Case Studies of therapeutic Uses of Equine Hydrotherapy

Example of soft tissue injury healing using our Panama Spa Unit:-

Blondie - treated at Falconwood Equine Spa, South Africa

Blondie came to us with a 2 month old torn suspensory tendon. The tendon was quite inflamed/hot & swollen. He was also very uncomfortable on the leg. After just 3 & a half weeks of receiving hydrotherapy treatment all of the swelling came down (the area that still appears a bit swollen is in actually scar tissue that formed on the tendon) and the heat on the tendon subsided totally. He is also much more comfortable on the leg.

Blondie before and after photos

Before	Before	After 3 & a half weeks
Before	Before	After 3 & a half weeks

Billy - treated at Falconwood Equine Spa, South Africa

Billy is a 8year old THB gelding that badly injured its hind leg. Ater 3 months and no sign of recovery the owners decided to bring Billy for Hydrotherapy treatment at Falconwood Equine Spa.

Original Wound	After 5 sessions One Week later
After 10 Sessions Two weeks Later	Billy’s Wound 2 months later

Ghimli - treated at Falconwood Equine Spa, South Africa

We recently bought a young 2,5 yr old 14hh Boerperd colt with an extremely swollen left front leg. X-rays showed that it was due to an injury just above the knee. There was no hair on the area as the previous owner had it stitched. We were
very worried about the swelling - it had been treated before we bought it, but it never came down.

Ghimli’s Original Injury

After only 5 sessions of hydrotherapy

"Upon hearing about the Falconwood Equine Spa’s hydrotherapy treatment, I took the little colt to see if the treatment would have any effect on the injury. I was amazed to see that after only 5 treatments over two and a half days, the swelling had gone down completely! And what was even more amazing was that you could see some of the hair starting to grow back over the knee where there had been none before!

Because of the success we had with the colt’s injury, I decided to take my thoroughbred, Storm Blaze, for the treatment as he had bruised his left front tendon. The vet’s diagnosis was that the tendon was slightly bruised, i.e. inflamed, and had prescribed rest and an anti-inflammatory drug. Although it wasn’t serious, it just wouldn’t heal completely for various reasons. The main reason was that it proved to be difficult to keep him quiet enough for the leg to rest, but at the same time let him have freedom to walk around to keep the circulation going. And all the while I couldn’t ride him, so I took him to Falconwood to see how effective the hydrotherapy would be in treating the tendon. After two sessions of the therapy there was no heat anymore, and the inflammation appeared to have subsided. Within a week of the treatment the leg seemed completely fine. I was very eager to see if it would stand work, so I got on and we did some light work. His leg held beautifully & is still fine even now, in work, a few weeks later.

Therefore, from my own experience, I can truly and sincerely recommend the hydrotherapy for any leg problems a horse may have, as it worked very effectively for our two horses. Tanya is also very professional yet loves the horses - they are therefore treated very well, which is important to us as we love our horses. We are happy clients and will certainly use the therapy again when required!"

Shilo - treated at Falconwood Equine Spa, South Africa

The horse was bitten by a snake a year ago, it then went to the vet where it stood for 9 months to recover which did not happen as the horse just got worse as it stopped eating as well. After that the horse went to Sunnypark stables and was referred to us a month ago. As you have seen from the photos the wound looks great and she has started eating properly again. Her overall well being as improved a lot.

Original wound when Shilo arrived	Wound after 5 sessions	Wound after 20 sessions
Wound near the end of treatment

Valentine - treated at Royal County Equine Therapies and Rehabilitation Centre in Co Meath

My yearling colt 'Valentine' had badly injured himself on a rusty gate thrown into his field. I decided to send him to Ali Cox - Purcell at the Royal County Equine Therapies and Rehabilitation Centre in Co Meath. My vet had predicted months of box rest and bandaging with no guarantee my horse would ever be shown again.

I visited him after 4 weeks and was astounded at his progress, I would never have believed he would return to the show ring in less than 6 months with no sign of his injury. I cannot recommend Hydrotherapy treatment enough, this coupled with the first class care and attention my horse received while at this facility was second to none. I would like to thank Ali and James for their tireless dedication. Valentine continues to be shown successfully at County level. Quote from Tracy Chamberlain.


Valentine Fetlock injury	Fetlock after	Valentine front right injury	Front right after

Jaynik - treated at Royal County Equine Therapies and Rehabilitation Centre in Co Meath

Our horse 'Jaynik' had damaged a check ligament and was given a poor diagnosis. We sent him to Ali and James at Royal County Equine Therapies & Rehabilitation in Co Meath, after 4 months of Hydrotherapy treatment and carefull rehabilitation Jaynik has made a full recovery and has since competed in the Junior European Championships, National League 140, Grand Prix and Mill St 150 Derby, amongst many competitions. We are absolutely thrilled at the results of his treatment as we feared he would have to be retired. I would recommend this particular facility to anyone, we had total peace of mind at leaving our horse in very capable and professional care. Quote from Michael Purcell

Jaynik After treatment

Panama Venture - treated at Panama Equine Hydrotherapy

The horse ‘Panama Venture’, pictured below sustained serious flesh wounds in Autumn 2003, which looked set to end her career before it had begun. Due to the success of hydrotherapy using the Panama Spa she recovered enough to be considered for a racing career. Venture was sent to Sue & Harvey Smiths yard in Yorkshire, where Nick Saville’s (developer of the Panama Spa) son, Joss Saville is assistant trainer, to begin her racing career.

Panama Venture ran recently (25/01/2005) at Sedgefield, in her maiden bumper race. She was just pipped at the post into 2^nd place. This was a huge success for all involved with Venture after all the hard work put into getting her back to health.

We can confidently say that without the use of the Panama Spa this horse would never have run.


Original Wound	1 week	2 weeks	2 months	3 months