Initial Assessment & Treatment $100
I ask that I treat a minimum of 3 horses if appointments are more than an hour as I do not charge a trip fee
Includes full history of the horse to be taken, conformation assessment, locomotion assessment, hands on assessment, treatment and aftercare advice.
Please allow around 1 hour for an Initial Assessment and treatment, although the treatment time is appropriate for each individual horse and may sometimes take longer.
Initial Assessment & Treatment
Has your horse developed a reluctance to be tacked up or even to come to you to be caught in the paddock?
These may all be signs that your horse has restrictions in their muscles and fascia and is therefore experiencing discomfort, pain and possibly compensatory locomotion.
Some horses may even appear lame due to fascia and muscular tension as they begin to use their bodies differently to avoid using the contracted muscle.
An Initial Assessment will allow Jess to assess your horse and find where these restrictions lie and devise a treatment plan to help your horse become more comfortable again.
An Initial treatment can then be administered during the appointment.
Benefits of an initial assessment and treatment include:
- Identification of problem areas
- Initial Treatment of any problem areas
- Begin to release Trigger / Stress points
- Release restrictions in the fascia making the horse instantly more comfortable
- Aid recovery from previous trauma
- Reduce swelling and fluid within the soft tissues
- Optimise the conditions in the body to allow it to heal itself
- Relieve psychological stress
- Increase flexibility & freedom of movement
- Improve posture
- Provide owner with simple exercises that can benefit the horse and keep them comfortable between appointments
Rehab & Remedial Course of Treatments
If particular musculo-skeletal problems are identified during the initial assessment e.g. crookedness, back pain, stiffness, specific conditions, after a fall.
Jess may suggest a remedial massage course with very regular treatments for several weeks.
During this time, the expertise of farriers, saddlers, chiropractors etc, may also be sought as appropriate. (Please note, that massage is not a substitute for veterinary attention).
Benefits of a course of treatments include:
- Reduces healing time and aids recovery
- Removes lactic acid from the muscles
- Helps to mobilise joints
- Reduces and relaxes muscle tension
- Releases trigger / stress points, which can be the sole cause of other problems and often take more than one treatment to fully release
- Increases the horse’s range of movement and suppleness
- Reduces crookedness and helps develop muscles more evenly
- Prevents muscles shortening which occurs after muscle injury
- Reduces scar tissue from the muscle
- Prevents muscle wastage after injury
Prehab & Maintenance Treatment
If your horse has no specific restrictions or areas of tension found in their initial assessment, or if they have completed a remedial course and are now in good shape, they will benefit greatly from regular maintenance treatments to help keep them comfortable, performing at their best and to help prevent overuse injuries.
Benefits include:
- Removal of lactic acid which causes fatigue
- Releases muscle spasms or trigger points
- Improves muscle tone
- Improves muscle flexibility, suppleness and elasticity
- Reduces risk of pulled muscles
- Reduces risk of repetitive strain/overuse injury
- Minimises stiffness
- Improves and reduces muscle atrophy
- Induces rapid cell renewal and tissue repair
- Speeds up recovery
- Increases joint range of movement
- Helps keep joints flexible
- Helps ease painful, sore joints
- Relaxes the nervous system
- Assists in proprioception
- Improves co-ordination and balance
- Reduces crookedness and helps develop muscles more evenly
- Relaxes the horse’s mind and body
- Improves coat and skin condition