Kirsty Bryce, Osteopath

I’m heading off Island next week for a while, so if you’d like to squeeze in an appointment for you or your horse before I go, please get in touch asap.

The benefits of brushing your horse.
There are so many gadgets and devices on the market and new ones arriving all the time it can be quite overwhelming.
I’m a big fan of keeping it simple and I believe we have everything we need already in our grooming boxes.
Horses take care of their skin and coats and muscles by rolling, rubbing and mutual grooming with other horses. Modern life and methods of keeping horses mean that most are stabled and rugged a lot of the time.
Grooming daily (and I don’t mean a quick flick before you ride) can help improve circulation, massage muscles and maintain healthy skin by removing dead cells and stimulating natural oil production.
Spending time brushing your horse or even just running your hands over is a great way to get to know what is normal for your horse and so you’ll notice any small changes and they’ll likely enjoy it too.
In my opinion, a good rub with a rubber curry comb or similar will do much more for warming up your horses muscles before riding and relaxing after riding than any vibration pad or massage tool can. And it’s kinder on the bank account too ;)
It’s also a great time to bond with your horse and learn what they like and it’s nice for us to take time out of our busy lives and focus on what’s important – our horses.📷

It still amazes me the cruelty and pain some people are willing to inflict on their horses, and that this type of tack is even thought up and made let alone permitted is very sad.

We all can get frustrated when things don’t go to plan but to actively and knowingly cause pain and suffering is a whole different level.

Shame on the makers and users of these type of products. 🤦‍♀️😳😕

Bit of a rant today: One of the things that I find really frustrating is an increasing number of animal owners seeking advice on social media platforms.
If you have concerns about your cat/dog/horse etc. a vet can help.
If your animal is limping, has a sore/cut/growth a vet can help.
If your animal appears off colour/not eating/unusually quiet a vet can help.
The list goes on.
Please don’t leave your animal suffering and potentially in pain because Susan on Facebook said to try Aloe Vera or turmeric or whatever cheap alternative they can think of.
The vet should always be your first call.
Rant over.

Couple of spaces available now this week due to cancellations. DM if you’d like a home visit.

My friend Lisa is hosting a completely free challenge this month to help people make passive income from the knowledge they already have.

She’s helped thousands of people add income with integrity as a side hustle to their 9-5 job or business over the last few years and in this challenge she’ll help you too (even if you have no idea how you can make money this way!)

There will be a chance to win prizes from Chanel and Fortnum & Mason just for participating.

To join the challenge at no charge just click here:

Race To Recurring Revenue Race To Recurring Revenue

I have a couple of spaces left next week for either horses or home visits for people. Send me a DM if you’d like an Osteo appointment.

Happy new year to all my 2 and 4 legged clients 🥂

*** FOCUS ON RUGGING ***

Continuing our focus on rugging, this figure illustrates quite nicely what happens if we "over-rug". The image shows the air temperature in blue on a fairly typical autumn day similar to those many of us are experiencing now.

The horse has a 50g turnout rug on and the horse is clipped. The morning starts cool but it warms up to between 15°C and 20°C for much of the day. We can see that the horses's surface temperature measured under the rug follows a similar pattern BUT by 11:00 in the morning the temperature under the rug is already above the horses upper limit of its thermoneutral or "comfort" zone. And it stays above the 25°C line until later afternoon when the sun starts to get lower in the sky and the temperature starts to drop.

So once again, the message ISN'T DON'T RUG, the message IS DON'T RUG TOO EARLY, DON'T RUG ACCORDING TO HOW YOU FEEL & DON'T OVER-RUG.

Your horse covered in hair, is ~7 times larger than you but only has 2-3 times more skin surface. Most heat is lost at the skin surface. Your horse loses heat much more slowly than you. They won't feel the cold when we do.

In this example, this horse would likely benefit from a 100g rug overnight but doesn't really need one during the day if it stays dry.

For more information and resources on rugging, including rug testing and rug user surveys, please check out our website https://drdavidmarlin.com/rugging-round-up/

For those who think ragwort isn’t harmful to horses.
Tldr: it is!

🐎RAGWORT POISONING IN HORSES 🐎

🐴Lots of "misinformation" about RAGWORT.
RAGWORT has been "wrongly labelled as a w**d"
🐴People who say RAGWORT is a problem for horses are "Scaremongering".
🐴There's apparently a lot of "Fake News" being spread about RAGWORT and horses.
🐴RAGWORT is apparently "Not a threat to horses".
🐴An "average horse" would have to ingest over "50kg of RAGWORT" apparently for it to be "Toxic".
🐴"...We are wrong to remove them [RAGWORT]".

These are all pearls of wisdom from some nameless "expert" from a page called WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN THANET!

Not sure how owners who have lost horses to ragwort poisoning will feel about his comments.

SOME RAGWORT FACTS......

Of 865 liver samples received by pathology services over a 5 year period, 72 (8.3%) were found to have evidence of megalocytosis; an indicator of ragwort poisoning. This actually translates to 57 samples a year. REMEMBER - this is going to be a gross underestimation of the number of cases as the majority are unlikely to have samples submitted for diagnosis. Some cases will be treated, some will die, some will be euthanised without a diagnosis.

In 2014 a BEVA survey reported that of 303 vets, 41% had seen at least one suspected case of ragwort poisoning in the past year. Each vet was seeing at least 2 cases per year. 49% died or were euthanised.

In a survey by the BHS & DEFRA in 2014, 19% of respondents knew of a horse that was susepcted to have been poisoned by ragwort, with a defintive diagnosis in 21% of those cases. It was reported that 39% died or were euthanised.

Even a few mouthfulls of ragwort will cause some degree of IRREVERSIBLE liver damage. The more that is eaten, the more the damage. Damage accumulates over time! Moore RE, Knottenbelt D, Matthews JB, Beynon RJ, Whitfield PD. Biomarkers for ragwort poisoning in horses: identification of protein targets. BMC Vet Res. 2008 Aug 8;4:30.

As little ragwort as 1% of bodyweight can prove fatal over time - Fu, P. P., Q. Xia, G. Lin & M. W. Chou. 2004. Pyrrolizidine alkaloids - Genotoxicity, metabolism enzymes, metabolic activation, and mechanisms. Drug Metabolism Reviews 36: 1-55.

The risk from ragwort poisoning is not simply from plants grazed in paddocks but from ragwort contamination of feedstuffs such as hay or haylage.

Contrary to the video, pyrrolizidine alkaloids (the toxic compounds in ragwort and other plants), are absorbed through the skin. The absorption is low, not non-existent. If you handle ragwort frequently without gloves you will develop liver damage.

So ragwort posoning does occur in horses. It is realtively rare, but this likely due to its removal from many areas horses and ponies graze.

"However, a justification or recommendation for relaxation in ragwort control would be a risky strategy as it is possible that the
apparently low prevalence of ragwort toxicity in horses might be as a result of generally effective pasture management that, if relaxed,
might lead to an increase in toxicity cases." Andy Durham, BSc, BVSc, CertEP, DEIM, DipECEIM, MRCVS, Liphook Equine Hospital, Veterinary Record, June 13, 2015.

Postscript - “If you own horses, ponies or livestock you must not allow them to graze on land where you know ragwort is present” https://www.gov.uk/guidance/stop-ragwort-and-other-harmful-w**ds-from-spreading -animals-eating-harmful-w**ds

"Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) constitute a class of plant toxin associated with disease in humans and animals. They are found in a wide variety of plant species in the world and it is estimated that ∼3% of the world's flowering plants contain toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids. The toxin is present in more than 12 higher plant families, among which three families, Compositae (Asteracea), Boraginaceae, and Leguminosae (Fabaceae), contain most toxic PAs." RAGWORT belongs to the family Compositae (Asteracea). Ibanez, G. (2005) Encyclopedia of Toxicology (Second Edition) https://www.sciencedirect.com/referencework/9780123694003/encyclopedia-of-toxicology

So, MR WILDLIFE CONSERVATION IN THANET......
1) Please get your facts right
2) Horse owners aren't looking to pull up every single ragwort plant in existence. Only the ones in the fields where our horses and ponies graze. And frankly, if we do want to remove them, that is absolutly none of your business!

How can Osteopathy help your horse:

* Improve performance
* Maintain mobility in competition horses
* Address gait problems such not tracking-up, disuniting, rushing
* Stiffness of the body
* Maintaining mobility in the older horse
* Reluctance to move forward
* Addressing bucking in transitions
* Contact issues
* Difficulty with balance or standing for shoeing
* Aiding rehabilitation in diagnosed conditions such as arthritis, lameness or injury

These are just some of the conditions that an Osteopath can help with. However any concerns should be assessed by a vet first.

(Image from google)

I’m currently doing Lisa Johnson’s visibility challenge. I found todays a little tricky but here goes:

Todays challenge was to name 5 things you might be surprised to learn about me.
1. I love a challenge but hate talking about myself
2. I’ve taken bridle-work courses and can make and repair leather items
3. I’m a qualified Stand-up Paddle board instructor
4. I love sea swimming, all year round. My dream is to swim whilst it’s snowing
5. I’ve completed the Guernsey round Island walk twice

What inspired me to become an Osteopath?
I really wanted a meaningful job where I could work with and help people and horses. I’d spent years in the finance industry and was quite frankly bored.
I looked into various therapeutic disciplines but having experienced great results with Osteopathy for both me and my horses that was the path I chose.
It wasn’t easy and there were definitely a few wobbles along the way but I’m very happy to have stuck with it and am enjoying the process of building and growing a practice with amazing clients both two and four legged.

Amazing news and a positive step in the right direction for horse welfare 👍🏼👍🏼

Ban on using whips after refusals, elimination and ‘out of temper’ in competition - Horse & Hound A new British Riding Clubs (BRC) rule on whip use has been introduced to help educate riders and improve horse welfare. BRC’s 2023 rules state that the whip must only be used to support the rider’s natural aids, and never when a horse or pony has turned away after a refusal, or after elimination...

Happy Christmas to all my two and four legged friends and clients. I hope you all have a great day🎄🎄😁

Very sad to hear of the passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II. She was an amazing woman and will be greatly missed.

Important info for this coming weekends potentially extreme temperatures.

Although the best advice is to drink plenty and stay indoors or at least in the shade and avoid over exertion.

Here’s what to do in an emergency.

“HEATSTROKE IS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY”

I’m compelled to keep posting this. I’ve learned of a number of dogs that have died of heatstroke in the recent heatwave.

If you see a horse or person or dog with heatstroke, then cool them down by hosing/spraying water from the outside or house water supply (usually 10-20°C). It doesn't have to be ice-cold to be effective as long as you put a lot on. You may well save a life!

And yes, I know there is a lot of advice about cooling horses, dogs and people which goes against aggressive cooling and advises ice packs in the groin or armpit and using tepid water! It's outdated and ineffective and if you follow it your horse/dog/person is more likely to suffer permanent injury or worse!

If you don't believe me, then listen to the people who do this for a living with people...

"Active cooling via Cold Water Immersion (CWI) is now the standard of care and should be done immediately. This is a Grade IA recommendation.5 The patient should be immersed in ice water 1 to 3°C." http://www.emdocs.net/heat-related-illness-how-to-cool-em-and-what-to-do-after/

Very nice description of just some of the things we look for when assessing a horse 👍🏼

Following on from the ever popular “Assess the Neck” post, I have created this sequel of “Assess the Back” ✏️

The health and function of the spinal column is not one to assess in solitude, hence why the core muscles, gluteals and base of neck have been included to provide a background to concurrent areas of pathology.

I could talk for forever about what I look for when I assess a horses back, but I thought to just note some key aspects to consider below:

🤍 Muscle Mass - how much muscle is present? Is this symmetrical? Consistent across the whole topline? Or are there pockets of atrophy?
🤍 Muscle Tone - are the muscles well toned, flat and concave, and/or present with tension?
🤍 Pain - is there any pain response to palpation/mobilisation?
🤍 Cervical Posture - is there a strong but supple posture through the neck? Or is there a dorsoventral imbalance, pain, asymmetry or dips?
🤍 Sacroiliac Health - what is the range of motion and response to palpation around the SIj?
🤍 Pelvic Orientation - neutral or rotated?
🤍 Core Engagement - how strong is the horses core, can they maintain engagement? (This is important as the core muscle support the spinal column - try it on yourself!)
🤍 Bony Landmarks - are these overly prominent?
🤍 Muscle or fat? - this is a super important one to note.
🤍 Biomechanical Analysis - what posture does the horse utilise for movement; inverted?

There are so many aspects to consider, but we can start by beginning to assess our horses visually and with gentle touch when we groom them so that we can keep tabs on the health of their back.

* Just a note: this diagram is for illustration purposes, and the outlines do not represent exactly how the horse should present, it’s just to provide an idea of shape to look for. I do wish I was a better artist, but for now I will have to settle with “concept diagrams” 🙈

⏱️ You have spent countless hours anxiously waiting for test results
🏃 You have jogged thousands of steps as you lead your horse through lameness exams
💸 You have paid more bills than you’d like to count to veterinarians and other equine professionals

…but your horse is still lame. 😔

However, there’s one person that is missing from your care team: an Equine Osteopath.

But you may be wondering… what is an Equine Osteopath? What do they do? How can they help my horse?

*️⃣ Equine Osteopathy is a manual therapy that works successfully with veterinary medicine to aid horses in staying healthy.

*️⃣ Equine Osteopaths look at the horse as a whole, using the scientific understanding of the Autonomic Nervous System to help find primary issues affecting health.

*️⃣ Equine Osteopathy practices can help find and correct imbalance in the joints, muscles, and viscera to reestablish homeostasis in the horse.

Learn more about Equine Osteopathy at: https://www.equineosteopathy.org/2022webinar

Handsome Kermit 😍 this horse gets better and better every time I see him. Huge credit to his owner for all her hard work 😊

What is Osteopathy?
Osteopathy is a holistic approach to treating the body which aims to reduce pain and improve function and performance.

Who needs it?
Osteopaths are commonly called when pain is present or when there is specific problem, and whilst this is ok it is better to try and address any issues/concerns before function is reduced and pain is felt. Daily life puts strain on the body and adaptations are constantly happening, and this is a good thing.
However, sometimes repeated movements such as sitting for long periods or using screens etc. for people, or standing around in stables, pulling from haynets always hung in the same place etc. for horses can, over time lead to imbalance, reduced mobility, asymmetry or pain.

How can an Osteopath can help?
An Osteopath will assess by motion testing and then addressing any imbalances using gentle-hands on techniques which can include manipulation (clicks), articulation (rhythmic movement of the joints) or soft tissue work (massage style).
It can be beneficial in the acute pain stage as addressing these imbalances will assist the body in returning to a balanced, pain free state. Ongoing maintenance treatments can help to address issues before they reach the acute phase. How often these should occur really depends on the individual and is decided on a case by case basis.

Important note: in the case of horses, any concerns should be raised with the vet first.

Raff is a super horse, he has come on so much and I’ve enjoyed watching him grow more and more confident 😊

The lovely Robbie. He wasn’t sure about the benefits of Osteopathy when I first met him but now he is relaxed and happy during his treatments.

The stunning Nemo (my photo skills really don’t do him justice). I love working with this horse 😊

The gorgeous Juliet enjoying her treatment in the sun ☀️

Today I met the lovely Fern, a super young horse and I’m looking forward to following her journey. Followed by a couple of my favourite regulars who were very relaxed after their treatments in the sun ☀️

I’m now back in Guernsey again. So please do get in touch if you’d like an Osteo visit for you or your horse.