why rehab is like baking a cake...

Like any recipe, there is not just one "ingredient" or element when it comes to rehabilitation. There will likely never be just one thing that will solve your problem at hand, but if you get the foundations right, you'll be more more likely to get a positive result.

In equine rehabilitation, much like baking, the foundation is essential. For a cake, the basics—flour, eggs, milk, and butter—form the core structure. Similarly, in equine physiotherapy and rehabilitation, the key ingredients are exercise, load management, nutrition, optimal biomechanics and rest/recovery. These elements lay the groundwork for any successful equine exercise program.

Just as a cake can be enhanced with flavouring, icing, or toppings, adjunct therapies in equine rehab—like manual therapy, electrotherapy, or supplements—can add value. These extras can help reduce pain and potentially speed up recovery, but they are not substitutes for the foundational components of a horse's rehabilitation program. Many horse owners may seek out these “quick fixes,” expecting rapid results, but it’s crucial to remind them that without the foundations, such as appropriate exercise and load management, these treatments will seldom be effective on their own.
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Often, people say equine physiotherapy or rehabilitation has failed, attributing the lack of results to the “wrong” treatment. In reality, the issue is often that these treatments are applied without the essential foundation. The adjunct therapies are like frosting on a cake—they can enhance the outcome but cannot stand alone.

In baking, if you don't get the foundation of your cake right, the cake will fail, no matter how much flavouring or "extras" you have. Equine rehabilitation is no different.

Furthermore, just as the brand of ingredients in baking rarely changes the outcome, the specific exercises used in an equine exercise program can vary as long as they are progressively loading the targeted areas. What matters most is the balance, order, and amount of each exercise, much like the precision required in measuring baking ingredients. Understanding the complexity of movement and the demands on a horse’s body is key to tailoring an effective rehabilitation program.
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By reinforcing these fundamental principles of equine rehabilitation, you can help your clients understand that the best results come from a balanced approach, with a strong foundation of exercise and recovery strategies.

If you struggle with knowing how best to design an equine rehabilitation program, we have developed some educational resources to help you out.

These include:
1. Our book, A Practical Guide to Exercise Prescription in Equine Rehabilitation, available both as a digital download and a hard copy.

2. Our 3 part webinar series, Mastering Equine Exercise Prescription.

4. Our series of “cheat sheets”, the first of which is all about knowing the effect of different rehab exercises and tools, and is available to download now.

5. Two FREE eBooks all about the basic principles of exercise rehab and how to increase client compliance with their home exercise programs

6. Professional consults and mentoring - if you need more individualised and tailored advice, we can help you consult on cases or provide mentoring services. Contact us to learn more about how we can work together.