Sian Dixon Veterinary Physiotherapy

It is extremely important to check the physio you choose has the correct qualifications!

Proud to be RAMP 💚💙

‘Owners need to take some responsibility’: calls for equestrians to do their ‘homework’ when choosing who treats their horse - read full story below...

Whilst the heat is restricting what we can do with our horses and dogs, why now get on top of their physiotherapy!

Whether your animal is recovering from an injury, managing a long term condition, or simply due a maintenance session, now is a great time to book in!

Send a message to book in 📩📞

As always, evening appointments are available upon request 🌙

*** HARD GROUND ***

We have had barely any rain for weeks, if not months. Unless it’s been consistently watered, the ground everywhere will be hard.

I have seen some very worrying “advice” on social media over the past couple of weeks, recommending cantering/galloping and jumping on the hard ground as a way to condition your horse’s legs to it. NO!!!!! You CANNOT condition a horse’s joints to hard ground! The more you canter and jump on hard ground, the more you will hammer the joints and help your horse get arthritis! Please do not listen to anyone advising you to condition your horse’s legs to hard ground, unless you want your horse to head towards steroid injections or early retirement. Cross training your horse (riding on a variety of surfaces) is good for legs, but hammering around on hard ground is not!

The ground, certainly in my area, is currently like concrete. PLEASE think twice about jumping/cantering in fields at the moment, as it’s almost the equivalent of jumping your horses on the road. If you are struggling to keep your horses/ponies fit, and can’t use or hire an arena, then trotting steadily up hills out hacking is a great alternative. Or just lots of hacking in walk to keep them ticking over until we get some much needed rain!
I’ve seen horses this week who are simply jarred up/foot sore from being turned out on this hard ground, so try not to add to the concussion by making them work on the rock hard ground....

Photo of Johnnie back in 2021 , jumping double clear in the 3* Long at Hartpury, where the ground was outstanding!

Feel free to share, but not to copy and paste my words.

WILL YOUR HORSE OVERHEAT IF YOU LEAVE IT OR TURN IT OUT WET? Dr David Marlin

*** PLEASE SHARE - HELP BUST THE MYTH ***

This myth still seems to be doing the rounds so let's bust this one. It's an easy one to bust.

THE SHORT ANSWER IS NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT! If you want the explanation, read on....

When you get out of the sea or a swimming pool or even the shower do you start to heat up? No, you immediately start to feel cooler as the water on your skin starts to evaporate. Evaporation is especially fast in warm-hot, dry, sunny and windy conditions!

If you turn your horse out wet it will actually continue to keep them cool as the water held in the coat (around 2-3 litres on average horse) continues to evaporate.

Ahh, but "what about if the humidity is 100% I hear someone say? at 100% humidity water will not evaporate and the horse will be insulated and unable to lose heat!" WRONG!

The ability of water to conduct (move) heat from the horses' skin to the coat surface where it can be lost by convection, is actually BETTER than that of air. At 40°C water conducts heat over 20x better than air. That means it moves heat from the skin through the coat to the surface of the coat over 20x faster than would happen through air within the coat if the horse was dry.

BOTTOM LINE - There is no situation where leaving your horse wet in any warm-hot environment which will lead it to risk being overheated more than if it was dry.

PLEASE SHARE & HELP BUST THIS MYTH!

Limited availability throughout June ☀️

Evening appointments are available on other days 🗓️

Get in touch to book in 📞

I’ve been approved my RAMP for another year 🤩

Being a member of RAMP means I am held to a very high standard for ongoing CPD, professional conduct, ethical conduct and much more!
RAMP are continuously campaigning to improve the standard of physiotherapists to give owners confidence that they are choosing the best practitioner for their pets 🐾

As a veterinary physiotherapist, I am proud to be a member of RAMP and committed to delivering the best physiotherapy possible 🐴🐶

🌸 May Availability 🌸

The warm weather has finally arrived!
Get booked in for a physiotherapy session in time for summer!
I have very limited availability for May and June so get booked in quickly!

Such a great event of your looking for specialists in the area! 🤩
Sad to be missing it this year!