Equine Sports Medicine

While maintenance of health and animal welfare is important there is also emphasis on production and efficiency of the industry. Veterinarians work with both individual animals and as broader consultants for the industry.
Sports medicine deals specifically with animals that have a performance aspect to their job in life. Primarily this aspect of vet medicine deals with canine and equine patients with a tip of the hat going out to the rodeo bulls of course. The scenarios these athletes find themselves in are exactly the same as those we humans encounter and as such they are equally deserving of the top quality medical care given to the weekend warriors or the allstar hockey player. Fortunately there is no shortage of great options for providing this care to your horse
What Horses Benefit from Sports Medicine?
What first comes to mind is the highperformance equine athlete competing in dressage eventing Western performance jumping racing and other activities. But horses of any discipline can take advantage of the various advances in equine sports medicine including the casualuse trail horse the pleasure dressage horse the hunterjumper who shows occasionally or the older companion horse who gets some regular lunging to keep in shape. While the budget and intensity of the medical attention may differ for these horses the same aspects of sports medicine still apply if they are doing some type of performance. 
The Approach to Sports Medicine
Like the human side of things the approach to equine health and peak athletic performance is moving from reactionary to preventive. It used to be that athletes even professionals would show up for the start of the season 30 pounds overweight smoking a cigarette with a lazy attitude about getting back in shape. In situations like that it wasnt hard to predict poor success with a high risk of injury. Fortunately that approach just isnt tolerated anymore. Similarly with our horses its well understood that poor preparation for the season will likely lead to less than ideal results or even worse serious injuries.
Components of Sports Medicine
Even the basic services and healthcare need to be considered part of a sports medicine program. It wouldnt make sense for a finely tuned athlete to have an underlying health issue the doctors and trainers dont address. The preventive component to sports medicine is basic general healthcare with a few extras thrown in. This would include
A proper nutrition program This is absolutely essential to