In my last post I talked about why you should choose physical therapy for your horse and what the benefits were. However, there's a second equally important part to the equation for success....
Doing Your Homework
What do I mean by this? Simple, doing the exercises I (or your vet, body worker, etc.) give you to complete on your own with your horse until you have a follow up visit.
It's pretty funny sometimes. There are some patients that I see on a weekly business during my full-time job that think they can get away with not doing what we ask/ tell them to do.
You know how a mother has that 6th sense or eyes in the back of their head where they just know you're lying or getting yourself in trouble? Well, the same type of thing happens for those who work in the physical therapy world.
How do I know? Simple, the patient has made little to no progress since we last saw them. Meaning they haven't been doing their homework. They also will look at us like we have 6 heads when we ask them to perform an exercise that they were given to perform at home because they can't remember what it is. In this scenario all that is happening is the patient is hurting themselves.
It is crucial that patients or you perform the exercises that we give in a home exercise program on your own. If you don't, you will never make any lasting changes, or your progress will be extremely slow. This could end up costing you more money because more visits are required because results just aren't happening.
You're also not helping you or your horse when you don't put in the effort. You're also potentially delaying yourself from being able to ride them again or even increasing their risk of re-injury when you do start riding again.
Let's go back to the whole reason why you decided to pursue to rout of PT for your horse. You wanted them to recovery from an injury, improve in an area where you were having difficulty, or improve their overall well-being to avoid causing an injury. If you don't put in the work, how will you get anywhere?
Then there is the other side of the spectrum....
The people who do their "homework" too much. Believe it or not, there is a reason we tell you how many times and how often you should be doing your exercises at home.
These are the people that come in after not seeing them for a day or two and seem to have taken a step or two backwards. Classic signs include increased soreness, inability to complete a task we saw them do with ease last session, or even decreased range of motion. Patients usually give themselves away as soon as they walk in the door, and we ask them how they're doing.
We know they mean well and just want to get better. However, if you do not give your body/ your horses body the proper amount of rest, they are not getting the time to allow their bodies to heal. This can lead to more harm than good.
As I mentioned above, there could be a decrease in progress. Worst of all though is the increased possibility of causing re-injury.
At the end of the day, it's important to listen to what your caregiver is telling/ asking you to do. You want to maintain and improve on the progress made during your session. You also want to avoid going backwards.
Trust me, I know we may sound crazy at times, and it can be boring at times, but we know what we're doing. If you don't trust that, then why are you paying us?
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