Treating Youngsters
Ive treated a lot of youngster's recently, which i absolutely love! I often get asked why young horses would need physio? Here's my take on things... In the first 4 years of life, before we put saddles on them, youngsters do all sorts of acrobatics in the field. They skid, they fall over, they play fight and get kicked. All these antics can lead to tightness, asymmetry and even soreness in their muscles. Couple this with the fact that they are doing all their growing throughout these early years and you can then start to understand that young horses will, without being ridden, hold tightness and therefore require physio.
The main areas i find tension in young horses (with no known injuries) is the TMJ (jaw) and shoulders.
The TMJ in a young horse is usually tight because their teeth are erupting at different rates leading to unlevelness in the grinding surface and therefore tension in the jaw. Its super important to get teeth and physio prior to bitting/ backing to rule out any issues there.
Shoulders are the second area i find tightness, i put this down to them usually being bum high and pushing their weight on to their forehand, this is also a really common thing once they are backed and carrying a rider.
By treating horses when they're young we can make sure they are loose, level and pain free before introducing tack and a rider. This also enables us to pin point any issues further down the line if we've started with a clean bill of health. If they haven't got anything wrong, a good once over and a wither scratch to make it a pleasant experience then sets us up on the right foot for the future.
It also gets your horse used to standing for a prolonged period, being touched by a stranger and trusting people standing above them (on a box).
So if you are considering backing a youngster soon, id really encourage you to have a full MOT before you start... Physio, farrier, dentist and saddle fitter to start them off on the right foot
i cant wait to follow all these lovely horses through their careers 
The main areas i find tension in young horses (with no known injuries) is the TMJ (jaw) and shoulders.
The TMJ in a young horse is usually tight because their teeth are erupting at different rates leading to unlevelness in the grinding surface and therefore tension in the jaw. Its super important to get teeth and physio prior to bitting/ backing to rule out any issues there.
Shoulders are the second area i find tightness, i put this down to them usually being bum high and pushing their weight on to their forehand, this is also a really common thing once they are backed and carrying a rider.
By treating horses when they're young we can make sure they are loose, level and pain free before introducing tack and a rider. This also enables us to pin point any issues further down the line if we've started with a clean bill of health. If they haven't got anything wrong, a good once over and a wither scratch to make it a pleasant experience then sets us up on the right foot for the future.
It also gets your horse used to standing for a prolonged period, being touched by a stranger and trusting people standing above them (on a box).
So if you are considering backing a youngster soon, id really encourage you to have a full MOT before you start... Physio, farrier, dentist and saddle fitter to start them off on the right foot
i cant wait to follow all these lovely horses through their careers