05/30/2026
Preventative maintenance and performance horses 🐎
Many times, I’m called in to treat horses or rehabilitate horses after they have already developed a chronic condition, an injury, or are developing signs of declining performance. The key is to think about implementing maintenance measures before your horses ever experience a problem. While preventative maintenance may not stop the need for invasive maintenance such as, joint injections, or chronic issues like arthritis eventually developing, it can help extend the period of time until a horse needs invasive procedures done or develops chronic issues by ensuring their bodies are functioning optimally.
The way we breed, train, and house our horses will have an impact on their body over time. We are breeding for performance now, more young horses are predisposed to issues at a young age and not built to last, case in point OCD being more prevalent in young horses than ever before. We are training hard, we are futuritying horses before their skeletal system is fully developed, then watching as chronic issues are creeping in at younger ages. More soft tissue injuries in young horses. We house our horses in stalls all day decreasing their movement and in turn we are diminishing cartilage nutrients and predisposing to early joint degeneration.
Horses are meant to move all day, long distances. Horses are meant to graze all day. Horses are meant to experience different terrain. We have made horses weaker and disposed them to issues at younger and younger ages. So again, preventative maintenance. Let’s help our horses bodies stay as functional and as strong as we can long before issues start to become apparent because horses weren’t designed to be how a majority of them live now. So let’s help them. Let’s help them non invasively keep up with the demands of the performance world.
Your performance horse is an athlete, treat them as such, you won’t regret it.
www.equanimityanimaltherapy.com
