# Physio or equine bodyworker?



## badamba (20 December 2013)

Hi I am new to this forum so sorry if i should have posted somewhere else.   So my question is what are the benefits of an equine bodyworker over a physio if any?  I know you have to get a vet to say its ok to use a physio but do you need to do the same for an EBW?  And are these people qualified or moderated in some way?  Thank you.


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## jenni999 (20 December 2013)

Equine bodyworkers seem to be limked with McTimoney which in my opinion is about as much use as a chocolate teapot.    Proper qualified physio every time for me .....


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## Marydoll (20 December 2013)

I would go for equine bodyworker before physio and have always had good results, my EBW misses nothing and picks up on stuff before it becomes an issue, but i suppose it depends on who you use


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## MotherOfChickens (20 December 2013)

jenni999 said:



			Equine bodyworkers seem to be limked with McTimoney which in my opinion is about as much use as a chocolate teapot.    Proper qualified physio every time for me .....
		
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not always, some bodyworker use massage and/or variety of modalities not linked with chiro  

OP-no therapist of any sort should work on your horse without your vet's OK. A good bodyworker will then take a full history and examine your horse standing and moving. If they are at all worried about anything, they should refer back to your vet. Physios and bodyworkers are slightly different things, albeit with some overlap. Look for Equinenergy bodyworkers (usually have EEBW in their literature)-they will be insured and have to fulfil a decent training program, externship and CPD. Look for chartered physiotherapists if you go that route.


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## badamba (21 December 2013)

Thanks everyone that is all very helpful. The vet said to get a physio out to her but I've never used one before so had a look online. I came across equine body workers and just wandered what the difference was as i couldnt find alot of info on them. It seems like everything people have their own preference and experiences with different people. Thank you again.


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## Jingleballs (30 December 2013)

I've used both and found that Physios has more "tools in their toolkit" as it were to address any issues - the amount of study and qualification to become a physio are much more extensive than that of an EBW - my equine physio is also a human and canine physio and treats me, my horse and my dog.

If I was just looking for a pamper treatment for my horse, I'd use an EBW but if my horse had any issues I'd use a physio but that's just my personal opinion, as others have suggested, it all depends on who you use.


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## spookypony (30 December 2013)

Jingleballs, do we use the same physio, perchance?


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## Jingleballs (1 January 2014)

spookypony said:



			Jingleballs, do we use the same physio, perchance? 

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I don't think my physio covers as far north as you - I'm based in Glasgow as is she - although I know she does travel


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## spookypony (1 January 2014)

Jingleballs said:



			I don't think my physio covers as far north as you - I'm based in Glasgow as is she - although I know she does travel 

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Ah, probably not then (though I've used someone from Glasgow before). Mine lives in Aberdeen. I didn't think there were that many chartered physios around up here that also do equine and canine!  She also teaches pilates, which is handy.


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## Jingleballs (1 January 2014)

spookypony said:



			Ah, probably not then (though I've used someone from Glasgow before). Mine lives in Aberdeen. I didn't think there were that many chartered physios around up here that also do equine and canine!  She also teaches pilates, which is handy.
		
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Yeah mine teaches pilates too - must just have similar qualifications


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## TPO (2 January 2014)

They all do slightly different things; there are some over laps but all therapies can work in conjunction.

McTimoney-Corley is an alternative form of chiropracty. You can't call yourself a chiropractor unless you are fully qualified to treat humans ( much like EDTs can't call themselves dentists). There are slight differences in the practices and techniques but a quick read of Chiro & McT-C on wiki will give you a generic over view.

The same sort of thing applies with physios. You get physiotherapists who are fully qualified to treat humans and then go on to study animal physio and then those who are veterinary physios who only treat animals. Some people get their knickers in a right twist about that an insist that you should only use those that are "proper" physios. I personally don't understand that view point as I don't require my vet to be a qualified doctor before training to be a vet...

On this subject when I was on the McT-C course there was a physio, osteo and vet. The osteo had specifically gotten a degree in that subject to go on to treat horses but she felt that the course was lacking hence dropping out and changing to the McT-C course; ditto the physio. The vet had looked around and thought that this qualification would be the most useful.

An Equine Body Worker is a sports and remedial equine masseuse that has trained and qualified via Equinology/equinenergy. There are other massage associations like Mary Bromileys and Jim Masterson (The Masterson Method).

It was an osteo (&Master EBW) that took the EBW training when I done it and she listed the benefits of massage included her being able to work deeper and therefore have better access to perform any osteo treatments.

I know a lot of therapists who have started in one therapy and expanded to quality in massage due to its benefits.

You'll find lots of people willing to rubbish certain/all fields of therapy. They usually roll out nonsense about it being a weekend course and then 'therapists' are let loose to practice. That isn't true and it's easy to find out the training and qualifying requirements are for any therapy online.

I personally found the EBW course extremely in depth with hours upon hours of pre and post course study, theory and practical,

Whoever you use ensure that they are fully qualified, registered and insured. If they aren't dont use them; there are cowboys out there...

As you know anyone working on your horse must have your vets permission; you can obtain this on their behalf.

A lot of it then comes down to personal preference. Sometimes its not so much the specific therapy as it is the therapist that can impact our decision. My personal preference is massage followed by physio but I'm very interested in trying osteo. Everyone will be different. What area are you in? Perhaps you can get recommendations on here that you can then look a bit further into yourself?


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## celticcob (12 January 2014)

I always use a reg qualified physio. It's a bit of a no-brainer to me. They train at uni for a minimum of 4 years in human physio then specialise and train separately in equine/animal physio. 
I had a horrible experience with a very well known 'body worker' who travelled up from England to a livery I was at as a very novice owner years ago. She took £90 for 20 mins of placing her hands over the horses body, and whilst my horse looked very relaxed it did sweet FA*. My horse slipped on the road and she told me she had an injury which would be fine in 2 weeks after her treatment, spoke to my farrier and he laughed and said 'more like 2 months' and lo behold he was right, in fact 4 months later my horse was only just sound. Iv seen a lot of ppl ripped off by body workers. They tell you what you want to hear and do very little for the horse. The physios I have used have always been brilliant. Cost less and empower you with excercises you can do yourself with your horse


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## TPO (12 January 2014)

Obviously everyone's personal view is coloured by their own experience.

"Body worker" doesn't cover everyone who's not a physio; an Equine Body Worker is a specific qualification. You don't have to look hard on this forum to read posts of people who've had bad experiences with physios.

It's horses for courses; it's the duty of all owners to be as informed as possible to make these decisions and even then it's no guarantee. I previously used someone who was McT-C & EBW qualified and was happy that I was doing the right thing. However as time went by and I continued to learn, including attending the same McT-C & EBW courses as the practitioner, I realised that this person wasn't as good as I thought and was missing issues that the horse had. I'd previously recommended this person and that experience alone has made me wary of recommending anyone. On the flip side I've used a couple of EBWs that I've had people bad mouth to me, mainly the previous practitioner, with good results. So no matter how much research and word of mouth you do sometimes it just comes down to sucking and seeing.

If anything was a "no brainer" in horses then there would be no need for forums like this, any discussion and someone would have written the ultimate No Brainer handbook and that would be that...


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## celticcob (12 January 2014)

Funny you should say that, my books almost ready to be published. You'll be the first to receive a copy . . . .


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## TPO (12 January 2014)

Can't wait...

The joys of the internet being that you don't know who you're talking to


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## MotherOfChickens (12 January 2014)

I had a chartered physio miss the fact that my old horse was bilaterally lame behind, yet another who didn't actually watch the horse move but just sticks a machine on it-she's too experienced apparently to do a full work up. Sometimes working on a horse hides issues, shame they didn't learn that in all their years of training.

I've since qualified as an EBW and am an advanced student in another modality, if I'm in any doubt I refer back to a vet. shame my old chartered physios didn't do that, his stifle OCD might have been picked up sooner and had a better prognosis...



noone other than a vet can diagnose anything, legally we aren't even allowed to say we are treating your horse!


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## badamba (15 January 2014)

Thanks for so many replys!  I ended up getting a physio out as I felt that she would be better suited for treating the problem although I still don't think I would rule out using an EBW in future if I felt it was the right thing to do. She is working along with my vet and fingers rossed will see some improvement in the next few weeks to months. Thank you again for so many opinions and advice.


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