Whole horse rehabilitation

Cases taken for individualised veterinary rehabilitation on a track system

Have your horse cared for by a vet to recuperate from injury, chronic pain, or illness, to regain functional posture and movement, and to change behaviour by addressing the way they feel.

Cases taken on by me for whole horse rehabilitation at my facility on a track system in West Sussex, UK. I am a veterinary surgeon with expertise in species-appropriate lifestyle, postural rehabilitation, ethical behaviour modification, and ecology. This unique perspective means I treat the body, mind, and emotions together, and honour their wider ecosystem, enabling true, profound, long lasting changes to health and wellbeing.

To tell me about your horse and what you need help with, please contact me using the form below or book a FREE call with me.

What types of case is this rehabilitation service for?

  • If your horse is either not recovering as expected from injury or keeps re-injuring, has widespread pain, discomfort or dysfunction, or has an underlying illness that may be related to lifestyle and management factors that are outside of your control, a rehab livery stay with me can help. I look at the whole horse and consider how the body is currently functioning, then work through rebuilding functional body systems if this is possible. I don’t promise to resolve all cases, but explore how to keep your horse as comfortable and functional as it is possible for them to be.

  • If you are trying to rule out sources of pain, discomfort and dysfunction in your horse and it is either proving difficult or confusing, an in-depth assessment over a period of time may be the answer. These are not suitable for urgent cases, but if your horse either has long-standing mystery discomfort, has had diagnostics and you are not sure which results are relevant or where to start, or your horse is challenging or impossible to examine or treat in a clinic environment, a rehab stay with me can help. I carry out non-threatening assessments and establish two-way communication that gives the horse agency in the process and can change the horse’s mind about being examined and treated. I look at the deep rooted causes of discomfort and dysfunction and how they all interconnect to make a plan of how best to proceed to alleviate this.

  • If you have been unable to achieve a thorough veterinary work-up, veterinary, farriery or husbandry interventions, or similar because of behaviour your horse shows when you attempt these, I can work on these over time with your horse on full livery. These livery stays are good for cases where there may be complex physical, mental and emotional reasons for your horse’s response to being examined and treated, and cases where you would prefer for the foundations of behaviour change to be built before you can then continue to work with your horse at home. I also offer teaching on this subject both via online courses and in person teaching if you would prefer to address it at home.

What do I assess and provide your horse?

This is a full boarding service for the length of time your horse needs to recover, so includes all daily care, hay, feed, and supplements, plus an individualised plan for their nutrition, feet, teeth, remedial exercise, bodywork, any medication, and training. We will also work together to ensure their recovery lasts when they come home to you. Length of stay will depend on the nature of your case, a minimum of three months is recommended.

My approach is to identify and tackle the deep rooted causes of discomfort and dysfunction. I carry out serial Whole Horse Evaluations and am trained in rehabilitating posture via work on dental balance, trimming and shoeing approaches, saddle fit evaluation, and bodywork, rehabilitating metabolic and inflammatory conditions using a holistic approach that addresses body and mind, and rehabilitating behaviour cases using only ethical behaviour modifying approaches.

In some cases your horse’s stay may involve working with other professionals such as other vets for diagnostics, farriers, dentists, bodyworkers and behaviourists.

  • Lifestyle and management have a huge influence on physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing. In fact, domestication of horses is responsible for a huge amount of the signs of unease that our horses show. Having said that, now that they are in our care it is our responsibility and gift to provide them with as healthy a living situation as possible.

    In many cases some aspects of lifestyle form part of the root cause of illness, injury, and behaviour. This could include housing, social interactions, feeding and nutrition, foot care, dentistry, and more.

    When your horse is on rehab livery with me I will provide a lifestyle as appropriate to their needs as I can, and explore with you how we can replicate this when they go home.

  • Static and dynamic posture (how horses arrange their body and limbs at rest and in motion), development of the musculoskeletal system, and the ability to choose to move are all fundamental to all round horse health and wellbeing. When your horse is on rehab livery with me I will assess their posture and movement and help to nurture this to become healthy and functional via lifestyle, bodywork, aligning feet and teeth, and training.

  • Organisms in discomfort, whether physically, mentally or emotionally are not able to function and enjoy life as they otherwise could. Discomfort underlies or results from many illness and injuries and gets in the way of recovery. When you horse is on rehab livery with me I will identify sources of discomfort and remedy these where possible.

  • I strongly believe healthy relationships and having choice and agency are fundamental to all round health and wellbeing. When your horse is on rehab livery with me I will explore their relationship with humans in general and certain questions we ask of them specifically and, if they struggle with these, offer them a way of interacting through communication, compassion and consent.

The four deep roots to health and wellbeing

This service is for horses who:

• Have an injury or chronic movement dysfunction - suspensory ligament desmitis, navicular syndrome, osteoarthritis, kissing spines, nerve damage or impingement, and more - have a vet design and carry out an individualised recovery programme and long term plan.

• Have a chronic illness that is proving difficult to find successful management for - laminitis, equine metabolic syndrome, PPID, PSSM, respiratory conditions, and more.

• Don’t yet have a diagnosis but are showing signs of pain, especially if it is proving difficult to localise or diagnose

• Have been recommended retirement or even discussed euthanasia because of their injuries or behaviour (I do not claim to be able to reverse these cases, but I can offer a very in-depth second opinion by observing your horse over a longer period of time and trying a holistic approach)

• Are difficult to achieve a veterinary diagnostic work-up or treatment on because of severe needle shyness or other behavioral signs

Your horse’s length of stay will depend on what your horse needs. When recovery has proceeded enough for your horse to go home, we will then work together to create the best situation for you and your horse back at home with you. Spaces are extremely limited so that I can give lots of time to each horse during their stay.

During your horse’s stay they will have all their daily and regular health needs looked after (full livery only). This includes:

• A species-appropriate lifestyle with free choice forage balanced to their unique nutritional requirements and any metabolic conditions, 24/7 access to both group shelter and turnout in an Equicentral or track system depending on individual needs, and weather and ground conditions, always with plenty of horsey company

• Serial Whole Horse Evaluations consisting of assessing and then addressing hoof and dental balance, whole body posture, saddle fit, pain and compensation patterns, emotional state and training foundations

• Remedial exercise and bodywork including postural reset exercises, in-hand work, play and scentwork movement sessions, hand walking out using different terrains and inclines, and nerve release

• Work on ethical behaviour modification if needed for husbandry and veterinary interventions or other behavioural signs - this involves addressing pain, discomfort, fear, metabolic and emotional state, and ability to learn

During your horse’s stay you will have:

• No worries that your horse’s recovery is being planned, carried out, and monitored by a vet

• Visits by appointment

• Frequent message updates and weekly detailed updates on your horse’s assessments and progress

• A detailed plan for going home and teaching how to continue with what has helped your horse during their stay

• Help with making difficult decisions if needed.

Price: £1200 per calendar month. This includes:

• All daily care - hay and water, checks, daily care of feet, grooming, changing rugs if worn

• A personalised nutrition plan and all feed and supplements

• Enrichment and games in the form of 24/7 access to forage, shelter, horsey company, herb stations, food puzzles, and scratching spots

• Faecal egg counts, tapeworm saliva testing, and wormers

• Serial Whole Horse Evaluations to plan and monitor the rehab process

• Foot trimming, or hoof boot fitting as needed in your horse’s unique case (remedial shoeing is additional)

• Dental occlusal equilibration including sedation - this is more than just dental floating, it means to balance the chewing surfaces of all teeth in the mouth to enable normal jaw function and correct posture and movement

• Ethical behaviour modification via identifying and addressing deep rooted underlying causes for behaviours, plus a combination of ethically carried out positive and negative reinforcement training

• Rehabilitation exercise as needed for each individual case - whether in-hand walking, lungeing, liberty work, ridden, and specific postural exercises

• Body work to release muscle tension, reset postural signalling, release nerve impingements, and nurture emotional wellbeing

• Evaluation of current saddle fit and saddle fitting if required

• Emergency veterinary first aid - for example if your horse has a wound or colic.


Not included and charged on top are:

• Remedial shoeing

• Diagnostics such as blood, urine and skin tests, and imaging such as x-rays, gastroscopy, or more involved diagnostics involving external labs, external vets, or visits to an external veterinary hospital

• Emergency veterinary interventions beyond first aid, including if treated by external vets or if transported to an equine hospital

• Long term medications (but planning and administering these during their stay is included)

• New equipment going home with them after their stay - saddles, halters, hoof boots, and similar.