A new 'gold standard' register of animal musculoskeletal practitioners

Have you ever wished your horse could talk?  Many of the people I visit as a Chartered Veterinary Physiotherapist have said they do, because it would make it so much easier to know what's wrong.  The guilt of discovering that your horse has been in pain for some period of time without you knowing is not much fun, an experience I've personally shared with plenty of others.  Horses are incredible animals, and will often keep going despite considerable discomfort, simply because they're trying their best for us.  

My new book and DVD, 'Understanding Horse Performance: Brain, Pain or Training?' is at heart explaining that horses can only communicate pain or discomfort through their behaviour or performance, and giving tips and tricks on how owners can begin to make the distinction between a horse who is being naughty, a horse who doesn't understand, and a horse who is genuinely saying ouch.

A major difficulty is knowing who to trust to help you to determine this.  Most horses can be persuaded to do most things if the rider is strong enough, but that doesn't mean that's right.  If the horse is more afraid of the rider than he is of the pain, then he'll do as the rider tells him.  If he loves his job and the adrenalin masks the pain, he could be exacerbating the damage each time he works.  Your vet is a good place to start, but for the 'niggles' that don't cause lameness, a physical therapist can be really useful.  So how do you find the right one amongst the myriad available?  

If you've followed my work over the past few years, you'll know that one of my 'soap boxes' is that the title 'Animal Physiotherapist' or 'Veterinary Physiotherapist' is not protected, so anyone can set up to treat animals with no qualifications whatsoever.  This has led to a variety of courses springing up (there's a lot of money to be earned providing courses!), with students gaining a variety of qualifications, including a couple of courses offering a Masters degree in Veterinary Physiotherapy.  To the general public (and most horse owners), it's difficult to differentiate between the Veterinary Physiotherapist who completed a Bachelors degree in Physiotherapy including a minimum of 1000 hours on clinical placement, spent at least a couple of years working in the human field (usually in the NHS), and went on to do a Masters degree in Veterinary Physiotherapy, from the student who did a Bachelors degree in Art History (for example) and went on to complete a Masters degree in Veterinary Physiotherapy.  And often equally difficult to differentiate these from the student who completed an Animal Physiotherapy course lasting a few weekends.  Because they all seem to have the same title: Animal Physiotherapist, or Veterinary Physiotherapist.  Of course qualification isn't everything, there is far more to take into account, and some people have more of an aptitude for working with animals than others. The number of hours studying though, the depth of material studied, and the stringency of the examinations, vary widely, and this results in varying quality of assessment and treatment for your much loved animal - horse, dog or cat, with resulting potential animal welfare risks.

Today an announcement was made that could bring an end to this confusion, for the benefit of companion animals throughout the UK (and of course their owners!).  RAMP, the Register of Animal Musculoskeletal Practitioners, was described in the Horse and Hound as 'a new gold standard register', supported by both DEFRA and vets.  Dr Vav Simon, of the McTimoney Chiropractic Association, said "Currently, it's impossible for owners to know who does what, and what that means".  The RAMP website will list members, making it a one stop shop for animal owners looking for a well qualified, experienced, insured, musculoskeletal practitioner.  Which can only be a good thing, as far as I can see, for animals as well as their owners!

You can see a copy of the article by clicking here.

I'm really excited to hear this news, and believe it's a great step forwards.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this emotive subject!