Ellie Brassey Veterinary Physiotherapist

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Ellie Brassey Veterinary Physiotherapist

Ellie is an Animal Veterinary Physiotherapist. Providing 1-1 Hands-on top quality care & Rehabilitation working closely with the Team around you.

Providing a hollistic approach with electro-therapies on offer.

29/05/2026

Every horse tells a story through their movement, posture, and muscle development. During a veterinary physiotherapy assessment, I look beyond the obvious to identify areas of tension, weakness, compensation, and restricted movement that may be affecting your horse’s comfort and performance.

🔹 Muscle tone and symmetry
🔹 Neck, back and pelvic mobility
🔹 Core strength and stability
🔹 Shoulder and limb function
🔹 Hoof balance and overall alignment
🔹 Areas of soreness, tension or discomfort

Whether your horse is a competition athlete, a happy hacker, recovering from injury, or simply ageing gracefully, regular physiotherapy can help maintain comfort, optimise performance, and support long-term wellbeing.

✨ Early intervention can prevent small issues from becoming bigger problems.

📍 Veterinary Physiotherapy Assessments
📩 Message me to discuss your horse or book an appointment.

Ellie Brassey Veterinary Physiotherapy
Supporting your horse to move better, feel better, perform better.

HorsePerformance HorseWellbeing EquineAthlete HorseRider DressageHorse ShowJumping Eventing HorseFitness HorseRehabilitation EquineHealth HorseMovement UKEquinePhysio EllieBrasseyVeterinaryPhysiotherapy

21/05/2026

“I need a back person” LOL

And honestly… if only it were that simple 😅

We are not just “back people” we are highly qualified and insured Veterinary physiotherapists, we don’t just treat a horse’s back 👀 we assess the entire body and how everything works together. Because horses are masters of compensation. A restriction in the hind limb can affect the pelvis, which changes spinal movement, which then impacts the shoulders, neck, and even performance under saddle.

The body works as one connected system, and understanding the biomechanics of movement is a huge part of what we do.

That’s why a session with me involves:
✔️ Full movement and posture assessment
✔️ Muscle and soft tissue treatment
✔️ Mobility and flexibility work
✔️ Strengthening and rehabilitation exercises
✔️ Looking at the root cause — not just where symptoms appear

Sometimes the “back problem” isn’t actually the back at all 👀

Physiotherapy is about helping horses move more comfortably, efficiently, and confidently for the long term whether they’re competition / athlete / elite horses or happy hackers.

Because good movement matters 🐎✨

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28/04/2026

✨ 🛑 Laser Therapy for Healing & Performance ✨

Struggling with tendon injuries, inflammation, or slow recovery? Laser therapy is a powerful, non-invasive treatment designed to support your horse’s healing from the inside out.

By stimulating cellular repair, increasing circulation, and reducing inflammation, laser therapy helps accelerate tendon recovery, ease pain, and restore mobility, getting your horse back to feeling and performing at their best. It also supports tissue health and can aid in managing infection risk by promoting an optimal healing environment.

Whether your horse is recovering from injury or you’re looking to enhance performance and prevent further strain, laser therapy is a safe, effective, and evidence-based solution.

🐴 Support stronger tendons
🔥 Reduce inflammation & discomfort
⚡ Speed up natural healing
💪 Improve movement & performance

Because your horse deserves the very best care.

22/04/2026

Strength isn’t just built up in anyway, it’s built correctly. 💪🏼

Equine physiotherapy plays a vital role in developing a strong, balanced, and resilient horse. It’s not just for injury recovery, it’s about preventing problems before they start, improving movement, and supporting long-term performance.

By addressing muscle imbalances, posture, and biomechanics, physio helps horses move more comfortably, build correct topline, and perform at their best.

Don’t wait for something to go wrong!
early intervention and regular maintenance can make all the difference.

Invest in their body now, protect their future. 🐎

01/04/2026

🚨 BREAKING NEWS 🚨🚨

I’ve decided to completely rebrand my physiotherapy approach for both 🐴 horses and 🐶 dogs…

Introducing: “Maximum Chaos Therapy™”

✨ New treatment goals include:
• Making everyone as stiff as possible (flexibility is overrated anyway)
• Encouraging wildly unbalanced movement for that “freestyle” look
• Replacing strength work with… absolutely nothing

🐴 Equine programme updates:
• Carrot stretches? ❌ Vegetables are cancelled
• Pole work? ❌ Too structured
• Core work? ❌ Sounds exhausting
• New plan: dramatic field zoomies with multiple self harm injuries followed by standing like a statue

🐶 Canine programme updates:
• Rehab exercises? ❌ Not on my watch
• Controlled lead walks? ❌ Boring
• Strength work? ❌ Hard pass
• New plan: full-speed squirrel chasing & chaotic sofa parkour

💆‍♀️ Treatments now include:
• Ignoring tight muscles
• Calling asymmetry a “quirky feature”
• And doing the exact opposite of what your animal actually needs

📉 Results you can expect:
❌ Less comfort
❌ Less performance
❌ More chaos

😜 FOOLS!

Don’t panic 😱 I will still be focusing on improving comfort, mobility, strength, and keeping your horses and dogs feeling their absolute best 💙

(Although… the zoomies might still be part of the plan 🐶🐴✨) minus injuries please.

27/03/2026

Kinesiology taping is a great supportive tool we often use alongside physiotherapy but it’s important to remember it’s an addition to treatment, not a replacement ✨

In these photos, taping has been applied along the latissimus dorsi and sacroiliac (SI) region, two key areas involved in movement, stability, and performance.

🔹 Latissimus dorsi taping can help support the large back muscle responsible for propulsion, posture, and connection between the forehand and hindquarters. By applying tape here, we can encourage better muscle activation, reduce overcompensation, and promote more efficient movement patterns.

🔹 SI region taping focuses on stability and support around the pelvis. This area is crucial for power transfer from the hindlimbs, and taping can help improve proprioception (body awareness), reduce strain, and support horses that may be weak, compensating, or returning to work.

💡 So what does the tape actually do?
Kinesiology tape works by gently lifting the skin, which can:
• Improve circulation and lymphatic drainage
• Reduce pain and inflammation
• Enhance proprioception and muscle awareness
• Support (but not restrict) movement

✨ However, taping is not a “quick fix” or standalone treatment. It works best as part of a full physiotherapy approach including manual therapy, exercise prescription, and management advice tailored to each horse.

Think of it as that extra layer of support to enhance the results we’re already working towards 💪🐴

If you’re unsure whether taping could benefit your horse, feel free to drop me a message

16/03/2026

🐾 Keeping dogs comfortable, mobile and pain-free is just as important as treating injury.

Canine physiotherapy helps dogs stay comfortable, strong and moving well throughout their lives.

Physiotherapy can help with:

• Arthritis & joint stiffness
• Post-operative rehabilitation (e.g. cruciate surgery)
• Injury recovery
• Muscle strains or soft tissue injuries
• Post veterinary diagnosis
• Neurological conditions
• Maintenance for working or active dogs
• Supporting senior dogs to stay mobile

🔎 Signs your dog may benefit from physiotherapy

• Stiffness when getting up
• Slowing down on walks
• Reluctance to jump or climb stairs
• Lameness or uneven movement
• Behaviour changes or irritability
• Muscle loss
• Difficulty rising or lying down
• Reduced performance in sport or working dogs

Sometimes owners notice their dog just “isn’t quite right” this is often when physiotherapy can help.

🩺 What happens during a physiotherapy session?

Each session begins with a full assessment and clinical reasoning, looking at:

• Movement and gait
• Joint range of motion
• Muscle condition
• Pain responses
• Strength and symmetry

Treatment may include manual therapy, massage, rehabilitation exercises, mobility work and tailored home exercise plans to support recovery and improve mobility.

Physiotherapy aims to reduce pain, improve movement, restore strength and support your dog’s overall wellbeing.

📩 If you think your dog could benefit from physiotherapy, feel free to get in touch.

🐾 Ellie Brassey Veterinary Physiotherapy

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09/03/2026

Introducing youngsters to long reining and light lunging can be a really valuable part of their early development.

As an Equine physiotherapist, I also produce young horses, I often recommend starting with long lines before progressing to lunging. Long reining allows the horse to move forward in a more natural straight line rather than immediately working on a small circle. This reduces unnecessary strain on developing joints, tendons and ligaments, which is especially important in young horses whose musculoskeletal system is still maturing.

Working on two long lines also helps introduce steering, voice aids and contact in a calm and controlled way. It encourages the horse to develop balance, coordination and understanding of the aids before a rider is introduced. From a physiotherapy perspective, this type of work promotes correct posture, engagement of the core muscles and symmetrical muscle development, which supports long-term soundness.

Once a youngster understands the aids and has begun to develop strength and balance, short sessions of light lunging can be introduced. Used carefully, lunging can help improve rhythm, body awareness and proprioception while allowing us to monitor movement patterns from the ground.

The key is keeping sessions short, positive and progressive, allowing the young horse time to build strength gradually.

Correct groundwork like this lays the foundations for a horse that moves strongly, evenly and comfortably when they progress into ridden work.

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26/02/2026

🐎 What does “good movement” really look like? ✨

This image I created highlights how the whole horse works as one connected system not just legs moving forwards, but a chain of stability, strength and coordination from nose to tail.

🔹 Thoracolumbar stabilisation
A stable back allows force to travel smoothly from the hindquarters through the body, rather than being lost or absorbed as tension.

🔹 Cranial & caudal thoracic control
The thoracic sling and chest region help distribute load through the forelimbs while preventing collapse through the base of the neck and shoulder area.

🔹 Ribcage excursion (up, down & side-to-side)
Healthy movement includes the ribcage expanding and lifting, essential for balance, breathing efficiency and lateral work.

🔹 Abdominal sling & core stabilisation
True “core strength” in the horse supports the spine, improves posture and allows the horse to carry both rider and work more comfortably.

🔹 Hindlimb engagement & gluteal drive
Power starts behind engagement of the gluteals and hamstrings creates propulsion, impulsion and control, not just speed.

🔹 Pelvic mechanics (expand & support)
A functional pelvis allows the hind limbs to step under the body, supporting collection, transitions and longevity.

💡 Why this matters!

Restrictions, weakness or poor coordination in any of these areas can show up as stiffness, loss of performance, unevenness, behavioural changes or recurrent injury.

As an equine physiotherapist, my role is to identify where movement is breaking down, restore function, and give you practical exercises to support your horse between treatments.

Strong, supple, supported horses move better and feel better 🐴

18/02/2026

❄️ Winter isn’t an off-season for physiotherapy ❄️

When competition season is slow, it’s easy to think physiotherapy can too, but winter is just as important for both horses and dogs 🐴🐶

➡️ Reduced movement & turnout
Cold, wet conditions often mean less exercise, leading to stiffness, reduced joint mobility, and loss of muscle strength.

➡️ Cold temperatures affect tissues
Muscles and joints are less elastic in the cold, increasing the risk of strains, soreness, and compensatory movement patterns.

➡️ Small issues go unnoticed
Without the demands of competition or high-level training, subtle weaknesses or asymmetries can quietly worsen over winter.

➡️ Winter prep = summer success
Maintaining mobility, strength, and comfort now helps your horse or dog return to work sound, supple, and ready when spring arrives 🌱

✨ Physiotherapy in winter focuses on:
• Keeping joints moving freely
• Maintaining muscle tone
• Managing age-related stiffness
• Preventing injury before workload increases

👉 Think of winter physio as maintenance, not a luxury, it sets the foundation for a stronger, healthier season ahead.

HealthyHorse HealthyDog PerformanceStartsEarly

Address

Wiltshire, Berkshire, Hampshire & Surroundings
Swindon Village

Website

http://www.ellieb-vetphysio.com/

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