23/03/2026
To Whom it may concern: This is my life as an equine physiotherapist and chiropractor:
I love my work, but…
Far too many horse owners waste valuable time when their horses aren't moving properly by doing nothing because they don't see the problem (or don't want to see it), or because they want everything done at once. They call me, and they expect a quick, immediate result. But what good is that result if they never see the path to get there or aren't willing to follow it? Time is not a measure of quality. The faster I get a horse fit again, the better I am at my job? NO! It's exactly the opposite and sometimes even not that. It is the quality that shows the quality.
There is no perfect, immediate treatment for, for example, horses that haven't fully recovered their balance or have a healed tendon injury. I see pictures and videos of lame horses, horses that are wobbly, don't yet have the desired musculature, scenes where riders stubbornly give incomprehensible aids or pull on the lunge line, preferably all with side reins, no suitable bridle, no suitable saddles, etc. "The physio/chiropractor will sort it out and then the horse will be sound again!!!!" I treat horses that are in pain, crooked, injured, have muscle problems and tendon injuries, are too thin or too heavy, etc. When I treat your horses, I don't perform quick fixes – because health, muscles, tendons, balance, and rhythm take time to function properly again. Targeted training and the owners' patience are crucial cornerstones of my work, but...
that's precisely why I often get unqualified, stupid comments. Sometimes I hear: "The physio was here, so I can still go to the competition next weekend."
NO!!! It doesn't work like that. Or right after the treatment..."My horse still isn't sound, so the physio must have done something wrong or doesn't know what she's doing." AHA, it's my fault?! NO! Because... the homework for the horse owner included not riding at first, physiotherapy, and gymnastic exercises for the horse that the rider can and should do themselves. But not just lunging in circles, and certainly not with any kind of lungeing "aid." Take off the side reins, don't make the bridle too tight, reduce all the leather around the head (why would you need to tie a horse's mouth shut with a chin strap and such?), check the saddle, and much more. But... none of that gets done because "that's work, and a horse is for riding, besides, I don't have time for such "esoteric stuff"... How do you get back into sports after an injury? Straight into the next marathon? "No, of course not!" So how does anyone come up with the bizarre idea that a rider should get on a raw or formerly sick horse that hasn't been ridden in a long time and expect everything to look from the very first second as it might after two months of continuous training, or as it did before the illness? The horse's body is still in pain and unable to perform, and the horses can't do that either. Unfortunately, they don't have a choice, and the following week they're lame again. Strange, isn't it? How does that happen?
In the end, I'm just glad the horse is finally pain-free, and I hope that horse and owner will eventually find their way to each other as a team.
By the way, to everyone who uses sugar pills and other hocus-pocus (yes... magic and mentalism actually apply here), you can't heal a tendon injury with gut cleansing or herbal teas and medicinal mushrooms and the like.
The other side of the coin: What exactly is horse-appropriate rehabilitation training? Time and patience. Yes, but…
"Healthy because – there's plenty of time" isn't the whole truth either.
No, because some horses are simply bored to death by this and/or they develop similar strategies to those they used when they were in pain or expected pain. This manifests itself in them constantly bolting in the paddock when you come to get them, becoming increasingly cheeky, and developing a look during training as if they were at a funeral. They rear and buck, etc. Some riders act as if they are so incredibly, super-horse-friendly, so much better than everyone else, and so gentle with the horse, because they do everything at ULTRA SLOW. Therefore, I'm not a fan of this "horse-friendly" excuse, which simply masks ignorance. Knowing what is possible and when, and being able to recognize when the foundation is lacking and when and how much you can expect from a horse, are the prerequisites for having a healthy horse again. And that should be every horse owner's goal. Clear, achievable goals and no strange wishful thinking that cannot take place in reality.
My work with horses involves a great deal of relationship building, knowledge, experience, and a solid education with final exams. Even though some treatments are simply wrong—because the anatomy and physiology of the horse's body dictate certain things that cannot simply be ignored—I'm not someone who claims that my way of working with and treating horses is the only right way. The angles between the joints and the range of motion of the joints are simply facts. Whether you work with one hand from top to bottom or with two hands from bottom to top is completely irrelevant. Unfortunately, there are more and more "equine therapists" who haven't learned their craft and are still allowed to work on horses by owners without question. The professional title of equine physiotherapist isn't protected, and they simply go out and exploit horse owners' fears to make money.
Here, I want to reach people who love their horses and appreciate my work, who share my joy in the hobby of horses and my desire for genuine growth between humans and horses.
AND…….I damn well want us all to finally take horses and their illnesses and needs seriously, to treat and therapies them accordingly, and to show them the respect they deserve.