Tallen Veterinary Physiotherapy

24/06/2026

How does hypermobility affect sports horse and why does stability and conditioning matter?

Hypermobility occurs when the structures that normally provide stability—such as ligaments, joint capsules, fascia, and muscles—allow excessive movement.

🟢 Increased joint range of motion
🟢 Reduced passive stability
🟢 Greater reliance on muscular control for support
🟢 Potential for inefficient force transfer
🟢 Increased risk of soft tissue strain and overuse injuries

I see this often in big young horses, often warmbloods but in many breeds. We have bred for big flashy movement. But this elasticity isn’t great for control! It’s our job as the people riding and caring for these horses, to do our best in their conditioning for stability and control, before ridden work starts, and throughout their careers.

As physios we often see young horses at vets with compensatory conditions from lack of strength and stability, that were expected to carry a rider and perform at levels they weren’t musculoskeletally ready for.

🟩Neuromotor Compensation: Because lax ligaments fail to provide passive joint stabilization, the central nervous system must adapt by planning alternative muscle recruitment strategies (McGowan et al., 2007). Deep, local stabilizing muscle groups must work continuously to modulate joint stiffness.
🟩Risk of Secondary Pathology: If the muscular system is weak or fatigued, hypermobile joints are subjected to erratic mechanical loads. This frequently results in early-onset osteoarthritis, compensational back pain (such as desmopathy of the supraspinous or intraspinous ligaments), and unrecognized low-grade lameness (Domańska-Kruppa et al., 2024; McGowan et al., 2007).

How can we help these horses? Slow structured VARIED conditioning, multiple surfaces and gradients, movement with intent! Focusing on whether they can balance, and control their limbs effectively with and without a rider. Not moving on to the next stage of training until the horse has mastered balance and control in this one!

23/06/2026

🟩The choice of 448 kHz for INDIBA therapy isn’t a random number—it is a very precise frequency chosen because of how it interacts with animal tissue at a cellular level.
While many radiofrequency devices simply use heat to increase blood flow, INDIBA’s 448 kHz Capacitive-Resistive Monopolar Radiofrequency operates under a unique principle: it balances cellular electrical activity even before any heat is generated.🟩

INDIBA at sub-thermal level, this frequency safely and effectively mobilizes ions at the cellular level without causing damage with heat.

The choice of 448 kHz is backed by extensive scientific research for its dual benefits:

🟢Biostimulation (Sub-thermal): At lower, non-thermal intensities, this frequency stimulates cell metabolism, increases local blood circulation, and triggers tissue regeneration and collagen production. It accelerates the healing of post-surgery wounds and helps reduce swelling and pain.

🟢 Vascularization (Thermal): At higher intensities, it generates controlled heat deep within the tissues, improving microcirculation and deeply relaxing muscles and joints. This makes it highly effective for treating chronic pain, osteoarthritis, and sports injuries.

16/06/2026

🐴 Where Can You Use INDIBA® on a Horse?

One of the great advantages of INDIBA is its versatility. Treatment can be applied to most areas of the horse’s body, making it a valuable tool for rehabilitation, performance support, and managing musculoskeletal discomfort.

✨ Common treatment areas include:
• Neck and poll tension
• Back and thoracolumbar pain
• Sacroiliac (SI) dysfunction
• Shoulder and forelimb injuries
• Stifle and hindlimb issues
• Tendon and ligament injuries
• Arthritic or stiff joints
• TMJ dysfunction and jaw tension
• Trigeminal mediated head shaking
• Neuralgia

💡 How does it help?

INDIBA’s 448 kHz radiofrequency technology works at a cellular level to:
✔ Increase blood flow and oxygen delivery
✔ Support tissue repair and regeneration
✔ Improve tissue flexibility and mobility
✔ Help reduce pain and discomfort
✔ Enhance recovery following exercise or injury

Rather than just treating the area of pain, INDIBA can also be used to address compensatory muscle patterns and fascial restrictions that may be contributing to the problem.

Every treatment is tailored to the individual horse, helping them move more comfortably and perform at their best. 🐎✨

10/06/2026

🐴 How Can INDIBA Help Horses with Sacroiliac (SI) Pain?

The sacroiliac (SI) region is one of the deepest and most challenging areas to treat in horses. INDIBA® uses a 448 kHz radiofrequency delivered through a closed electrical circuit, allowing treatment to reach deep structures such as the SI joint and surrounding gluteal muscles that are difficult to access with manual therapy alone.

✨ Benefits of INDIBA for SI Dysfunction:

✔️ Helps reduce pain and muscle guarding
✔️ Increases blood flow to deep tissues, supporting healing and recovery
✔️ Improves tissue flexibility and mobility around the pelvis and lower back
✔️ Supports rehabilitation by encouraging better movement patterns
✔️ Can be used alongside physiotherapy, exercise programmes, veterinary treatments and rehabilitation plans
✔️ Non-invasive, drug-free and very well tolerated by horses

SI pain often causes poor impulsion, difficulty with canter transitions, reluctance to engage the hindquarters, and reduced performance. By reducing discomfort and improving tissue function, INDIBA can help horses move more freely and comfortably as part of a comprehensive rehabilitation programme.

🐎✨

05/06/2026

04/06/2026

INDIBA® therapy managing osteoarthritis (OA) and chronic joint pain relies on its specific 448 kHz Capacitive Resistive Monopolar Radiofrequency (CRMRF) current. Unlike traditional electrotherapies that sit on the skin surface, INDIBA uses a closed-circuit system with direct skin contact to send current deeply into targeted joint structures (Aguilar-Nuñez et al., 2024; Kumaran & Watson, 2019).

A seminal randomized controlled trial investigating INDIBA for knee osteoarthritis demonstrated significant clinical outcomes over a 4-week period involving 8 treatment sessions (Kumaran & Watson, 2019).

🟢Substantial Pain Reduction: Patients receiving active 448 kHz treatment achieved a statistically and clinically significant decrease in pain scores on the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) compared to both sham (placebo) treatments and standard care alone

🟢Improved Functional Scores: Patients experienced significant improvements in functional mobility, measured using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), improving overall quality of life and potentially delaying surgical interventions

🟢Prolonged Relief: Unlike typical short-lived electrotherapies, the therapeutic physiological benefits and pain reduction achieved with INDIBA were maintained at a 1-month follow-up evaluation

Furthermore, recent medical data indicates that introducing 448 kHz radiofrequency therapy immediately following regenerative procedures—such as intra-articular Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) injections—further decreases acute post-injection pain sensations within the first 72 hours, successfully preventing arthrogenic muscle inhibition and paving the way for safer, earlier physical rehabilitation (Abat et al., 2025).

02/06/2026

Why INDIBA for joint pain🐴
448 kHz frequency alters the permeability of the cell membrane. By modulating ion channels, it optimizes the exchange of ions across the cell wall. This specific electrical current triggers several critical cell processes:
🟩Stem Cell Proliferation: It accelerates the replication of local stem cells, which are essential for tissue regeneration.
🟩Cell Differentiation & Migration: It encourages cells to mature into the specific types needed for repair (like fibroblasts for tendons and ligaments) and directs them to the site of injury.

🟢Reduced Inflammation and Effusion
Joint pain is often driven by chronic inflammation or fluid buildup (effusion). INDIBA increases local microcirculation and lymphatic drainage. This helps the body efficiently reabsorb excess fluid, clear out inflammatory bioproducts, and reduce swelling within the joint capsule.
🟢Deep Tissue Hyperthermia
When used in its thermal mode, INDIBA generates heat from the inside out via tissue resistance to the current.
Vascularization: It significantly increases deep blood flow, delivering oxygen and essential nutrients directly to poorly vascularized joint structures like cartilage, ligaments, and tendons.
🟢Accelerated Tissue Regeneration
Cartilage and dense joint connective tissues are notoriously slow to heal due to limited blood supply. By boosting cellular metabolism and stimulating fibroblasts (the cells responsible for producing collagen), INDIBA accelerates the structural repair of tendons, ligaments, and joint capsules.
🟢Pain Management (Analgesia)
INDIBA helps block pain signals along nerve pathways and reduces the mechanical pressure on nerve endings by easing swelling and muscle spasms.
And because it can operate non-heating, sub-thermal mode, INDIBA is safe for acute, highly inflamed, or early-stage post-op recovery.
In long-term rehabilitation, it pairs perfectly with structural treatments like joint injections or hydrogels. While those target the internal joint, INDIBA treats along side enhancing outcomes—relieving compensatory soreness, improving tissue elasticity, and maximizing stability during strength-building.

31/05/2026

Raised walk poles are a powerhouse for equine rehabilitation and conditioning. When a horse steps over a raised obstacle, it can’t rely on momentum as it might at a trot. It requires deliberate, slow, and highly coordinated muscle engagement.
🟢Core and Epaxial Activation: Maneuvering over raised poles forces the horse to engage the re**us abdominus (the lower core muscles) to lift the belly and back (Shaw et al., 2021). This directly recruits the multifidus muscles—the deep, stabilizing muscle clusters along the spine that prevent vertebral column instability (de Oliveira et al., 2015).
🟢Joint Range of Motion (ROM): Walking over poles dramatically increases joint flexion in the swing phase across all major limb joints: the stifles, hocks, carpus (knees), and fetlocks (Shaw et al., 2021).
🟢Proprioception & Balance: Because the poles break up a standard, predictable gait, they function as a sensory workout. The horse must track the obstacle visually and mentally adjust its hoof placement, drastically improving neuromuscular coordination and postural control

Why might we chose this tool over treadmill?
🟢Horses who may only need to do 2 reps of this before significant fatigue
🟢Horses whose posture is very poor which might be exacerbated in the treadmill due to the extended retraction, if they resist the drag (Santosuosso et al., 2021).

Always aim for a multimodal approach that fits YOUR horse and its fitness and soundness level!!

28/05/2026

28/05/2026