Month: December 2021

Equine Ting Points, horse ting points, ting points
December 10, 2021

Equine Ting Points

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Equine Ting Points, and how do they affect a horse’s performance? Company founder Gary DesRoches was introduced to these acupressure points during the early days of Leg Saver through the book VETERINARY ACUPUNCTURE: Ancient Art to Modern Medicine. In it, a chapter written by Dr. Are Thoresen DVM of Norway on Ting-Zone Therapy inspired DesRoches to design the ever-evolving and improving protocols that are crucial to the success of Leg Saver.

Equine Ting Points

In traditional Chinese medicine, the meridian system is a set of 12 major pathways throughout the body through which energy, or “qi” flows. Ting Points are the acupressure points above the coronary band of the hooves that relate to the beginning or end of these organ meridians.

How Ting Points Affect Your Horse’s Health

Once you get to know where your horse’s Ting Points are, you can use them as a good gauge of his health. If a Ting Point is warm to the touch or swollen, chances are a sudden health issue like a respiratory infection is occurring. If a Ting Point is cold to the touch or sunken in, your horse is most likely suffering from a chronic condition such as arthritis.

Ting Point Therapy

Leg Saver has helped ease arthritic horses, along with other chronic conditions like lung bleeding, bowed tendon repair, check ligaments, hoof lameness, stifles, hocks, OCD, whirl bone, TMJ, poll and shoulder problems. Its unique waveform combined with Ting Point Therapy has been the key to rehabilitating performance horses globally for the past 15 years.

We are in good company: practitioners around the world endorse Dr. Thoresen’s Ting-Zone Therapy, and Leg Saver’s unique waveform technology is continually improving upon these protocols to become an industry favourite for treating performance horse health issues.

Feeding Your Horse Properly, Horse Health Problems, Horse Nutrition
December 10, 2021

Feeding Your Horse Properly

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Food is your horse’s foundation; his fuel for exercise and a healthy immune system. A proper feeding schedule and the type of feed you give him are just two of the elements needed to ensure a healthy, balanced diet to keep him in top form. Read on for our top tips to feed your horse.

One Feed Does Not Fit All: Every Horse Is Different

A horse’s size, exercise routine and breed all play a role in feeding requirements. For example, if your horse isn’t turned out to pasture for the majority of the day, he’ll require more hay than one who’s grazing all day long. Keep in mind that with grain, less is more. Start with a small portion and increase to your horse’s needs. If the number of races your horse does changes, their food ration will need to be adjusted accordingly.

Change Feed and Feed Schedules Gradually

Consistency is key to a good feeding schedule. The feed should be given accurately and if the type or ration size changes, ensure it’s done incrementally. Sudden changes can lead to colic or founder. Routine is paramount to your horse’s health!

Don’t Fuel Right Before or After Exercise

Try to feed your horse either an hour before, or an hour after you ride him. If it’s race day or a strenuous training session, make it closer to three hours before or after. A horse’s lungs have less room to work if their digestive tract is full, causing them to exert more energy. Exertion also diverts blood flow away from the digestive organs which can slow gut movement and enhance the prospect of colic.

Water Often and Provide Plenty of Roughage

Provide your horse with 5 – 15 gallons of fresh, clean drinking water per day. Nothing is more nutritious and beneficial to his organs, coat and general well-being. Aside from water, high quality hay or pasture should make up the bulk of your horse’s calories. If your horse is more high performance, add grain as needed.

An Additional Note on Feeding:

We would like to note that feeding processed food such as pellets or sweetened foods can be dangerous.  We have tested a number of these and found many contained mould or other toxins. Be mindful of what you feed as it can be harmful over a period of time.

We’ve also found that adding Apple Cider Vinegar to a horse’s diet has numerous health benefits as well.

Treating Shoulder Pain in Horses, Cold therapy, dysplasia, heat therapy, shoulder pain, stretching
December 5, 2021

Treating Shoulder Pain in Horses

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Before you jump into a treatment routine to help your horse overcome his shoulder pain, it’s important to understand what’s causing the pain, and what type of injury it could be. Then, along with regular therapy, there are several other natural methods you can try.

How to Accurately Diagnose Shoulder Pain in a Horse

Shoulder pain in horses is often misdiagnosed as such due to the similarity of symptoms. For example, severe pain in the foot-pastern-ankle area can be misinterpreted as shoulder pain due to restricted forward leg movement; or rather, a shortening of the stride. In turn, shoulder muscles will tense involuntarily.

Look for these signs of true shoulder pain:

  1. Swelling of the shoulder joint
  2. Pain under pressure on the shoulder area
  3. The horse swings his leg in an arc rather than straight up and forwards
  4. Restricted leg movement and unfinished strides

Types of Shoulder Pain in a Horse

Shoulder dysplasia (where the socket is too shallow for the ball of the joint) can lead to dislocations, and arthritis in more severe cases. Arthritis can also develop from bone disease in cases of abnormality between the bone and cartilage. Cysts will form and the cartilage becomes brittle, eventually resulting in arthritis. Soft tissue injury is another common source of pain for horses.

How to Treat Shoulder Pain

Cold and Heat Treatments

Cold packs should only be used in cases of obvious heat and inflammation of the shoulder. They can also be used after exercise. Warm up the area with a heat treatment prior to exercise and periodically throughout the day.

Gentle Stretching

Once the initial inflammatory stage is over, start with a heat treatment and then move on to light stretching exercises. They can also be done as a warm-up before more strenuous exercise is planned.

Leg Saver Ting Point Therapy

Our electro therapy treats inflammation at a cellular level, effectively shortening healing time.

That is one of the most important things to remember: when treating shoulder pain, as with all injuries, it’s important to monitor your horse closely. If you are familiar with what “normal” looks like for them, you will be able to anticipate injury sooner and apply healing methods quicker. If you have any questions regarding how Leg Saver therapy can help treat your horse’s shoulder pain,

Best exercise for recovery horses, balance, bending, core strength, Exercises, rounding
December 5, 2021

Best Exercises for Recovering Horses

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When your horse is recovering from an injury, it can be a long road to full recovery. It’s crucial to remember that baby steps are key, as is regular treatment with Leg Saver’s waveform therapy designed to speed up the healing process.

Here are three type of training exercises you can do with your horse recovering from injury to help re-stabilize his spine and limbs through engaging specific muscles. Rehabilitation exercises are meant to improve muscle function, athletic performance, and most importantly; reduce risk of future injury and back problems.

Recovery Exercise #1: Mobilization

When completing these exercises with your horse, ensure he is well-balanced, even standing against a wall for support. Start with small movements, hold, and repeat the session 3 – 5 times daily.

Rounding

Use your choice of bait, perhaps a healthy crunchy carrot, to entice your horse to flex his neck. He must stay straight as he bends chin to chest, chin to knees, and chin to fetlocks.

Bending

Bend chin to girth and chin to flank. Engage the horse’s pelvic and abdominal muscles by getting your horse to bend his chin to hind fetlocks, as well.

Extension

Encourage your horse to stretch his neck as far as possible after rounding and bending.

Recovery Exercise #2: Core Strengthening

Before you exercise your horse, begin with these two motions:

First, apply upward pressure starting between the chest muscles. Then, slide your finger slowly back along the horse’s chest muscles, lifting the shoulder blades and the back. Second, apply firm pressure at the top of the spine, and move forward with pressure until you reach the bottom.

Recovery Exercise #3: Balance:

Repeat these balancing exercises 3 times daily:

  • Activate the muscles which support the chest by applying pressure to the middle of your horse’s chest, causing him to rock backward.
  • Activate the pelvic muscles that help balance your horse by gently pulling the horse’s tail to one side, then the other.
  • Activate fore- and hind-limb muscles by lifting one limb at a time while pushing gently on your horse’s shoulder or chest to rock his weight slightly.

It’s always best to consult with a trained physiotherapist before starting any exercise program with your horse. Take your horse’s cues when it comes to what they’re ready for, otherwise you could re-injure him. It’s important to keep an eye on your horse’s diet during this time, as eating habits are another sign of health. For more on how Leg Saver can help speed up recovery time during this process,

Resources:

http://www.thehorse.com/articles/34482/rehabilitation-exercises-from-the-ground

http://www.thehorse.com/articles/36459/rehabilitating-sport-horses