Recently we did some kinesiotaping on Val to address her right stifle. Her patella will pop out of it's groove and get stuck above the joint, called upward fixation of the patella. We've worked on this issue with many horses over the years, and Val has been in a rehab/training program to address it. She also lives in a large paddock with a hill, which helps to strengthen the quadriceps muscle. Her rehab has included extensive pole work, lots of walking out in the back forty up and down hills, and most recently the kinesiotaping.
The idea with the tape is to support the stifle joint to help prevent the patella from moving where it shouldn't go. The yellow tape was stabilizing both above and below the actual stifle joint.
The black tape is activating the hamstrings, which work opposite the quadriceps muscle. Strengthening these muscle groups by activating them with tape strengthens the support structures around the joint. and ideally will help prevent the patella from fixating upwards.
To help support the other side of Val's body we applied the blue tape to the back muscles. Because the tape has such an effect on the right side of her body, we wanted to support the left as well.
It did have an effect on how Val moves. She tends to hollow her back when riding, and doesn't step well underneath herself with her hind end. After this taping, and once the blue tape was removed, I rode her with the stifle and hamstrings still taped. Her movement was definitely more forward, with slightly longer strides and even some sporadic lifting of her back. I'll be retaping her this weekend and we'll see if we can get those results again.
Because she did feel better with the kinesiotaping, I've begun jumping her a little. Here are some shots of her early attempts at large crossrails and a small oxer.
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