Vet physio salary

[breebree191]

Hi everyone, im looking into training as a equine sports massage therapist and then becoming an equine physio. I know this is self employed, but can anyone give me an average salary? Im worried about not earning enough to live after spending the thousands on the training!

Thanks!

 

[Shay]

There is a good article on becoming and animal physio here https://www.caw.ac.uk/careers/veterinary-physiotherapist/?cookie-updated=true Starting salaries look to be about 18.5k rising to about £25K for more experienced practitioners in employment. All teh way up to £65K for a consultant. Self employed charge £25 - £70 per appointment - but don't forget t factor in insurance, CPD, mileage etc.

 

[SEL]

Hi everyone, im looking into training as a equine sports massage therapist and then becoming an equine physio. I know this is self employed, but can anyone give me an average salary? Im worried about not earning enough to live after spending the thousands on the training!

Thanks!

To be a fully qualified Equine Physio you need to qualify as a human physio first.

 

[teddypops]

You don’t have to qualify as a human physio first to be a veterinary physio.

 

[breebree191]

To be a fully qualified Equine Physio you need to qualify as a human physio first.

No you dont plenty of people are successful without doing people first. The girl i use is very successful and isnt qualified to treat people.

 

[TPO]

I don't understand the hang up that you have to be a human physio before you can be a "proper" equine physio.

No one expects their vet to have qualified as a doctor first or their EDT to be a dental surgeon!

*disclaimer* NOT a physio of any type

 

[Elbie]

I don't understand the hang up that you have to be a human physio before you can be a "proper" equine physio.

No one expects their vet to have qualified as a doctor first or their EDT to be a dental surgeon!

*disclaimer* NOT a physio of any type

We had a seminar given by a vet who said where someone is carrying out manipulation you would want them to have studied on humans first because while learning the technique a human can say "ow that hurts" or "that doesn't feel right" whereas an animal can't. You can learn the 'feel' of things first from a human who can communicate the issue, how the manipulation feels etc

 

[Batgirl]

I don't understand the hang up that you have to be a human physio before you can be a "proper" equine physio.

No one expects their vet to have qualified as a doctor first or their EDT to be a dental surgeon!

*disclaimer* NOT a physio of any type

It's not a hang up - it used to be that there was no other way to qualify, you qualified to be a physio and then you could specialise in veterinary. Now you can take Veterinary Physio as a specialist degree.

 

[SEL]

No you dont plenty of people are successful without doing people first. The girl i use is very successful and isnt qualified to treat people.

Unfortunately the job title 'physiotherapist' is not a protected title so it can be used by pretty much anyone. Whilst some of the individuals might be excellent at what they do, you need to check their qualifications to determine whether they are actually a trained physiotherapist. They should be a member of ACPAT if they are. Other training is available, but it doesn't lead to a physiotherapist qualification.

I would only use a properly trained physio / chiro / osteo to manipulate me and all of my injuries and I am just as careful who I use on my horse. I actually use a trained chiro who I have absolute faith in, but my own physio (treats me, but also treats horses) gets very concerned over the number of unregulated 'physios' out there happily trusted to manipulate horses with very little to no knowledge of the horses skeletal or muscular structure. The reason they train as human physios first is because it is a proper degree level course covering all elements of anatomy, followed up by practical supervised work experience. Only then do they expand their knowledge to horses, dogs etc. I'm sure you could miss out the human element, but I don't think there are any courses on offer out there that give the same depth for just horses.

Let's remember vets go through as rigorous a training procedure as any doctor and EDT's can't perform any procedure on a horse which would encroach onto veterinary medicine without a vet being there.

 

[SEL]

It's not a hang up - it used to be that there was no other way to qualify, you qualified to be a physio and then you could specialise in veterinary. Now you can take Veterinary Physio as a specialist degree.

Interesting - just looked that up. Now going to annoy my physio by asking if that's one of the degree courses she was ranting about last time I saw her!!

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

OP if you talk to any qualified equine physio you will find that they will all tell you that they are also qualified in human physio which they did first. You can go on holiday for 2-3 weeks & do a course there & come back with a certificate, you can probably do a course in farriery as well at the same time but you will struggle finding anyone who will allow you to work on their horse.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

With the sheer number of people who think that they can become an equine physio and earn money is astounding. The market is going to be so flooded with them soon you won't be able to throw a stick without hitting one!

It's like lawyers in America. There are that many of them now they have too many and not enough jobs for them.

 

[AFB]

It will very much depend on your qualifications and once qualified, experience. It's not great in terms of pay scales, and it takes it's toll physically so not likely to be something you'll be working in to your 60's.

To become an ACPAT physio you do need to be human qualified first and I'd imagine the title commands a higher fee.

You no longer need to follow this route as there is now NAVP as an accreditation but you may find those who look for an accreditation are slow to move from ACPAT to NAVP.

I personally wouldn't touch anybody with a lesser qualification with a bargepole as a 'physio'.

(That being said we have a local ACPAT physio that I wouldn't let touch a hair on my horse, so it's always very much down to the person as well as the qualifications)

 

[flying_high]

OP if you talk to any qualified equine physio you will find that they will all tell you that they are also qualified in human physio which they did first. You can go on holiday for 2-3 weeks & do a course there & come back with a certificate, you can probably do a course in farriery as well at the same time but you will struggle finding anyone who will allow you to work on their horse.

That is because until a few years ago the only way to be a chartered equine physio was to qualify in people first, and then to the additional qualification.

A few years ago, a 3-4 year course to be a vet physio opened. You needed to have existing equine and therapy experience as course started at a fairly high level.

Those who passed were chartered equine physios.

 

[teddypops]

You don’t have to be a human physio first. You can be a veterinary physio. As with everything though, before you use someone, check their qualifications.

 

[gallopingby]

The difference between qualified and a short course is in the term 'chartered' lots of people are now doing varying levels of courses but in order to become fully qualified and registered with a required CPD history, and in order to obtain an appropriate level of insurance etc and recognition from the veterinary profession who you'l be required to work alongside you'll need to go down the chartered route.

 

[Orangehorse]

You don’t have to qualify as a human physio first to be a veterinary physio.

No you don't, but what when you get to 50 and you are really feeling the physical demands of treating horses every day, and the travelling, and would prefer to do a bit less so you could expand the human side with less wear and tear on your own health.

 

[Quigleyandme]

The rider is often wonky and may have contributed to the wonkyness of the horse or vise versa. I notice how lop-sided riders are when I am following them in my car or on pleasure rides. It is alarming how many riders I see collapsed over one hip and often pulling the saddle over to one side. Treating the horse in isolation can be futile if the rider is going to undo that work as soon as the horse starts ridden work again. Ideally, horse, human and saddle all need to be assessed holistically.

 

[teddypops]

No you don't, but what when you get to 50 and you are really feeling the physical demands of treating horses every day, and the travelling, and would prefer to do a bit less so you could expand the human side with less wear and tear on your own health.

Not relevant. That could apply to lots of professions!

 

[be positive]

Not relevant. That could apply to lots of professions!

It could but is a consideration, my local ACPAT physio has given up completely due to the physical demands and she is well under 50 and the one I now use is only doing a few horses alongside human treatment, again because she was finding it physically too much, both use their hands rather than machines and are not impressed by the new trend to let machines do the work which seems to be becoming more popular.

 

[TPO]

You don't have to be a ACAPT physio to do this.

There are Veterinary Physios who have gone on to study for human qualifications so they can treat both and/or a side line and a local McTimoney-Corely therapist also qualified in humans and I believe worked on humans at the Olympics.

As an aside way back in 2008 when I was on the McTimoney-Corely course there was a vet, a physio and an osteo. The physio and osteo had specifically gotten degrees in the human equivalent with the view to doing horses. They all said the equine course of their degrees were useless and had dropped out to do that course instead.

When I was doing Equine Body Work training again back in 2009 there were qualified osteos and physios on that course who regretted doing their human degrees and wished they'd just done equinology instead.

I don't work as McT-C or EBW and don't have a dog in the fight but I just don't get the tunnel vision. There is good and bad in every field. The worst physios I've used were both ACAPT and the best physio by a mile is "only" a veterinary physio.

 

[SEL]

I definitely agree that there is good and bad in every field. I use the most amazing chiro on my horses and she isn't qualified to do humans. I also know the local ACAPT human and horse practice well (they do me) and they are extremely frustrated with the poorly qualified people passing themselves off as 'equine physios' now out there. I don't think its purely a case of them losing clients so much as some of these people are working on horses with underlying conditions without proper training or vet supervision. Its "just a massage" was what one of them was told when she questioned why someone was working on a horse who had just been diagnosed with severe kissing spine.

I did ask about the vet physio courses and their general view was some are a lot better than others (which applies to most courses really). Check the modules, check the instructors qualifications, check what qualification you'll end up with.

I guess ultimately we're the owners and have to take responsibility for who we let work on our horses.