In recognition of May as Arthritis Prevention Month, Dr. Mario Soriano, DVM and Director of Veterinary Studies at the London College of Animal Osteopathy, explains how incorporating Equine Osteopathy into the maintenance program of sport horses reduces joint injuries, increases recovery rates, and improves the overall well-being of horses.
Valencia, May 5, 2025 — Joint health in horses is undoubtedly one of the most critical issues in modern veterinary medicine, as well as in the sustainability and ethics of equestrian sports disciplines. Joint injuries, inflammation, and degeneration are common causes of pain, poor performance, and, in many cases, early retirement of sport horses.
In this regard, Equine Osteopathy (EO) offers a treatment approach that seeks to understand the animal’s biomechanics as a whole, not merely applying a localized solution to a specific symptom, but also considering what dysfunctions might underlie the pathological processes. Treating the horse as a functional unit through osteopathy allows us to detect joint restrictions that can compromise overall equestrian performance.
Before diving further, let’s first review what osteopathy is and how it works in horses, to better understand how it can support equine joint health.
What is Osteopathy and How Does it Work?
Osteopathy is a manual therapeutic discipline established in 1874 by Andrew Taylor Still, who proposed that structure and function are interrelated in the body, in this case, the horse’s body. EO examines and diagnoses the horse in search of movement disorders in joints, muscles, fascia, and even organs. Its primary aim is to restore balance or homeostasis within the equine body system.
From a neurophysiological perspective, osteopathy works peripherally by directly modulating the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and improving joint proprioception. Studies in humans (Degenhardt et al., 2010) and in animal models such as mice (Licciardone et al., 2012) have shown that osteopathic techniques can reduce inflammation, modulate pain perception, and improve basic vascular trophism.
By acting on neuromuscular reflexes and autonomic regulation, osteopathy in horses achieves systemic effects that directly influence movement quality and pain perception; key factors in managing joint disorders in horses.
In addition, research led by Haavik’s team in humans has shown that spinal manipulations can have a positive effect on the brain’s prefrontal cortex, improving sensory and motor integration. This supports the idea that manual interventions proposed by osteopathy not only have local effects but also influence central nervous system functions, enhancing proprioception and alleviating pain, essential when treating horses with joint issues.
Osteopathic manipulations, one of the classic techniques used, restore physiological joint function, improve mobility, reduce capsular stiffness, and facilitate load-bearing mechanics. This, in turn, helps to effectively counteract compensatory overload in other structures that may increase the risk of secondary injuries. This point is crucial, as horses often accumulate many biomechanical compensations over years of training.
How Does Osteopathy Help Manage Joint Conditions in Horses?
EO offers a wide array of techniques and approaches to improve equine joint function. For example, there are techniques that aim to:
- Restore physiological joint cycles and gait patterns while reducing joint inflammation.
- Rehabilitate joint proprioceptive functions to improve movement patterns and reduce compensatory strategies that may lead to injury.
- Stimulate myofascial integration to achieve a more even distribution of mechanical forces.
Over recent years, the experience of thousands of equine osteopaths worldwide has generated strong empirical, clinical, and case-based evidence for the use of osteopathic techniques in treating joint problems in horses. These outcomes have reinforced the validity of the osteopathic profession in addressing these types of equine issues, as also suggested by studies from Burns, Degenhardt, Kramer, Licciardone, and Cerritelli.
One particularly interesting study by Burns et al. (2011) using horses showed that osteopathic manipulative treatments increased flexibility and improved locomotor patterns as assessed through kinematic analysis.
Research in humans and rodents provides data that can be extended to horses. For example, Degenhardt et al. (2010) found that osteopathic manipulative treatments resulted in lower levels of proinflammatory cytokines like IL-6.
Similarly, Licciardone et al. (2012) demonstrated improved joint function and reduced inflammatory response in mice following osteopathic manipulation. In the realm of joint disorders, research by Kramer in osteopathic rheumatology has shown that combining manual therapy with other osteopathic approaches leads to significant improvements in joint mobility and reductions in inflammation in affected joints.
More recently, studies in humans, such as that by Cerritelli et al. (2020), suggest that osteopathic therapy may alter the expression of inflammation-related genes, opening new avenues for research in veterinary osteopathic medicine.
Conclusion
Equine Osteopathy opens an innovative pathway for managing and preventing joint problems in horses. As discussed, the osteopath’s holistic approach, focusing on proactive mobility, neurophysiological regulation, and proprioceptive enhancement, contributes significantly to improving equine joint health.
While much research still lies ahead, preliminary findings, along with clinical and experiential results, increasingly support the use of Equine Osteopathy as an effective and essential therapy for equine athletes.
For more information:
If you're interested in the postgraduate programs in Equine Veterinary Osteopathy, Animal Veterinary Osteopathy, or Canine Veterinary Osteopathy offered by the London College of Animal Osteopathy, write to: info@aosteocollege.es for Spanish language programs or info@osteocollege.com for English language programs
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