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AUTUMN 2012 ISSUE
EQUINE MATTERS
6
LONDON 2012
Marie Rippingale
BSc (Hons) REVN G-SQP
DipHE CVN
Scarsdale Veterinary Group
Going to the Olympics had always been
a dream for me although I had always
hoped to be an equestrian competitor.
Having realised that my 28 year old pony
may not make it round the cross country
course at Greenwich, I had to find another
way to be involved. Being behind the
scenes at such an iconic event was a
dream come true, you never knew when
one of your favourite riders or horses
would appear round the corner. I had the
honour of watching the British eventing
team win and collect their silver medals
which is something I will never forget. I
feel very proud to have been part of the
vet team at London 2012. Working with
the riders, horses and other volunteers
was a real privilege.
Veterinary Technician assisting the
veterinary field team and team vets at
the vet clinic at Greenwich Park and
assisting with providing first aid support
to the main arena and training areas.
Cross Country Vet Technician fence
20 'The Altar'. I also attended the
modern pentathlon stables to help check
over the horses on arrival.
Role:
My London 2012
experience:
There was full physiotherapy cover from 6am
to 10pm. We were there to help with horses
that had any problems travelling or had
ongoing problems. It was a real team effort,
working closely with the veterinary team,
horses were often visited by all four physios
covering the day and had frequent visits from
the farriers offering their expertise (in
exchange for a cup of tea!)
Good communication skills were essential
especially as there were many different
languages to contend with.
Many of the horses didn't receive routine
physiotherapy for maintenance in their home
countries and relished free treatment and our
expertise. Their knowledge and appreciation
of the benefits of physiotherapy has increased
significantly. This also posed an additional
challenge to our work as many of the horses
had pre-existing musculo-skeletal problems
which were chronic. We had to modify our
treatment techniques and quickly gauge
how sensitive the horses were to minimise
post-treatment soreness. What we do to
keep the horse at their peak in competition
is different to what we do to prepare or
once the event is over, it really is just about
keeping the horse as flexible and supple
as possible.
Common conditions treated were:
●
muscular back and neck pain, including
post-competition soreness
●
haematomas
●
bruised feet
●
coffin and fetlock joint problems
●
sacroiliac joint strains
●
muscle tears
●
ligament and tendon irritation
●
superficial wounds and grazes
●
trauma.
Equine physiotherapy was also in high
demand at the Paralympics. Here a huge part
of our job was to understand the disability of
the rider so that we could interpret some of
the muscle tensions and soreness in their horse
in what the horse 'needed' in order to help
balance itself with their rider and what was
alright to release and work through. Being
both a human and an equine physio was
absolutely invaluable for this.
The games have given us all a great
opportunity to observe elite competition
horses from all walks of life and different
training styles in dressage, show jumping
and eventing.
Physiotherapy
at London 2012
Rachel Greetham
BSc(Hons) Physiotherapy
MCSP, HPC Category A member ACPAT
For the first time at an Olympic and Paralympic games
there was a team of chartered equine physiotherapists
available for any individual or team to use.