Frequently Asked Questions

Payment is online, by card at time of appointment.

The title ‘Chartered Physiotherapist’ is protected by law, in reference to human physiotherapists. It is used by physiotherapists who have achieved a high level of academic and practical training in all aspects of physiotherapy and are consequently qualified and registered. It does not relate to veterinary physiotherapy.

Each assessment and treatment session, whether for the horse or the rider, is individually tailored. Therefore, the number of sessions required is dependent on the findings of the initial assessment. Usually, you will feel the benefit after the first session, however this is dependent on your individual difficulties. We recommend regular follow up sessions after the initial assessment, to optimise the results. Your physiotherapist will discuss how many sessions may be required, as well as the frequency, during your initial assessment.

Please discuss with your insurance company regarding what is covered under your policy. We will still request payment on the day but we will provide you with a receipt, so you are able to claim from the insurance company.

If you are requesting an appointment to focus on improving your horse’s performance, and they are not lame, veterinary consent is not required prior to treating. If your horse is lame, or there is an on-going underlying condition, as part of best practice, we will contact your veterinarian to discuss prior to assessment and treatment. ​The Rehab Pathway is only suitable for horses under veterinary care.

After care will be bespoke to you and your horse's needs and will be discussed and agreed after the assessment/ treatment. Every horse and rider assessment and treatment session completed, will be written in a report, and sent to your inbox. This will include the exercises explained and prescribed during your session, as well as a summary of the findings and treatment.

Award Equine Physio covers the South of England including Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire, West Sussex, Surrey, and surrounding counties.

There are 2 different levels of The Rehab Pathway, which can be adapted to your individual needs and financial situation. Both levels of support include a very in depth initial assessment, regular physio sessions, rehab coaching, a detailed rehabilitation plan and monthly review sessions. They also include all liaison with your vet, necessary liaison with your insurance providers (where relevant), regular gait analysis, and use of any specialist equipment prescribed for the duration of the program. Depending on the level of involvement that you have opted for will depend on how many times we will see you, typically this is at least 1x fortnightly for physiotherapy, but can be up to twice a week. The amount of improvement you see will depend on the level of input that you and we put into your horse, and we have seen successful cases on both a high input and lower input schedule. You are also always welcome to message for support, encouragement or questions. We really are very invested in our Rehab Pathway horses.

Yes, rehabilitation can be reclaimed under the complementary therapy cover on your insurance policy. We are also able to support with this claim if this is helpful.

We will work with any professional involved; including your current physiotherapist. We will happily provide our intensive solution for the minimum term of 3 months and then hand back to your current physiotherapist. The only thing we ask, is that you do not have 2 physios treating your horse at the same time.

The Rehab Pathway does not include other professional visits (saddler, farrier etc), but we will liaise with these professionals if it is required; and we usually do out of best practice for the optimal outcome for the horse. If a joint visit is required, it might be possible to include this within your package. We are not able to offer nutrition advice, or provide supplements and feeds, but we can direct you to reputable nutritional advisors.

The Rehab Pathway runs for a minimum of 3 months as this is the length of time that we find it takes to see changes in the way your horse moves and gives us time to establish the correct program for you and your horse. Some horses may need longer than this and others can graduate from The Rehab Pathway at this point and progress to regular physio sessions and exercises after this point.

We take a totally different approach to the generic ‘physio’. We specialise in rehabilitation of the horse, and understand how difficult this can be. The initial consultation, will allow us to take a deep dive into why your horse is struggling/ has been diagnosed with the current condition. This allows us to improve the horse's whole movement pattern, along with addressing the possible causes, through comprehensive treatment and exercises. We will take time to teach you how to complete every aspect of the rehabilitation, so you can continue to keep your horse moving well, after we have completed our time together. We also closely monitor and record changes, allowing for us to detect if they are progressing, and to what extent. We work closely with vets, to ensure that thorough communication is had throughout your time on our pathway.

No, we are able to work with whatever facilities you have available to you. You do not need a school, poles or any other fancy equipment, just somewhere relatively flat where your horse can work, a field or track is perfectly suitable for this. We are well versed in coming up with creative solutions to still achieve brilliant results! We will also supply all therapeutic equipment required, which can be purchased at the end of The Rehab Pathway if you wish to do so. If there are specific elements of equipment that we cannot provide, we will support you to source the appropriate piece of equipment, or work around to use an alternative.

All horses that are on The Rehab Pathway must have veterinary diagnosis and referral for rehabilitation. This may either be following veterinary treatment or surgery, or as conservative treatment following a diagnosis. We work closely with your vets throughout the process to ensure that we achieve the best outcomes for you and your horse. For rehab to be effective, we have to know that the horse does not have an underlying, undiagnosed injury. Rehabilitation with an injury that has not been diagnosed and treated, can lead to further issues. We want successful outcomes for your horse, so ensuring that they have been under vet care before coming to us, also ensures that they start rehabilitation at an appropriate time.