Physio too rough with horse?

[SMIS]

Hi everyone,

I recently had a well respected physio see my horse twice with a third visit scheduled. Each session has been 4 weeks apart. They are highly recommended and well respected.
My question is this - when I watched the treatment my horse looked uncomfortable and scared and it looked like during the treatment it hurt him/was causing discomfort but he seemed ok immediately after. In the second treatment it seemed to make the horse angry. He kept pawing at the ground with his front legs and making odd sounds like breathing wasn't too easy. It was upsetting to watch but I told myself it could be a bit of pain to release a muscle to make things better for him. I'm due to set up the third appointment and I'm delaying arranging it as I don't like to see him in discomfort as he hates the treatment.
What are everyone elses experiences of physio? How did your horse react? Was it a gentle massage or did they get roughed up? Does it have to be a bit brutal to work? Thanks.

 

[Goldenstar]

Did you ask the physio ?
Certainly horses who have issues can find physio quite painful ( as I do in fact sometimes I have to stop my myself jumping up and running off ) .
What the physio working on ? As in what muscles are giving this pain response and why ?
What are you doing with the horse in between ?
It's my experience that physio works best when you understand exactly what the physio is doing to what muscles and why and what's leading to those muscles being sore .
Most good physio will leave you with exercises to do with the horse ridden and unridden .

 

[SMIS]

Did you ask the physio ?
Certainly horses who have issues can find physio quite painful ( as I do in fact sometimes I have to stop my myself jumping up and running off ) .
What the physio working on ? As in what muscles are giving this pain response and why ?
What are you doing with the horse in between ?
It's my experience that physio works best when you understand exactly what the physio is doing to what muscles and why and what's leading to those muscles being sore .
Most good physio will leave you with exercises to do with the horse ridden and unridden .

No I didn't ask him, I felt a bit stupid really about my lack of knowledge and didn't want to offend him. He is working on his back and neck as he said he had sore muscles here and sore deep into the muscles. A saddle fitter sold me a saddle which was too long and the horses recent misbehaviour has been attributed to poor saddle fit. The physio is working on where the back of the saddle sat and the very top of his neck (atlas?) where his neck and head meet. After the prescribed rest period I have been doing light hacking and light schooling - we are both lazy and don't work hard or properly there is no contact or collection or anything pretty we just mooch about the fields enjoying each others company. I think I need to have a chat with the physio about the pain level.

 

[FfionWinnie]

You'll need to ask the physio, what type of horse is it and is it improving after the sessions or not?

I joke with my physio that I have to lie on my hands to stop myself whacking her one its so painful at times!

 

[poiuytrewq]

There is a certain physio in my area who lots of people including my work place used. I used to hold a horse for regular treatments (my current horse now!) I'd never seen him so scared and nervous. She was brutal.
As soon as he was mine I used someone different and had far better results and he's much happier.

 

[Nicnac]

we are both lazy and don't work hard or properly there is no contact or collection or anything

Understand that saddle was the initial problem but if you are not working your horses muscles properly then you are not helping your horse and he will likely continue to experience muscle issues through being ridden.

As to the pain - it can hurt but as you say you need to have a chat about the pain level to understand why horse is so sore and also ask for exercises to avoid your horse getting too sore in the future.

 

[SullivanB]

sounds like they are going in a little hard too soon. The pressure should imcrease grandually as the horse exhales. some areas are always a bit uncomfortable though - like the hip flexors.

 

[only_me]

a Physio massage is painful, not something I'd usually go for as a relaxing day out lol. Spa therapist yes!

Physio is working at the problem, which usually hurts. Too much force however and it tips the balance from uncomfortable to pain, and at that stage then you can be doing more harm than good.

It does depend though on area, Physio did horse other day & stretched SI - horse isn't a vocal horse but I was shocked when he let out a HUGE groan and I admit to laughing as it was so weird, Physio was amazed! He obviously needed that release!

Tbh if all you do is mooch Around on a loose contact is it worth getting such a long series of Physio? Change the saddle to one that fits and then the muscles should gradually ease out