RPM Equine: Veterinary Physiotherapy, Byley Lane, Middlewich (2026)

01/10/2026

6 MONTHS AT THE THERAPY UNIT 🥂✨

Six months ago I opened the doors to the RPM Equine Therapy Unit, and I genuinely can’t believe how quickly it’s gone.

What started as a pretty big leap has become such a huge part of RPM Equine. Six months of physio, water treadmill sessions, rehab plans, muddy boots, early mornings, late evenings, lots of learning and, most importantly, lots and lots of horses. 🐴

I’ve had the privilege of working with horses recovering from surgery, injury and chronic conditions, as well as horses simply working towards becoming stronger, more balanced and more confident in their movement.

Every horse has had a different story, and that’s probably one of my favourite things about this job. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. 💛

Although Auri is not based at the Therapy Unit, I had to include him for the colour theme 😂

So I want to hear from you 👇

If you’ve been to the unit, had physio, used the water treadmill, had a horse stay for rehab, or have simply followed along with us…

what has been your favourite part so far? 🥰

And if you’re new here, what would you like to see more of over the next six months?

💦 Water treadmill rehab
👐 Equine physio
🐴 Real rehab cases
🏋️ Exercise & strengthening ideas
🎥 Behind the scenes
😂 Me messing with my animals

Tell me below 👇

Here’s to the first six months, and whatever the next six brings. 🥂💛

29/09/2026

If you’re interested in learning about Accupressure, get in touch to book your space!

27/09/2026

Massive congratulations to our clients competing at our local event at Kelsall Hill Equestrian Centre over the weekend ✨

I managed to pop down this morning to support Beth Wood and the brilliant Coolcom Bell 🦄 and stayed relatively dry unlike last year!

Throw back 6 years for the official photo from mine and Bennys first run around Kelsall 🥺

17/09/2026

Groundwork means something different to different people, different horses and different stages of education.

It might be long-lining, poles, working through tighter turns, or simply an in-hand hack.

But groundwork isn’t just something we do because we aren’t riding.

It can be a really useful tool for education, conditioning and rehabilitation.

🐴 Strength & control
Changes of direction, poles and controlled movement can challenge the muscles involved in postural control and limb placement.

🐴 Coordination & symmetry
Working from the ground gives us an opportunity to observe movement without a rider and work on controlled, coordinated movement.

🐴 Proprioception & body awareness
Poles, turns and varied surfaces can provide challenges for limb placement and body awareness.

🐴 Education & confidence
Long-lining and in-hand work can develop communication, responsiveness, balance and confidence without the additional demands of carrying a rider.

And an in-hand hack? That can be valuable too. Different surfaces, gradients and environments provide opportunities for movement and learning outside of the arena.

Of course, none of these exercises are automatically beneficial for every horse. The exercise, surface, duration and progression all need to be appropriate for the individual.

For me, the important question isn’t “does this count as groundwork?”

It’s “why are we doing it, and what are we trying to achieve?”

Groundwork should have a purpose. 🧠🐴

11/09/2026

Is your horse not feeling quite right? 🐴

Sometimes they’re technically sound, but something just feels… different.

Maybe they don’t want to go forward like they normally do, feel different in one rein, struggle with a particular movement, or simply don’t feel like themselves.

So what happens during a veterinary physiotherapy assessment?

First, we talk.

I take a comprehensive history, including what you’ve noticed, their workload, management, previous injuries and veterinary history.

I also want to know about the primary rider. How does the horse feel underneath you? What has changed?

Then I assess:

Stood square, I’m assessing posture, alignment, weight distribution, muscle development and any obvious asymmetries or preferences.

Then I watch them move, looking at rhythm, stride, tracking, pelvic movement, engagement and how they use their body.

Then I assess hands-on.

Joint range of motion, muscle tone, tissue quality and differences between left and right all add another piece to the puzzle.

I’m not just looking for individual findings, I’m trying to work out the story.

Why is this horse moving the way they are?

Does what I’m seeing fit with what the rider has felt?

Could something in one area be influencing how the horse uses another?

Is the horse compensating for something, or are we simply seeing an individual preference?

The history, rider feedback, static assessment, movement and hands-on findings all help build that picture.

Sometimes that leads to treatment and an exercise programme.

Sometimes it means speaking to the vet or recommending further investigation.

And sometimes it tells me there’s nothing that needs “fixing”.

Veterinary physiotherapy isn’t about finding something wrong with every horse.

It’s about understanding the horse in front of me, working out why they may be moving the way they are, and deciding what they need next.

So if your horse just doesn’t feel quite right, even if you can’t quite explain why, it may be worth having them assessed.

www.rpmequine.co.uk

05/09/2026

🐴 There are always good weeks and bad weeks with equine physiotherapy and rehabilitation... and this week was absolutely one of the best ones! 🐴

Kenny is one of those cases that reminds us why rehabilitation isn't always a straight line.

In March, Kenny was diagnosed with irregular navicular conformation, impar ligament desmitis and adhesions within the navicular bursa in his right fore.

He was medicated and shod with a remedial setup.

By April, he was still lame, with active inflammation, and things weren't heading in the direction we wanted.

By the end of May, his owner was facing some incredibly difficult decisions. Kenny was increasingly stiff and lame, spending more time on box rest because of the hard ground, and his other leg had also developed some puffiness.

The veterinary reassessment in June highlighted significant concerns with his feet and foot balance.

At that point, it was clear that the initial farriery approach wasn't producing the improvement required, and a different approach was needed.

A change in farriery and remedial shoeing followed, alongside continued veterinary management and rehabilitation.

And then things started to change.

12 June:
“His other leg has been a lot less puffy since the new shoes 🥳”

And apparently he was also broncing around the sand, which was a pretty good indication that he was feeling considerably happier! 😂

8 July:
“Thank you so much! We wouldn't be here without you!! Best gift ever was seeing him like that again 🥰”

25 July:
“No puffiness on the good leg anymore 💪🏼”

And this week...

“Guess who's sound” 🎉

Kenny was assessed sound on hard, soft AND on the circle.

Even the vet was impressed, and he's now been cleared to start his return to ridden work in 6 weeks.

This news has been a long time coming and certainly wasn't a quick fix.

It was veterinary treatment, appropriate farriery, rehabilitation, regular reassessment and an owner who kept going when things looked pretty bleak.

His case really highlights the importance of a multi-disciplinary care team, with everyone working towards the same goal.

Sometimes, when progress isn't happening, the answer isn't necessarily to do more. We need to step back, reassess and adjust what we're doing with the management.

Kenny's diagnosis hasn't disappeared, but this week, he is sound. ❤️🐴

We can now slowly plan his rehabilitation programme back to strengthening, suppling and, most importantly, ensuring that he remains comfortable when his owner gets back on.

02/09/2026

While Joker comes in for his weekly treadmill session, the rest of Team Hankey are busy preparing for the journey to Burghley Horse Trials! 🐴

Best of luck to Hayden and the whole team with all four horses competing, we’ll be cheering you on! 🤞🏼🏆

Safe travels and have a brilliant event! ❤️

01/09/2026

🐴 The smallest client has officially checked out! 💚

Peppermint the miniature Shetland has headed home today after a week of holiday livery with us.

Many of you will have met him during your sessions this week… or, more likely, heard him 😂 He might be tiny but he has absolutely no problem making himself known!

Although Peppermint was here for a holiday stay, we offer a range of short-term and rehabilitation livery options depending on what your horse needs:

🏡 Holiday livery – going away for a few days or weeks? We can look after them while you’re away.

💧 Short-term treadmill stays – want to fit in a block of water treadmill sessions without committing to a full rehab stay? We can accommodate short stays where appropriate.

🐴 Rehabilitation livery – structured exercise, physiotherapy and therapy support for horses recovering from injury or returning to work.

🌿 Box rest / restricted exercise – a controlled environment for horses who need a little extra management during recovery.

Stays can also be combined with physiotherapy, water treadmill, laser and gait analysis, depending on the individual horse and their requirements.

size really doesn’t matter here! 😂

From miniature Shetlands to competition horses, our aim is to provide a calm, professional environment where horses can stay, recover and be looked after properly.

Byley, Cheshire
www.rpmequine.co.uk

07939874828

27/08/2026

WHY DO PHYSIOS SUGGEST HILL WORK? ⛰️🐴

Bums, backs and bellies… but there’s a bit more to it than that!

I’ve got two ponies in these videos, walking on the flat vs walking uphill, because you can really see the difference.

Look at their outline as they go up the hill. Their spine becomes more elevated, the abdominal line changes and you can see them having to work harder through the hindlimbs to push themselves uphill.

And this is why I love hill work as a training and rehab tool.

Walking uphill changes the mechanical demands on the horse. It increases the work required from the hindlimb muscles and also increases activity through the muscles of the trunk.

So we’re asking the horse to:
• push more from behind
• stabilise their trunk
• maintain balance against gravity
• control their body as they move uphill

Research has shown increased muscle activity during uphill walking, particularly through the hindlimb and trunk, compared with walking on the flat.

And you don’t need to find the steepest hill you can!

A controlled walk up a suitable gradient can be really useful, particularly when we’re trying to gradually build strength and coordination without adding more speed or impact.

As with everything, the hill, gradient, pace and the individual horse matters. The aim isn’t to make them work harder but to give them the right stimulus for what we’re trying to achieve as part of their programme.

24/08/2026

WHAT I’M SEEING IN HORSES LATELY AS A VETERINARY PHYSIOTHERAPIST 👀

There are a few patterns I’m seeing again and again at the moment, whether that's owing to the weather, how we're adapting our riding programme or altered workloads.

One-sidedness

Many horses that I am seeing are particularly dominant on one side over the other. This often shows up under palpation as one side having increased muscle mass alongside increased muscle tone, whereas the other has less of both by comparison. The dominant rein often feels tighter and less supple under saddle, and riders can subconsciously add to this.

Pelvic asymmetry or restriction

Changes in pelvic position, mobility and control can have a huge effect on how a horse uses its hindlimbs. I’m seeing horses where the pelvis isn’t moving as freely or symmetrically as I’d like, so we need to work through why that is and whether we can improve it.

The effects of hard ground and current conditions

The ground is rock solid at the moment and this is affecting our horses. During dynamic assessment, some horses are looking a bit stiffer than usual, but loosen up as we move through the assessment and continue on to lunge.

Remember, rock-hard ground combined with a firm hoof capsule, including shoes, can mean less shock absorption at the hoof and potentially greater transmission of impact further up the limb.

Lots of arena work

And to combat the hard ground, I’m seeing horses doing a lot of repetitive work on the same surface, often in the same direction and with relatively little variation.

This can add more repetitive loading to our soft tissues and really highlights the importance of variety in the work, this is where something like water treadmill work may help!

Horses needing strength and conditioning

More and more, I’m looking at how we can actually change the horse’s capacity for movement and range of motion.

That might mean progressive strengthening, poles, controlled treadmill work, changes to the ridden programme or simply introducing more appropriate variety.

All of my clients receive a comprehensive exercise prescription programme to target areas found during assessment.

The obvious problem isn’t always the whole problem

A tight back, restricted shoulder or reduced hindlimb movement might be what we find on assessment, but it doesn't necessarily tell us where the problem started or what the primary area of concern is.

That's why I utilise a comprehensive assessment, palpation, history and any other relevant information to piece the puzzle together.

The goal isn’t just to make a horse feel better after a treatment. It’s to understand why they’re moving the way they are and give them the tools to move better long-term.

If you’ve noticed your horse becoming more one-sided, struggling with a particular rein, feeling different on hard ground or just not moving quite like themselves, it’s worth paying attention to those small changes. 🐴

RPM Equine: Veterinary Physiotherapy

01/10/2026

29/09/2026

27/09/2026

17/09/2026

11/09/2026

05/09/2026

02/09/2026

01/09/2026

27/08/2026

24/08/2026

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