Equine Pools

Extensive work in human physiotherapy has shown that a suitably monitored course of hydrotherapy helps encourage a full range of joint motion in reduced weight conditions, thereby improving cardiovascular stamina and muscle tone, and promoting tendon repair, without imposing undue stress on damaged tissues.

It has long been established that hydrotherapy is beneficial in the recovery programme for certain injuries in the veterinary field. Until recently, its use in animals was restricted to performance horses and racing greyhounds.

It is very rewarding to see the benefits that hdrotherapy can bring to an animal in many cases. For example, following an injury such as a broken leg, or ruptured ligament, hydrotherapy allows the animal to begin using the affected joint, improving mobility and building muscle tone in order to return to a pre-operative level of fitness and normal use of the leg.

It is therefore useful in many orthopaedic conditions, pre-operatively to improve muscle tone to affected limbs (for instance prior to total hip replacement), and post-operatively to improve repair (for instance in post-operative care of cruciate ligament rupture, osteochondrosis or fracture repair, where light swimming can begin as soon as the sutures have been removed.)