Equine Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation

Our board-certified veterinary sports medicine and rehabilitation specialists offer care and support of the equine athlete with the latest diagnostic, therapeutic, and rehabilitation techniques from birth through retirement; training through competition; and injury through rehabilitation. Offering both in-house and on-farm services, we come equipped with the latest knowledge, equipment, and technology for comprehensive care of your equine partner.

We also offer a full-service inpatient equine rehabilitation service for horses needing post-operative rehabilitation or musculoskeletal recovery. If your horse requires inpatient care, a rehabilitation specialist will walk your horse through exercises and applied therapies daily, tailoring their care routine to their progress.

Services

• Acupuncture
• Assistance with physical or behavior issues that limit your equine athlete
• Chiropractic
• Diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal injuries
• Joint injections
• Lameness work-ups
• Mesotherapy
• Pre-purchase examinations
• Poor performance evaluations
• Regenerative therapies (IRAP, PRP, ProStride, and bone marrow-derived stem cells)
• Rehabilitation consultations
• Rehabilitation services (in house)
• Saddle fit
• Therapeutic management of neck and back pain
• Ultrasound-guided procedures

Specialized technology

• Blood flow restriction therapy is being safely used as a progressive clinical rehabilitation tool in the process of return to heavy-load exercise for a variety of human conditions including knee osteoarthritis, soft tissue injuries, and geriatric sarcopenia. Use in horses has demonstrated increases in growth hormone release, muscle mass, short-term muscle oxidative capacity, and tendon stiffness.
• Cryotherapy helps horses working through injury recovery by decreasing blood flow to the affected area, cooling soft tissues, slowing the inflammatory response, and reducing pain.
• Equine underwater treadmill: Helps horses with various injuries to improve muscle and core strength, decrease weight bearing on an injured healing limb, and increase joint range of motion, playing an important role in individualized musculoskeletal rehabilitation.
• EQ Press: A pneumatic compression device that works to move swelling and edema out of the limb, reducing inflammation.
• Kinesiotape: Kinesiology tape is an elastic therapeutic tape that has been used in the treatment of sports injuries and for relieving pain in humans and is being used increasingly in horses.
• Laser therapy can be used for wound healing, tendon/ligament injuries, pain modulation, muscle tears, and to decrease inflammation and swelling.
• Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) is a small, battery-operated device with electrodes applied directly to the horse’s skin to stimulate muscle contractions, treating muscle loss and weakness.
• Percussion massage minimizes muscle soreness and tension, increase circulation, improve flexibility, and promote relaxation.
• Rapid release therapy releases myofascial trigger points to increase circulation, relax muscles, and reduce pain.
• Shockwave therapy: A therapeutic modality that uses sound waves to stimulate healing in wounds, tendons, ligaments, and bony structures by increasing blood flow, growth of new blood vessels, and production of natural healing factors.
• Therapeutic ultrasound increases circulation, contractility of muscle fibers, and extensibility of tissue, and enhances cellular repair and decreases inflammation.
• Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is a small, battery-operated device with electrodes applied directly to the horse’s skin that uses electrical energy to modulate pain, providing acute and chronic pain relief.

We partner with the hospital’s equine diagnostic imaging service to provide advanced imaging technologies and services to our clients. Outpatient imaging on the Qalibra platform is offered through the equine diagnostic imaging service and can be requested by both clients and veterinarians by completing the Qalibra outpatient request form.