🎄 Anatomy Advent - The Glutes 🎄

The glutes are the big muscles over the horse's rump and they are the engine that drives almost everything your horse does.

There are three main muscles that make up the glutes:

1. The superficial gluteal - moves the hind limb outwards, and together with the other gluteal muscles, extends the hip - retracting the hind limb backwards.

2. The middle gluteal - gives the hindquarters their rounded shape and is the main powerhouse in this muscle group.

3. The deep gluteal - helps to stabilise and rotate the hip joint.

Together they act like a set of strong springs - storing and releasing energy as your horse moves.

⚙️ Function

• The main propulsive muscles
• Push the horse's body forward with each stride
• Lift and stabilise the hip joint
• Support collection and balance
• When the glutes are strong and working well, the water is able to move more powerfully, evenly and comfortably

Signs that your horse's glutes are weak or tight:

• A loss of impulsion from behind

• Shortened stride

• Difficulty engaging the hind end

• Soreness or resistance when ridden

Physiotherapy can help keep your horses, glutes, supple and strong - which is very important for performance and comfort ❤️

20/12/2025

🎄 Anatomy Advent - The External and Internal Abdominal Obliques 🎄

In horses, the obliques are part of the abdominal wall musculature. They play a key role in posture, movement, breathing, and support of the internal organs.
There are two oblique muscles on each side of the abdomen:

1. External Abdominal Oblique

•The outermost abdominal muscle
•Large, flat, and sheet-like
•Fibers run caudoventrally (from the ribs down and back toward the pelvis)

⚙️Function

•Supports abdominal organs
•Assists in expiration (breathing out)
•Helps flex the trunk and bend the body laterally
•Contributes to stability during movement, especially at speed

2. Internal abdominal Oblique

•Lies beneath the external oblique
•Slightly smaller and thicker
•Fibers run cranioventrally (opposite direction to the external oblique)

⚙️Function

Works with the external oblique to:
•Compress the abdomen
•Support viscera
•Assist breathing
•Important for rotational control and core stability

The opposing fiber directions form a crisscross pattern, which:

-Increases abdominal strength

-Allows controlled bending and twisting

-Stabilizes the spine during locomotion

-They act collectively with Transversus abdominis (deep core support) and Re**us abdominis (ventral trunk flexion).

Healthy obliques are essential for:

-Efficient collection and engagement

-Balance in turns and lateral work

-Reducing strain on the back and lumbar spine

-Supporting respiration during intense exercise

Weak or poorly conditioned obliques may contribute to:

-Hollowing of the back

-Reduced impulsion

-Increased risk of back pain

15/12/2025

🎄 Anatomy Advent Day 15 - The Lumbar Spine 🎄

The lumbar spine connects the thoracic region to the sacrum. It plays a major role in supporting the trunk, transmitting forces from the hindquarters, and allowing controlled flexion and extension of the back.

🐎Movement and biomechanics:

•Flexion and extension (rounding and hollowing of the back) occur mainly here.

•Lateral bending (side-to-side) is limited.

•Rotation is minimal.

•During locomotion—especially canter, gallop, jumping, and collection—the lumbar spine acts as a force transmitter between the hind limbs and the rest of the body.

The lumbar spine is often implicated in back pain, stiffness, and performance issues.

Common concerns include:

•Muscle strain or imbalance
•Reduced flexibility
•Articular facet joint pain
•Abnormal contact or fusion of transverse processes (sometimes called lumbar impingement)

Proper conditioning, saddle fit, rider balance, and progressive training all influence lumbar health.

A well-functioning lumbar spine allows the horse to lift the back, engage the hindquarters, and move with impulsion and suppleness.

Disciplines requiring collection (dressage), power (jumping), or speed (racing) place different—but significant—demands on this region.

14/12/2025

🎄 Anatomy Advent Day 14 - The Intercostal Muscles 🎄

Intercostal muscles are sheet-like muscles that fill the spaces between adjacent ribs.

They form a large part of the thoracic wall and are closely associated with the ribs, spine, sternum, and diaphragm.

Horses have three functional layers of intercostal muscles:

1. External intercostal muscles

•The outermost layer
•Fibers run 'caudo-ventrally' (down and back)
•Elevate the ribs
•Assist with inhalation
•Help stabilize the rib cage during movement

2. Internal intercostal muscles

•The middle layer
•Fibers run cranioventrally (down and forward)
•Depress the ribs
•Assist with exhalation, especially forced expiration

3. Innermost intercostal muscles

•Deepest layer
•Thinner and less distinct
•Acts collectively with internal intercostals
•Fine control of rib movement during breathing

⚙️Function

Respiration:

-Horses are obligate nasal breathers, so efficient thoracic expansion is essential.

-Control rib cage expansion and recoil.

-Work with the diaphragm to regulate tidal volume.

-During exercise, they become highly active to support increased oxygen demand.

Postural and locomotor support:

-Stabilize the rib cage during galloping, jumping, and turning.

-Help transmit forces between the forelimbs and trunk.

-Contribute to core stability, especially in coordination with abdominal and epaxial muscles.

Well-functioning intercostal muscles:

-Support efficient breathing under saddle

-Reduce energy loss during locomotion

-Help maintain thoracic symmetry and comfort

Dysfunction or restriction may contribute to:

-Reduced stamina

-Shallow or asymmetrical breathing

-Rib or thoracic pain affecting performance

Equi-9 Veterinary Physiotherapy

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