For many people today, taking care of their body to prevent injury and disease is a natural part of everyday life. If, for example, you experience shoulder pain that causes dysfunction, your first step may not be to consult a physician, but rather a physiotherapist, osteopath, or another manual therapist. In many cases, the issue can be resolved at this stage without the need for further medical intervention.

A similar shift in perspective is increasingly relevant in the management of our horses. By the time a horse presents with overt lameness, a subtle movement dysfunction may have been present for some time.

This raises an important question: why not involve an equine therapist at an earlier stage, to address functional disturbances before they develop into clinical injury requiring veterinary intervention?