EQUINE REHABILITATION
Pegasus, located in Redmond Washington, offers a full array of leading-edge services that are second-to-none in the industry. Our services are backed by extensive research, and administered by a professional staff that shares your compassion and concern for the equine athlete.
Our innovative medical treatments have been demonstrated to greatly speed recovery from illness or injuries, and to enhance the healing of chronic disorders. These therapies provide optimum results when used in conjunction with our cross-training methods. Dr. Dedomenico himself has an extensive background in medical research, and Pegasus is on the cutting edge of developing and refining new treatment protocols.
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EQUINE SWIMMING POOL
Indications for Use​
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Non-impact cardiovascular condition
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Rehabilitation following injury or surgery (may allow rehab to begin up to 10 weeks earlier than without swimming)
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Recovery from orthopedic injuries
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Conditioning and cross training horses for intended sport
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A break from routine exercise
Horse Aquatic Therapy
Used to heal the equine athlete without bearing weight, this treatment is important for equine rehabilitation and conditioning of sport horses.
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This is an aerobic exercise that enables development and/or maintenance of cardiovascular fitness without weight-bearing and thus is an important component of most rehabilitation and conditioning programs. The horse is completely non-weight bearing which unloads the joints and soft tissues and eliminates ground reaction forces.
The Pegasus swimming pool is 15 feet deep. It is kept at 60 degrees which prevents the horse from overheating during intense exercise and causes vasoconstriction which decreases inflammation and pain.
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Contact us to learn more about our equine swimming pool.
Benefits of Use:
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Enhances range of motion
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Increases muscle development
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Increases stamina
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Increases the development of fast twitch high-oxidative muscle fibers which reflects improved aerobic capacity
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Increases blood circulation•Stimulates healing process
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Decreases joint stiffness
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Decreases locomotor disease
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Reduces inflammation
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Relieves pressure on joints, bones and ligaments
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Provides resistance to ensure thorough workouts
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Maintains cardiovascular fitness
HYDROHORSE
WATER TREADMILL
An Under Water Equine Treadmill
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The HydroHorse Treadmill allows for therapeutic healing and conditioning of the horse in a water environment. The horse is partially buoyant while making contact with the treadmill belt beneath. This buoyancy keeps the pressure off the joints reducing stress and trauma.
The HydroHorse is used for treating soft tissue injuries, fractures, foot problems and for horses recovering from surgery. It can also help bleeders by allowing them time to heal while preserving their conditioning.
The temperature regulated HydroHorse contains massaging jets which also aid in a horse's recovery. It is typically beneficial for the horse to use the HydroHorse before returning to training. The treadmill prepares the horse for heavier training by increasing strength and tightening the joint capsules, tendons, and ligaments.
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Contact us to learn more about our Hydrohorse.
Benefits:
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Reduces recovery time
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Provides a level of fitness before return to training
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Reduced joint concussion
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Reduced stress on ligaments and tendons
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Massaging effect
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Improves cardiovascular fitness
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Muscular strengthening
All horses are assigned an attendee that carefully monitors your horse to ensure they are relaxed and happy
EQUINE HYPERBARIC OXYGEN THERAPY
Reduce Healing Time with your Equine Athlete
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What was once created just for human use, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy is now a commonly used therapy for equine athletes. Our treatment facility in Redmond, Washington utilizes this therapy often.
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is produced by allowing a patient to breathe very high concentrations of oxygen (up to 100%) while placing them in a chamber and increasing the pressure around them. By increasing the pressure around the patient while they breathe high levels of oxygen, we can increase the amount of oxygen in the blood by as much as 15 times normal levels. The goal is to deliver the oxygen to the diseased tissue to help it to heal. The increased pressure condenses the oxygen molecules making more molecules available for the blood to pick up in the lungs and pass to the plasma.
Oxygen is a great healer and reduces healing time by half. It does this by opening all arteries, veins and lymphatic channels reducing inflammation, swelling and bruising. This makes antibiotics work better and doubles the stem cells available for healing.
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Contact us to learn more about our Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy.
Assists Healing & Recovery From:
• Tendon or ligament injuries
• Stem cell therapy
• Surgical wound healing
• Post injection reactions
• Respiratory conditions
• Soft tissue swelling
• Osteomyelitis
• Spider bites
• Laminitis
• Infertility
• Infections
COLD SALT WATER EQUINE SPA
Reduce Equine Inflammation and Soreness
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Horses training for any sport get occasional joint swelling and muscle soreness. The spa is filled with salt water at a temperature of 35 degrees Fahrenheit. The spa holds 530 gallons of water and has a built in an insulated water tank which allows the temperature to be maintained. The salt concentration acts as a poultice to draw out inflammation and infection. The aeration acts as a massager providing relief to joints, tissue, and muscle. The depth of the water can be adjusted based upon the position of the injury.
Standing in the spa for 15 minutes will aid in correcting any joint or muscle swelling and soreness. It has been shown to decrease muscle soreness, joint swelling, and discomfort or muscle spasm.
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Contact us for more information on our cold salt water equine spa.
Benefits:
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Tendonitis
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Desmitis
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Arthritis
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Bursitis
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Sore Shins
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Laminitis
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Hoof injuries
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Bruising
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Open wounds & skin infections
We ensure that a trained attendant stays with the horse at all times to keep an eye on them and make sure they are comfortable.
EQUINE SOLARIUM
Improve Circulation and Muscle Elasticity
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Heat from the infra-red lights penetrate the skin to warm the horse’s underlying muscle tissue before work to stimulate blood flow, improve circulation, improve muscle elasticity and reduce injury. As a rehabilitation therapy, it helps to reduce back pain, joint stiffness, muscle fatigue and/or muscle spasms. The solarium lights are also often used to dry a horse quickly and effectively after bathing or aquatic therapy.
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Contact us to learn more about our Equine Solarium.
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Benefits:
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Stimulates blood flow
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Reduce back pain
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Reduce joint stiffness
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Quick dry a horse after bathing, aquatics therapy or conditioning
Stem Cell Therapy
Heal Tissue Injuries more Efficiently
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Stem cell therapy is a newer therapy which has shown extreme promise in healing tissue injuries and more recently has shown promise in treating laminitis. Research is ongoing and Pegasus will be part of upcoming research in partnership with Colorado State University. In 2015, Colorado State University veterinarian,Dr. Wayne McIlwraith received $65 million to further his research. The Thoroughbreds will be the animal used in the research because they respond to therapies similar to humans, are trackable through the Jockey Club Registry, and are well taken care of.
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Stem cells have the ability to replicate and differentiate into a diverse range of cell types found throughout the horse's body. Mesenchymal stem cells appear to have the greatest potential for regenerative medicine. Studies have shown that the younger the stem cells, the more potential they have to heal and regenerate tissue.
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Stem cells are derived from bone marrow in the horse's sternum or the tuber coxae or in smaller concentrations in fat. A laboratory process cultures the marrow and expands it into millions of stem cells. This process takes up to a month and then the stem cells can be injected into a soft tissue injury or joint. The stem cells promote healing in the affected site. We are striving to learn more about stem cells and their potential in veterinary medicine.
EUROCISERS
Keep your Horse Freely Moving and Improve Elasticity​
Horses are designed to move and graze most of the day. Many horses are not exercising enough to keep their body at its maximum performance, leading to many medical problems including colic and laminitis.
The Eurociser is a machine that allows us to incorporate as much free movement as possible for our horses, while still maintaining the ability to control and adjust the speed and direction of their movement. Due to the fact that the horse is not being pulled along, but moves at his natural pace, he is able to relax and stretch his top line, thereby increasing the elasticity of his muscles. With top class footing, we can also use our Eurociser for fitness programs, incorporating walk, trot and canter, or we can create an interval training program adapted for each horse’s individual needs.
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Contact us to learn more about our Eurocisers.
Nuclear Scintigraphy
Equine Bone Scan
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Nuclear Scintigraphy (bone scan) is used to detect areas of increased bone activity within the body that may be indicative of fractures, stress fractures, overriding dorsal spinous processes, and osteoarthritis. The amount of radioisotope that is present in the skeleton is detected with a gamma camera. The resulting image is similar to temperature map-sites in which increased radioisotope uptake appear brighter.
In sport horses and racehorses, nuclear scintigraphy is an excellent tool because it can detect stress fractures that may not be easily detectable by other common x-rays.
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Contact us to learn more about our nuclear scintigraphy (bone scan).
Benefits
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Detect increased bone activity
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Help identify fractures, stress fractures and more
Increased radioisotope uptake is represented by the darkest areas in the images below.
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WHOLE BODY VIBRATION PLATE
Increase Blood Flow and Recovery Time
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Whole Body Vibration is a rapidly expanding form of bio-mechanical stimulation that is ideally suited to reduce the effects of confinement on racehorses and sport horses. Whole body vibration therapy is meant to reduce pain, improve flexibility, and increase the range of motion, circulation, muscle coordination, balance and stability.
One immediate effect of this therapy is improved circulation of both blood and lymphatic systems. The vibration causes an involuntary contraction and relaxation of muscles to increase blood flow.
The vibrating platform helps in quicker recovery of the horse from various soft tissue damage and hoof problems. The horse’s foot contains the frog which acts like a small heart to help blood return to the heart. Vibration helps the frog do its job. It can also be employed for training, rehabilitation, maintenance, and injury prevention.
Another unique ability that vibration therapy delivers is improved bone density, which will prepare the horse for the stresses and rigors of athletic training. It also helps the horse heal fractures of all bones.
After just 10 minutes there is increased blood flow. This rise in temperature causes the muscles to warm up, remove toxic products and improve overall circulation to the tissues.
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Contact us for more information about our vibration plate therapy.
Benefits
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Reduce Pain
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Improve Circulation
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Improve flexibility, range of motion, circulation, balance and more
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Quicker recovery from soft tissue damage and hoof problems
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Improve bone density
SHOCKWAVE THERAPY
Improve Healing and Rehabilitation Time​
Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy (ESWT) is an emerging new technology for treating musculoskeletal problems, soft tissue injuries and bone injuries in horses. ESWT is non-invasive, used to stimulate healing to return horses to a level of fully sound, useful activity without recurrence of disease.
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The machine generates high-intensity shock or pressure waves, which pulse to a specific site within the injured tissue. This stimulates and accelerates the healing process, essentially combing an immediate analgesic and ontogenesis in bone.
Applications for use:
The list of equine injuries that can be treated using shockwave therapy is extensive. Injuries in the equine lower leg including suspensory ligament damage, bowed tendons, bucked shins, splint bone fractures, navicular syndrome, ringbone, and various arthritic conditions of the knee and hock respond well to shockwave therapy.
Benefits:
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Improves healing in the following ways:
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Increased localized blood flow (increased growth factors)
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Decreases inflammation
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Decreases localized cell death (apoptosis)
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Increases skin fibroblasts
