Rehabilitation or preventative maintenance is not just for horses with acute injuries. We have horses from the entire spectrum. Ones who don’t do as well in a more maintstream show environment.

Some who are young and need extra maintenance while their bodies adjust. We have horses who are very “body lame” and have yet to injure themselves. We’ve even had broodmares who need to be weaned from their babies and need to “rebuild” their bodies.

We also like to include our very own nutrition program with the use of ProSeries.

-Full care, all-inclusive board (cleaning, shavings, feedings 4 times a day, turnout, treadmill, walker, handling for vet and farrier, fly masks, blanketing)

-Nutrition from mainly forage multiple times a day helps the horses so stay sound in their gut and minds. 3 hay feedings a day plus one complete feed or grain feeding a day means horses in our care have some sort of forage in their gut at all times. In some cases, horses will use hay nets or slow feeders.

-Physical therapy (as requested by veterinarian). This might be hand walking multiple times a day. First rides back under saddle walking. It might mean that your horse should have little movement as possible and therefore needs more enrichment activities such as bodywork, daily grooming, hay balls in their stall or friends next to them full time while they heal. Each horse is treated as an individual.

-Bodywork weekly, depending on horses body soreness they might need one longer treatment each week or shorter check in sessions. Horses just get what they need no questions asked. Bodywork at Oasis consists of Cranial Sacral techniques offered by Hilary Van Tatenhove. Muscular therapy, stretching, posture pads, cold laser, soundwave therapy, ultrasound therapy, red light therapy, aromatherapy, solarium and taping can all work together as non-invasive ways to help each horse thrive.

-Outside veterinary care can also be added to the list of modalities we offer. Angie Stamm DVM comes to the barn once a month for shockwave therapy sessions. Horses are sedated for these session and assessed by Angie before implementation. Most horses need Shockwave in sets of three, but we have seen huge improvements in just 2 sessions. Our lameness and sports medicine vet- Kelly Miller DVM is also available for lameness exams, radiographs and other specialty care when needed.

-Mental rehabilitation with good handling, groundwork and first rides back under saddle. Gentle groundwork is used to help horses to better understand their bodies and how they can function with a human. Some horses come to us with “holes” in their early training- and this can show up even more radically when they are in re-hab. Having the skills of trainer Brittany Massey and Ryan Hathaway are crucial for groundwork that tunes into the needs of each horse.

-Weekly assessments on horses on-going care and treatment, as well as consultations with farrier and veterinary care. We are always consulting and trying to better understand the needs of each horse. This might mean we change things for that horse weekly. Or they might for months on the same type of program. Our farrier and vets have great relationships with us and we can chat candidly about each horse they observe,

-Detox and nutrition evaluation with a monthly plan. Sometimes this will be a simple change to our nutrition program. In some cases the horse is better off staying on their usual nutrition program that you bring from home. We also find that horses need liver or kidney detoxes. We have a simple and organic supplement program for this which can include supplements from Silver Linings Herbs- a trusted brand.

-End of month lesson for client to continue their education for physical and mental care of equine. Especially when horses are only with us for 1-2 months, its crucial for us to build a protocol for owners to take home with them. Some of our clients being their horses back to us every couple of months for a “check in”. Either leaving them for a week or weekend so that they can get the care they need even after their rehabilitation is over.