Helen The Physio

05/08/2026

😬😬😬😬

Put down the breeder pellets - overfeeding your mare can have serious consequences for your foal - especially if you are after high performance!

Obese and/or overfed mares have foals that are prone to metabolic issues later in life, and are more likely to have developmental orthopaedic disease as they grow.

This is why I already routinely avoid high starch "stud feeds" and lots of grain in my broodmare diets, and in fact have many succesful pregnancy diets with no energy concentrates added whatsoever!

Further research shows that foals with overfed mothers have a shift in their muscle fibres from the fast-twitch Type II, to slow-twitch muscle fibres, especially in the important muscles of hind leg - which could seriously limit performance potential in horses, especially in sports that require fast acceleration - e.g. thoroughbred racing.

Time to think again about breeding nutrition? 🤨

04/08/2026

31/07/2026

A newly published paper in Animals by Katherine Littlewood, Ngaio Beausoleil, and David Mellor revises the Five Provisions and Welfare Aims framework for the first time since 2016, aligning it more closely with the current Five Domains Model.

The Five Provisions have long served as the practical, "what to provide" companion to the Five Domains Model, which is used by over 56 organisations worldwide including WAZA and the Zoo and Aquarium Association Australasia.

This update addresses naming inconsistencies that had crept in as the Model itself evolved.

Provision 4 has been renamed from "Appropriate Behaviour" to "Appropriate Choices," reflecting the 2020 inclusion of human-animal interactions and 2023 work operationalizing agency through choice, control, and challenge

Provision 2 renamed from "Good Environment" to "Good Living Space," resolving overlap with Domain 4's "interactions with the environment"

Provision 5 renamed from "Positive Mental Experiences" to "Integrated Care," recognising it isn't a care input at all but rather the consistent, coordinated delivery of the first four provisions over time and across everyone who interacts with the animal

The paper also clarifies that providing good care (resources, conditions, management) is not the same as achieving good welfare (the animal's actual affective experience). A caretaker can tick every box on a provisions checklist and still not know whether the animal's mental state has actually improved, which is why each provision is now explicitly paired with a "welfare aim" naming the specific experience it should produce.

Littlewood, K. E., Beausoleil, N. J., & Mellor, D. J. (2026). Updating the Five Provisions: Aligning Welfare-Focused Care with the Five Domains Model. Animals,

30/07/2026

Limited availability for animal physio appts from 9-23 August - Helen will be in South Africa to celebrate her Grandpa's 100th birthday!
Currently, we have availability on 3, 4, & 5 Aug, and we are taking bookings from 24 Aug. You're welcome to be in touch while Helen is away - best to use email, FB messenger, or Whatsapp. It may take her longer than 1 working day to respond, depending on signal...

27/07/2026

Recognise those early signs!

It’s not about "reading bad behaviour". It is about recognising normal communication and responding in ways that improve both horse welfare and human safety.

Horses rarely go from calm to dangerous without warning. Long before they pull back, rear, strike or spin, they are communicating that they are becoming uncomfortable, uncertain or afraid.

The challenge is that many of these early signals are subtle and easily missed, particularly in busy clinical or handling environments.

This infographic summarises the behavioural escalation pathway - the behaviour signals that occur as a horse trigger-stacks.

It’s a simple message - the earlier we recognise the warning signs, the greater our opportunity to reduce pressure, lower arousal and prevent escalation.

🐴 Better observation leads to better decisions.
🐴 Better decisions lead to safer procedures.
🐴 Safer procedures benefit horses, handlers and veterinary teams alike.

Better by Knowing!

21/07/2026

21/07/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BvV84ntMc/

Thank you Horse & Rider Physiotherapy for sharing this excellent research on pole work in horses

A great bit of new research in an infographic from Hartpury University. Pole work isn’t just about trotting over poles. Depending how we use them, different effects are seen. Higher poles, wider poles and doing them quickly create more extension (dipping) of the spine. This may not be ideal - go low, go short, go slow!