Equine Therapies

Acupuncture has been used to treat various medical conditions in humans and animals for more than 3,000 years. Horses were among the first animals treated with acupuncture due to their importance in warfare and farming.

Today, equine acupuncture is commonly incorporated into the treatment of several conditions, especially musculoskeletal disorders and back pain.

Acupuncture is primarily used in sports horses to manage pain and restore function. Acupuncture involves inserting needles at specific points on the body where there are increased numbers of nerve endings, blood vessels, and lymphatics to help alleviate pain and target specific conditions. 

Cryotherapy is simply the therapeutic use of cold. Since horses are cryotolerant, they can withstand unusually low, near-freezing temperatures. 

Cryotherapy devices can be used to create intense cooling and initiate physiological processes that relieve pain, reduce inflammation and swelling and increase recovery. 

With cryotherapy, toxins are removed from the body, blood flow to the affected area is increased and muscles are relaxed, which contributes to recovery. This type of therapy can be used to treat tendon and muscle injuries, arthritis, hematomas, and more. 

PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) and IRAP (Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist Protein) injections are used to treat equine injuries and encourage the regeneration of injured or degenerative tissue. 

With these methods, we can manage joint injuries and diseases by using the body's naturally occurring proteins, cells, and other natural processes to put a horse's biological mechanisms in motion, stimulating healing without the need for steroids or other drugs. 

Joint injections are created from your horse's blood and provide anti-inflammatory effects and pain control for both their joints and connective tissues like ligaments.

Some joint injections may have ongoing positive effects on your horse for up to a year, but this timeline can depend on the severity of their inflammation, injury, and pain.

Joint injections can be a helpful treatment method for young performance horses in order to help prevent the development of arthritis later in their life, or current performing horses in order to support their athleticism.

Shock Wave Therapy uses a series of low-energy acoustic wave pulsations that are applied directly to an injured area of a horse.

Shock wave therapy is a non-surgical procedure that helps to initiate the body's natural healing response, reducing pain and improving mobility.

Animals typically feel pain relief about 24 hours after ESWT, but may require other types of pain control as well, depending on the severity of the condition they are being treated for.

Our vets often recommend integrating other rehabilitative therapies to help horses regain mobility and health.

In stem-cell therapy, stem cells are drawn from the fat, bone marrow, and umbilical cord blood of another horse and used to help treat your equine athlete.

Your veterinarian will inject the stem cells into the injured, diseased, or damaged area of your horse's body. The stem cells will be able to replace or help repair the damaged or dead tissues, reducing inflammation, alleviating pain, and promoting the growth of new tissues.