Like humans, animals experience skeletal and soft tissue problems, which can lead to long term damage. Horses, for example, were not designed to carry people around on their backs. Often unbalanced riders can add to, if not cause, a problem, and once the rider is on we ask the horse to run, jump fences, and even dance to music! The second we place a saddle and a rider on a horse we have unbalanced them .

Ill-fitting saddlery, injury, trauma and over exertion can all lead to physical problems, as can bad dentistry, digestive problems, bad farriery and disease.

Whilst dogs do not have to deal with riders on their backs, they can still suffer many problems and injuries, Commonly those doing agility, racing or other performance dogs, can sustain injury, but more often than not it will be the dogs who are chasing a ball or playing whilst on a walk that will cause themselves damage.

Older animals can suffer from arthritis and degenerative disorders just like people, and these not only affect specific joints, but cause other parts of the body to become damaged through the animal compensating in favour of the affected area which results in abnormal gaits and the body being held in an incorrect way.

The combination of methods I use to treat animals ensures that the entire musculo-skeletal system of the animal is both examined and treated. This means all the joints in the body can be manipulated and adjusted using the gentle techniques of McTimoney Corley Animal Spinal Therapy, while the soft tissues - that is the muscles, tendons and ligaments are also treated using either Equine Touch or Canine Touch.

There are many types of complementary and physical therapies available for animals today, but I would encourage anyone who is going to have their animals treated to use a combination of disciplines that cover both bones and muscles, as you will never get an injury or problem to the joints without the soft tissues that surround it being affected. Likewise you will never get a soft tissue problem without the joints and bones being affected. The anatomy and physiology of an animal is so intertwined that the more holistic a treatment you can get, the better.

For more information on the techniques I use, please click below: