Equine osteoarthritis. Part 2: rehabilitation and injury prevention
Authors: Rachel Salz
Journal: UK-Vet Equine
Summary
# Editorial Summary: Equine Osteoarthritis Part 2 – Rehabilitation and Injury Prevention Optimal performance and effective injury management in horses depend fundamentally on comprehensive musculoskeletal assessment, with particular emphasis on strength imbalances, symmetry deficits, flexibility limitations and postural stability deficits. Salz's review demonstrates that individually tailored exercise programmes addressing these parameters—specifically through targeted core muscle activation and strengthening—enhance postural stability and improve force transmission to the limbs, thereby boosting both performance capacity and injury resilience. Core stability work proves essential for maintaining spinal protection and enabling appropriate neuromuscular responses to destabilising forces, which directly reduces re-injury risk in previously compromised horses. From a practical standpoint, this evidence supports a systematic rehabilitation approach grounded in individual assessment rather than generic conditioning protocols, with implications spanning farrier considerations for trim-related postural changes, veterinary rehabilitation prescription, and coaching decisions around return-to-work timelines. Prioritising core stability and postural assessment alongside traditional lameness investigation offers meaningful welfare benefits whilst simultaneously supporting the performance demands placed on ridden and driven horses.
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Practical Takeaways
- •Perform thorough pre-exercise assessment of each horse's strength, symmetry and postural control before designing conditioning or rehabilitation programmes
- •Incorporate core strengthening exercises into regular training to improve stability and reduce re-injury risk in working horses
- •Tailor exercise programmes to individual needs rather than using one-size-fits-all approaches to maximise both performance and welfare outcomes
Key Findings
- •Comprehensive assessment of strength, symmetry, flexibility and postural stability is essential for optimising performance and reducing injury risk
- •Core muscle activation and strengthening improves postural stability, balance and force transmission to limbs
- •Tailored exercise programmes based on individual horse assessment support effective rehabilitation and injury prevention