Rehabilitation

Many horses have been brought to ELS Stables to correct oppositional behaviors that are often symptoms of physical pain or confusion. Some common causes of pain are poor saddle fit, chronic or acute injury, or age-related arthritis. At ELS Stables we first assess a horse for pain before addressing the confusion or fear. Many times the assessment and treatment eliminates the confusion and fear, thus the behaviors disappear. During the assessment period a plan is proposed and the client is actively involved with any decisions before treatment begins.

Our Rehabilitation Team consists of:

• Expert Farrier:Mark Winston is skilled in recognizing and correcting imbalances in the feet.

• Rehab Vet: Kelli Taylor of Mindful Healing Veterinary Care, skilled in western & holistic medicine, including body alignment, acupressure, acupuncture and nutrition, and cold laser therapy.

• Acute Care and Surgical Vets: Pilchuck Veterinary Hospital in Snohomish.

• Barefoot Shoer:  Laura Rice on Facebook

• Massage Therapist:  Megan Ayrault of  NW Equine Bodywork focusing on Performance, Maintenance and / or Rehabilitation…

• Equine Dental Specialist:  Dr. Mary Delorey of NW Equine Dentistry   “Every horse deserves proper dental care whether a world class athlete or a treasured back-yard friend.”

• Primary Caregiver:  Robyn Smith, RN,who serves as healthcare coordinator to provide feedback to the team as the horse heals.  Also, an expert in wound healing and non-pharmacological pain management modalities.

When pain has been ruled out as the cause of oppositional behaviors, we use proven natural horsemanship techniques to assess where the communication breakdown occurred. We work with the horse first to eliminate the fear and confusion and then with the human to partner to get the two back together.

What the Professionals say about us:

“Physical rehabilitation is never an individual effort, it takes lameness veterinarians, therapeutic farriery, dental specialists, physical rehabilitation specialists, trainers who understand the biomechanics of the horse, and of course hard-working care givers who attend to the horse’s daily needs.

Those daily needs during rehabilitation not only include feeding, watering, positive human interaction & cleaning of stalls, but also stretching & strengthening exercises along with controlled active exercise (from hand walking to longe work to small turnout paddocks). I cannot stress enough the importance of working with a well-rounded integrative health care team during the physical and mental rehabilitation of your horse, and Equine Life Solutions has put together just such a team of talented care providers that will be able to help your horse return to a comfortable state of being in which both mind and body are relaxed and re-connected.  

Without the combined efforts of all parties that work together at Equine Life Solutions, many of the horses that have come to ELS would still be living in chronic pain, unable to perform their required daily activities. Now many of them are carrying riders in lessons on a daily basis. If your horse is recovering from an injury, or has a chronic debilitating issue such as osteoarthritis, the integrative health care team at Equine Life Solutions can help your horse to find comfort again!

~Kelli Taylor, DVM, CVA, CAC, CERT

Find out how a show jumper “Savoy” healed after a devastating injury to a front leg ligament at ELS Stables.  Learn more…