Physical and Mental Rehabilitation
For physical rehabilitation...
Here at Misty Step we have the equipment and expertise to monitor and rehab a large number of physical and behavioral problems!
- Turn out paddocks of many different sizes for bringing a lame horse back into turn-out safely.
- Hills of different inclines to work on strength, flexibility, and proprioception.
- Beautiful 70x200 ft groomed indoor arena with a blended GGT footing.
- Medical imaging available on site to monitor injuries as your horse returns to work. (Ultrasound available, radiography coming soon!)
- In case of emergency, Dr Boger is also equipped to bandage, cast, re-suture (etc!) injuries that need ongoing medical care.
- Various safe options for sedation that may be short or long acting to help your horse return to turn out or ridden work.
- Rehab board includes any handwalking, turn-out, lunging and/or ridden work your horse needs.
- Dr. Boger is available and happy to work with you, your regular veterinarian, and other equine health professionals to come up with and execute the plan for your horse.
For "mental" rehabilitation...
In terms of mentation, horses are not people, of course! But there's plenty of science that suggests animals are indeed conscious and emotional beings. It's important to not anthropomorphize our horses, but we can train better if we recognize and account for the mental states that are driving behavior.
- For horses that are burnt out or sour, we can use positive reinforcement training to give them a "brain break", and something fun and interesting to focus on, while maintaning muscle.
- We give our horses daily turn out in groups or individually, where they can play and expend their energy in a healthy and safe way.
- We aim to keep our horses happy and busy when in the stall, with 5 times a day feeding, hay nets and slow feeders, and frequent short training sessions.
- We can use positive reinforcement to approach a particular fear or training issue from a new angle and in a way that's safe for the horse and the handler.
- We aim to help stereotypies and stress behaviors like teeth grinding, stall walking, pacing, separation anxiety and aggressive behaviors and promote relaxation and resilience to new stimuli.
- We constantly assess the horses physically, to make sure there isn't pain or a restriction issue affecting their ability to perform or enjoy their work as normal.
Contact us any time!
Call, text, or email for up to date pricing, to schedule a lesson, service, farm visit, or with any other questions!