Cotswold Equine Physio

23/12/2025

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 🎄🖤

What an incredible second year and my first year full time! Thank you so much for your support this year - it truly means the world.
I feel very lucky to work with such wonderful people and horses every day.

Wishing you all a restful, cosy Christmas and a smooth, stress-free winter with your horses.
See you in the New Year,
Chloe x

indibaequine cotswoldhorses

17/12/2025

𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞: 𝟏𝟖𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 – 𝟏𝟐𝐭𝐡 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 ✨

I’ll be taking a much-needed break over Christmas and will reply to all messages once I’m back.
February appointments open on 11th January, so keep an eye out if you’d like to book in.

Thank you all for such a wonderful year - wishing you and your horses a warm, calm Christmas.
Chloe x

16/12/2025

🐴💉 𝐕𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 – 𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝟏 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔

Members, please be advised that from 1 January 2026, horses competing in National British Eventing competitions 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝟔-𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐲 𝐯𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

✅ 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠?
• Horses will require an annual booster every 12 months for National BE competitions
• 📋 Regular checks will take place at events
• ⚠️ Sanctions may apply if vaccination records are not compliant

ℹ️𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫
🌍 FEI competitions remain unchanged — FEI vaccination rules still apply if competing and/or stabling in FEI stables:
• 💉 Vaccinations every 6 months + 21 days

Please ensure your horse’s vaccination record is up to date before competing.

14/12/2025

As we approach the end of the year, I’d kindly ask that any outstanding invoices for 2025 are settled by 19th December.

Thank you so much - I really appreciate it.

13/12/2025

𝐀 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 🖤

There are 𝐧𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐣𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬, but 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 £𝟓𝟓 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 to bring everything in line with the updated session structure and the advanced services now included.

As my business continues to grow, I’ve refined my pricing to reflect the level of care I provide - including advanced clinical assessment, INDIBA radiofrequency therapy, Sleip AI gait analysis, targeted rehabilitation, dynamic assessments and detailed reporting within sessions.

𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝟏𝐬𝐭 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔.
𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐉𝐚𝐧𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬.

Thank you so much for your support, kindness and trust this year. I’m incredibly grateful to work with such amazing clients and horses - and I’m looking forward to supporting you all into 2026.

If you have any questions, I’m always happy to help.
Chloe ❤️

10/12/2025

𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 ⛄️ 🐎

Winter is one of the biggest disruptors of your horse’s movement patterns.
Cold weather reduces soft tissue elasticity, increases protective bracing through the thoracic sling and lumbar region and changes how horses load their limbs. Combine that with more stabling, slippier ground and reduced daylight and it’s no surprise so many horses feel tighter, shorter or less willing in their bodies.

Winter wellness isn’t just about “warming up”. It’s about understanding:
• How cold alters muscle function
• How reduced turnout affects proprioception
• How masking tension under rugs leads to missed early signs
• How posture changes when the horse is cold, wet or holding themselves defensively
• How subtle asymmetries become more obvious in winter

Supporting your horse now prevents the compensations we end up managing in February and March.

Small, consistent habits help more than people realise:
• 10–15 minute warm-ups
• Easy pole lines to maintain mobility
• Keeping the back warm before/after work
• Encouraging movement throughout the day
• Adapting workload based on footing and weather patterns

February appointments open 11th January.

10/12/2025

The not so perfect, perfect horses!

*** Why we must stop looking for the perfect horse ***

From an orthopaedic point of view, no horse is perfect. We must stop thinking that if we look hard enough, we’ll find the perfect horse. He/she doesn’t exist. All that happens is that we miss out on the “not so perfect” horse that actually would have been the perfect horse.

If we look hard enough, especially with our X-ray machines, we can find something wrong with every single horse. We will find some kind of change in a joint of most horses over the age of six or seven. Before anyone starts, that’s not because they have been started too young. I spend some of my spare time looking at the radiographs provided publicly for auctions, and I can always find something wrong. These are often unbacked 3 year olds.

I have posted before that X-ray changes often don’t correlate with pain, or even future pain/lameness.

In my opinion, X-rays should be used to plan what help the horse *may* require in the future, and not to write a perfectly sound horse off. And for the record, I’d never medicate the joint of a sound horse, based on radiographic changes alone.

I often hear people say that they’ve had 5 horses fail a vetting, and that the “perfect” horse must be out there. Actually, you’ve probably just missed that perfect horse. Obviously a horse that is lame at PPE (the vetting) is an absolute no. But a horse with some hock arthritis, or some close DSPs (“kissing spines”) that is currently out competing and has an uninterrupted competition record, may well have been your perfect horse.

I bought Johnnie as a 9 year old with significant hock arthritis. I took a chance, as his X-rays were very bad. He went on to be the most exceptional Event horse I have ever sat on, going from Novice to Advanced in two seasons, and then subsequently popping around 4*s like they were 90cm. His back X-rays were just as bad. He was the perfect horse.

X-rays are useful, but we must be incredibly careful with their interpretation. We must also be incredibly cautious when deciding if a horse’s behaviour is due to that pathology found on the X-ray, or whether it is just a sharp, fit horse. I am a vet, so will always question if a certain behaviour is due to pain, but I am also a horsewoman, so I don’t agree that every buck, rear, spook and nap is due to pain.

Photo of the not-so-perfect, yet absolutely perfect, Johnnie.

08/12/2025

✨ 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐆𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐀𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 ✨
Treat your horse-or someone else’s-to a session of dedicated physiotherapy, INDIBA treatment, or gait analysis this festive season.
Custom amounts available. Perfect for riders who want their horses feeling their very best going into the new year 🐎❤️

02/12/2025

🤔🐎 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 ‘𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭’ 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐲…

Some horses don’t present with a simple sore back.
They come with long histories, of multi limb issues, subtle patterns, layered compensations or a feeling that “something just isn’t quite right.”

Once a vet has assessed and with their consent, my approach to complex or chronic cases includes:
• Detailed case history
• Postural & movement assessment
• AI gait analysis (Sleip)
• Cervical, thoracic, lumbar & SI evaluation
• Limb ROM evaluation
• INDIBA radiofrequency therapy
• Clinical manual techniques
• Side-specific, function-specific rehab

No templates. No guesswork.
Just a structured, clinical approach for horses who need a deeper look.

𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 - 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭.

February appointments open 11th January 2026.

25/11/2025

𝐃𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐨 / 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 / 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬?

Because here’s something most people don’t realise 👇

Carrot stretches are not one-size-fits-all.
And if you do them on the wrong side, you can actually make your horse’s crookedness worse - or strengthen the wrong muscles entirely.

Every horse has their own pattern of:
• one-sided tightness
• one-sided weakness
• diagonal dominance
• ribcage drift
• sling imbalance
• neck restriction

A generic exercise sheet won’t fix that.

That’s why I assess each horse individually -
the direction of the stretch or strength exercise is just as important as the exercise itself.

I don’t publish “left vs right” rules, because it’s never generic.
It’s based on:
• palpation
• movement patterns
• diagonal load
• thoracic sling function
• neck mobility
• trunk asymmetry
• compensations

Your horse needs their side, not “both sides” or “3 each way”.

If you want a program that’s genuinely tailored to your horse’s biomechanics - and not some generic stretches - send me a message.
I’ll tell you exactly what YOUR horse should do, and more importantly… which side they should be doing it on 🐴💪

25/11/2025

Two recent papers in the EVE Journal were punlished on the effects of corticosteroid injection sin joints. They were meta-analysis, meaning they took information from over 600 papers about this topic into account. This means the outcome of a meta-analysis is more reliable as an "overall opinion of scientists" than a single paper. Both papers show clearly that 1 injection in a joint (when needed, because acute joint inflammation is present) might be beneficial, but that more than 1 injection in the same joint will cause cartilage damage and degeneration of the joint. Think about that when you do "regular joint maintainance" or inject multiple joints without a clear indication.

Your vet should know this information!