4DimensionDressage; Evidence Based Rehabilitation and years of practical experience.

4DimensionDressage has over 15 years experience in rehabilitating horses. We succesfully rehabilitate horses with:
• Back pain such as kissing spines, general backpain and poor muscle development from the upper line.
• Neck problems such as synovitis, osteoarthritis, enostosis (occiput), new bone formation and calcifications in the nuchal ligament.
• Problems in the pelvic area and the SI joints, such as an asymmetric pelvis, reduced pelvic mobility which causes problems during training. Osteoarthritis or synovitis of the SI joints and asymmetry in the left and right SI joint.
• Lameness without a clear cause. In case ultrasound, X-rays, MRI and scintigraphy don’t show deviations that correspond with the lameness shown by the horse.
• Vague symptoms such as poor muscle build-up, slightly elevated muscle enzymes, a horse that is “not entirely fit”, starting stiff, “not moving nicely as the hores used to do” and reduced stamina / reduced performance.
• Behavioral problems during training, such as refusing to go forward, kicking, bucking, running or other ways of resistance.
• Riding technical problems such as tilting the head, opening the mouth, tongue out of mouth, excessive chewing, refusing to carry weight on the hindquarters, big difference between training on the left or right hand.
• Does your horse have any complaints that are not on this list? Then contact us for consultation!

Our success rate is very high. This is due to the facts that:
1. The complete rehabilitation is supervised by a veterinarian who specialized in rehabilitation of horses. In addition to veterinary knowledge, she has a lot of experience in training horses and thus knows what training techniques are needed to rehabilitate a horse.
2. In the past 15 years, much experience and knowledge has been gained. In injured horses the training is very important and must be applied very precisely. A small detail can make the difference between successful rehabilitation or not. We have been researching for years in order to find the optimal body posture, the correct pattern of movement and the right relationship between load and loadability for the specific rehabilitation horses.
3. All training techniques are based on biomechanics, physiology and anatomy. This knowledge is based on scientific research.
4. Rehabilitation is not possible without our team. We work closely with a whole team of veterinarians, thermographers, therapists, specialist in leg-and hoof balance, saddlers, dentists, nutritionists and trainers. Rehabilitation is precision work. That means we use different treatment techniques because no therapy can solve everything. The combination of techniques ensures the best result.
5. The trainers are trained by us, not only in the field of training, but also on the signs of physical complaints at an early stage. In addition, they can support the therapists using fascial release techniques.

At 4DimensionDressage we go for long term results. We do not use “quick fix” techniques like injecting joints, neck and back with corticosteroids. It is our opinion that these take away the pain and inflammation, but not the cause. The horse will only show temporary improvement.

We look for the cause, take a closer look at the whole horse and make sure that his entire body is functioning well again. Then the real work begins, the rehabilitation training. The treatments ensure that a horse is trainable, the rehabilitation training ensures the actual recovery.

The first goal of rehabilitation training is recovery. The second goal is to prevent the same or new injuries. Then the horse will be able to return to sport. By teaching the horse to coördinate his body in the 4Dimensions, he will be able to perfectly balance his body and develope a good core-stability. This way the horse doesn’t need to compensate with muscle strenght.
This has 3 advantages:

1. One of the tasks of the muscles is to stabilize the back and joints. When the horse loses a lot of muscle strength by compensating for imbalance, the muscles become overloaded, causing back and joints to function incorrectly. This will eventually cause injuries. Good techniques, balance and core-stability ensure injury prevention.
2. If a horse doesn’t loose muscle strength by compensating for balance errors, he can use all of his power for movements and executing exercises. He can then take full advantage of his potential and perform optimally in sports.
3. A horse moving in balance feels physically and mentally well. He is full of confidence.

Only a healthy and mentally happy horse, free of injuries and full of confidence can perform optimally!