The post Aromatherapy for Horses (Part II) first appeared on EquiHelp.

The post Aromatherapy for Horses (Part I) first appeared on EquiHelp.

The post Massage Gun first appeared on EquiHelp.

Why use equine lymphatic drainage? Equine lymphatic drainage can offer several benefits to horses. It helps to improve lymphatic circulation, reduce swelling and inflammation, enhance immune function, and promote overall well-being. It is often used as part of a comprehensive therapeutic approach for various conditions, including edema, post-injury recovery, and as a general wellness treatment.

When to use equine lymphatic drainage? Equine lymphatic drainage techniques can be used in different scenarios, including:

1. Post-injury or surgery: After an injury or surgical procedure, lymphatic drainage techniques can assist in reducing swelling, promoting healing, and aiding in the removal of waste products from the affected area.
2. Edema management: If a horse has edema (swelling), lymphatic drainage techniques can help reduce the accumulation of fluid and encourage proper fluid balance.
3. General wellness: Equine lymphatic drainage can be incorporated into a horse’s routine care to support overall health, enhance immune function, and promote detoxification.

How to perform equine lymphatic drainage? The specific techniques may vary, but they generally involve gentle, rhythmic movements that follow the direction of lymphatic flow.

Some common techniques used in equine lymphatic drainage include:

1. Manual lymphatic drainage: This technique involves gentle, rhythmic strokes and light pressure to stimulate the lymphatic vessels and encourage fluid flow.
2. Pumping movements: These movements are used to clear the lymphatic vessels and stimulate the lymphatic system. They typically involve rhythmic compressions and releases in specific areas.
3. Stretching and range of motion exercises: These techniques can be used in conjunction with lymphatic drainage to improve overall circulation and mobility.

Effects of equine lymphatic drainage: Equine lymphatic drainage techniques can have several positive effects, including:

• Improved lymphatic circulation: The techniques help to stimulate lymphatic flow, aiding in the removal of waste products and toxins from the body.
• Reduction of swelling and edema: By promoting fluid movement and drainage, lymphatic drainage techniques can help reduce swelling and edema in horses.
• Enhanced immune function: Lymphatic drainage supports the immune system by removing pathogens, toxins, and cellular waste, thereby promoting a healthier immune response.

Contraindications and precautions: While equine lymphatic drainage can be beneficial, there are a few considerations to keep in mind:

• Equine lymphatic drainage should be performed by individuals who are trained and experienced in the technique to ensure its safe and effective application.
• Infection or acute inflammation: Avoid performing lymphatic drainage on areas with active infections or acute inflammation, as it may worsen the condition or spread the infection.
• Open wounds or skin conditions: Be cautious when working around open wounds or severe skin conditions. It’s best to consult with a veterinarian before performing lymphatic drainage in these cases.
• Individual sensitivities: Horses may have individual sensitivities or reactions to the techniques or products used during lymphatic drainage. It’s important to monitor the horse’s response and discontinue if any adverse reactions occur.

The post Equine Lymphatic Drainage first appeared on EquiHelp.

The post The Epiony Thermal Wand first appeared on EquiHelp.

What’s wrong?

• Polo wraps are completely in the wrong place. They are uneven and far too small. It should be spread evenly up and down the entire length of the cannon bone.
• Polos must be applied tight enough to stay up but not tight enough to compromise blood supply. Incorrect application can damage the tendons.

 

This image shows a bowed tendon. A “bandage bow” (or a “wrap bow”) is damage to the tissues surrounding the flexor tendons caused by a bandage that has been applied too tightly or by a bandage that has slipped or rolled following application.

The standing wrap is the most basic bandage used on a horse, consist of an inner layer –usually cotton/combine cotton base, sheet, polyester knit or quilted fabric, with a bandage to hold it in place.

What’s wrong? – Too tight!

• Wrapping too tight creates pressure points.
• An overly tight bandage can cause pressure sores on your horse’s skin or damage to underlying soft tissues. In extreme cases, a too-tight bandage can compromise the blood supply to your horse’s skin, which can cause skin to die.

What’s wrong? – Too loose.

Wrapping too loose does not provide proper support, may slip down and possibly trip the horse. If your horse has a wound, dirt and debris can get inside the bandage.

What’s wrong?

• The angle of the bandage is too acute resulting in ripples and uneven pressure.

 

 

Just right: Wrap like this!

The post Horse Leg Wrapping first appeared on EquiHelp.

Various techniques can be used to cool horses when their body temperatures soar—for example, external cooling with water. But ensuring adequate hydration before starting a workout or competition is the best way to help minimize heat stress and dehydration. Horses can thermoregulate, but to do so effectively they must be adequately hydrated. Add electrolytes to your horse’s water to help him retain and distribute fluid, and focus on hydration to avoid heat stress and reduced performance.

Let Your Horse Drink

The better a horse is hydrated the better they can sweat and thermoregulate. Horses should be allowed to drink as much as possible before, during, and after exercise, especially with added electrolytes. Dehydration decreases the horse’s ability to move blood from muscles that generate heat to the skin where cooling occurs.

Horses can sweat 10-20 or more liters of sweat per hour (equivalent to 2.5-5 gallons), and they continue to sweat even while recovering from exercise. Keeping these horses hydrated, or rehydrating them after exercise, requires electrolytes. The ideal time frame for offering electrolytes in water is within one hour of the horse being trained. This produces some reservoir of water and electrolytes in the gastrointestinal tract that helps replace water and ions lost through sweating.

Prioritizing your horse’s hydration status will not only stave off heat stress but also improve the horse’s physical and mental performance.

Room-Temperature Water Better Than Ice for Rapid Cooling in Horses

The ice-cold water does cause some vasoconstriction of blood vessels in the skin, slowing the rate of heat transfer from body to environment. Putting coolers on horses should only be used after the horse is cooled down, which can be checked by rectal temperature.

The post The Best Way to Cool Your Horse? Hydration. first appeared on EquiHelp.

University of California, Davis, Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital staff members John Madigan, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, ACAW; Gary Magdesian, DVM, Dipl. ACVIM, ACVECC; and W. David Wilson, BVMS, MS, MRCVS, offer important tips to prevent heat-related problems in horses.

1. High environmental temperatures and related heat issues, including dehydration, exhaustion, and heat stroke, can occur in horses and can produce illness and death.
2. Provide water. Help your horse maintain hydration by always allowing free access to water. Have a water source while traveling. Obtain some clean five-gallon cans and fill them up with water before you travel. Electrolytes might be useful if the horse has been sweating excessively. Have a plan outlined by your veterinarian if you have not used electrolytes before. Only use electrolytes specifically made for horses.
3. Provide as much shade as possible.
4. Limit what you do with your horse during peak heat: ride in the early mornings when it is cooler; shorten your ride; go slower and provide frequent breaks for your horse, in shade; encourage your horse to drink whenever they want water.
5. Ventilation is key. If your horse lives in a barn with limited ventilation, try to arrange more air circulation by carefully placing a fan in front of the stall or in the aisle way.
6. Know signs of fatigue and overheating in your horse and stop before more severe signs of heat exhaustion begin.
7. Hose (spray) off your horse or pour water from a bucket over your horse. Cool water is fine, normal temperature (not hot) water is good, too. Evaporation produces cooling and continuous hosing is one of the most effective means of lowering body temperature.

Tips for Trailering in the Heat

If you need to trailer your horse:

– do so in the cool early morning or late evening hours when it is cooler;

– don’t leave your horse in a parked trailer, especially if there is no shade. Just as with a parked car, temperatures inside a trailer can rapidly reach 140°F and the horse can quickly develop heat stroke;

– provide as much ventilation and airflow as safely as possible on the road;

– be very careful with hauling foals—they appear to be even more susceptible to heat than adult horses.

The post Heat Advisory for Horses first appeared on EquiHelp.

Stretching is when you take a muscle or set of muscle beyond its resting length, make it longer or wider without tearing or breaking and free of pain. Involuntary stretching of your muscles is called pandiculation. It’s a behavior seen in most types of animals to relieve muscle tension and relax.

Stretching is important component of horse “fitness”:  improves balance and frees up movements, without risking premature effort from muscles which are in an inappropriate state of tonus. Stretching improves mobility, posture, muscle coordination, reduces the risk of injuries and muscle soreness,  increases Range of Motion, improves mechanical efficiency and overall functional performance, helps reduce or manage stress, reduces muscular tension and enhances muscular relaxation, promotes circulation, helps relieve pain and leads to a better overall “shape”!

There are 7 best types of Stretching: Static, Dynamic, Ballistic, Myofascial Release, Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation (PNF) and Functional Stretching. All of which can be helpful at certain time.

The most important general principle is that movements should be done slowly and smoothly and never stretches to the point of discomfort. After each stretch the body must be returned to the neutral or relaxed position before another repetition. A series of 3 repetitions is generally sufficient.

When to stretch?

• Daily – prevention and maintenance
• Before exercise, after warm-up
• After exercise/during cool down
• 2-3 times per day as part of rehabilitation plan
• After trigger point therapy and friction therapy
• Within general massage routine

Where to stretch?

• Horse has good footing
• Ground is not slippery or uneven
• In the stall
• The aisle (with mats), arena or outside on grass

How to stretch?

– Horse is warmed (lunging, warm hydrotherapy, walking, massaging). In cross ties (keep lead on hand for specific stretches) OR with a handler holding horse

– NO Contraindications, horse is in appropriate and relaxed mood

– Horse is standing square, get his balance

– Protect the joint: keep the joints in proper anatomical alignment to avoid putting stress on joint and joint structures

– NEVER grab or squeeze the tendons

– Stretches should be held 15-30 seconds or until horse “gives”

The post Stretching first appeared on EquiHelp.

In order to optimize function and reduce any existing disability in horses Equine Bodywork Therapist uses a variety of techniques, including cold and heat therapy.

Typically, this therapy works on a 1:3 cold to heat ratio. First, apply cold for one minute, then heat for three minutes, for a duration of 20 minutes.

In the previous post we talked about cold treatment, now let’s have a look at superficial heat.

SUPERFICIAL HEAT

Heat treatment promotes blood flow and helps muscles relax. Use for chronic pain. Typical recommendations for heat therapy are to delay application until at least 48 hrs after injury.

EFFECTS: Increases tissue temperature up to 3cm of depth. Increase metabolism of target tissues. Increases blood flow to the area, improving oxygenation and toxin removal. Increases tissue extensibility, thus decreasing joint stiffness and facilitating elongation of tendons if applied during stretching exercises. Tissue extensibility can be improved because of local heating; heat is an excellent precursor to stretching. The thermal effect of superficial heat reaches a depth of up to 3cm. If heating of tissues deeper than 3cm is indicated, therapeutic ultrasound should be considered, as it can affect tissues up to a 5 cm depth.

INDICATIONS: Subacute and chronic phases of healing, moist heat can improve circulation thereby increasing local metabolism, resulting in improved oxygenation and toxin removal. Decreases pain sensation. An increase in cutaneous blood flow will promote wound healing.

CONSIDERATIONS: Typical treatment time is 20 min. When stretching is the treatment goal, stretching should begin during or immediately after heating as the effect is short lived. Depending on the heat source, one or several towels are placed between the hot pack and skin to prevent burning. When using any heating modality, it is important to understand the depth of penetration of the heat produced. Superficial heating agents should be combined with exercise to provide a deep heating effect. Only ultrasound penetrates through the skin to the deeper structures such as joints, bursa, tendons, and muscles.

C/I: Decreased sensation; over an area of compromised circulation.

MODALITIES TO USE:

HYDROCOLLATOR HOT PACKS: these packs can become very hot 50-60°C, heavy toweling should be used between these packs and horse and another layer should be used to cover the pack to delay its cooling. Dry heat can raise surface temperatures to a greater degree, but moist heat can penetrate to a slightly deeper level of tissue.

NYLON-COVERED GEL WRAP: The wrap was heated to 40°C and applied circumferentially to the metacarpal region and was left in place for 30 min. The heat-treated leg will be 5°C warmer. The heat application also increasing the hoof temperature by 1.7°C.

SINGLE LEG WHIRLPOOLS: The water temperature should be between 40-45°C. If a tank is used, it must be plastic or rubber, never metal, to avoid shock hazard. The motor should be grounded and protected with a ground fault interrupter at the wall plug. For muscle soreness add 2 cups of EPSOM Salts to a bucked of warm water. Soak towels in the water, wring them out and place them on the sore area. The magnesium in EPSOM salts is an excellent muscle relaxant and sedative for the nervous system. An iodine concentrate added to the water will reduce the possibility of transmitting infections and aid in cleansing abraded skin.

MICROWAVEABLE HOT PACKS.

INSTANT HEATING PACKS.

ULTRASOUND FOR DEEP HEATING: Therapeutic ultrasound can be used to increase tissue temperature at depths ranging from 3-5 cm, without overheating the skin and superficial tissues. Sound waves create rapid oscillations that disrupt collagenous fibers and increase cell metabolism. Ultrasound combined with stretching exercises can elongate contracted fascia and reduce the restrictive effects of scar tissue.

The post Cold & Heat Therapy for Horses – Part II first appeared on EquiHelp.