REHABILITATION
Hydrotherapy, ortreatment in water, especially sea water or natural hydrotherapy water has long been used for the treatment of many health conditions. Both hot and cold baths have been used by human exercise physiologists and physiotherapists to treat muscle, joint and surgical injuries. Similar use has been made of sea water by some horse trainers in coastal locations and swimming of horses soothes the joints and ligaments. However, some local government regulations now preclude the swimming of horses at beaches, reducing the opportunity for this form of hydrotherapy other than in purpose-built facilities. Cold temperature effects (cryotherapy) of water immersion are less tolerated in humans because of hypothermia and increases in blood pressure due to peripheral vasoconstriction; however, local application of cryotherapy following injury without immersion in all species is well documented. The standing of horses in running cold streams was historically recognized as beneficial for soreness after exercise. Running water maintains a constant temperature and provides mild massage which is beneficial with cold and has been a time-honored treatment for moderate contusion injuries in competition horses where anti-inflammatory drug therapy was not an option. For horses with flexor tendonitis or suspensory desmitis, laminitis and founder, cryotherapy with an optimal application time of 10 minutes is recommended. More recently, improvements in technology have increased the options for ultra sonographic diagnosis, monitoring responses to such treatment in lower leg tendonitis and desmitis, with time frame from injury to successful competition suggested as just over a year. The opportunity to examine the benefits of agitated immersion of the lower limbs of horses became available with the donation of a walking horse hydrotherapy in 1998 following earlier development of a trial unit in 1992. Anecdotal evidence from that trial unit indicated rapid healing of lower leg injuries, following treatment every other day. The first cases treated responded quickly during winter but more slowly during summer, and response was also found to be faster with the addition of salts to make the water hypertonic.
