Horse osteopathy

We can note that the equestrian literature is very rich, especially on the subjects concerning the breeding, dietetics, physiology, horsemanship even. But on the manual therapies almost nothing exists.

However, the history of manual medicines is as old as that of humanity. Indeed, the manual therapeutic ones and undoubtedly human or veterinary medicine have their source in the unconscious reflexes of defense and are, at the beginning instinctive gestures.

 
"From the why to the how" or from the observation passage of a mechanical pathology to its mechanist treatment.

General considerations on the nature of a lesion or "the why"

It is well-known that in equine medicine, the origins of limping are difficult to identify and often obscure. The approach thus becomes important even paramount.
It is consequently necessary to follow a simple protocol, which calls upon various tests which will enable us to evaluate the functional, mechanical or painful restrictions, and thus to establish the somatic organic chain.

But that it is in the field of the articular mechanics, visceral or circulatory, the lesion which we observe corresponds more to the establishment of a new state of balance between the various elements of a system than to a structural attack of the elements of this system.
It is what gives to the lesion its reversible character (it can, for example, visualize itself by a limping).

Reversibility of the organic phenomenon or "the how"

The return to normal can be caused only by one new external phenomenon, either accidental, or direct in the form of therapeutic act, and thus, we are fully within the framework of our skills:

• A system reached in its operation

• A reversible problem

• A reduction mechanist
   

Equine biomechanics:
evaluation test of indications and technical difficulties

Medicine mechanist being a basic medicine par excellence, it is always necessary to consider the patient himself and the pathological problem which you are confronted with like two inseparable elements.
If our technique brings new therapeutic prospects, it should not however be considered as  the miracle method or "the last chance".
The evaluation of a precise diagnosis remains in all the cases a prerequisite to its use.
The general state, the age of the animal to be treated, are also elements to be taken into account. The analytical synthesis leads then on to a treatment and, especially, a diagnosis which will limit the possible disappointments.
There does not exist accurate osteopathy indicators of, and the limits of its employment are more to compare with the idiosyncrasy of the horse and the pathological stage.
The manual therapy is not, by my opinion, an exclusive method. It can and must even often be integrated into all kinds of complementary treatments, provided that they are justified.

Copyright © 2004 Net&Cie