Melbourne Cup 2024: Meet equine physiotherapist Tom Simpson

“It’s become a bit more scientific – evidence-based research and physiotherapists are growing in popularity, which is great.

“There is still a gap in understanding that physical therapy is evidence-based. This is not a weekend course as many people think, this is how they can do it.”

This job is not without its challenges. The person can be told and shown how to stretch their hamstrings or back. With a horse there are more hands. The limb must be physically lifted or pressed down, and this requires more than just basic horsemanship to gain the animal’s trust.

Communication between patient and caregiver is also not simple. How does a horse tell a physiotherapist where it hurts or how limited its movement is? Some answers come straight from the horse’s mouth, but not all.

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“Their ears are a really important thing, whether they point forward or backward,” Simpson said. “Ears back is ‘leave me alone’, ears forward is great.”

A horse with a “soft gaze” (an expression meaning that he is not looking) is relaxed. The licking and chewing is “fantastic,” Simpson said. On the other hand, if the horse flinches or tries to get away, this is a bad sign.

Horses typically get sore in what Simpson calls the “engine room,” the buttocks, lower back and hamstrings—the muscles responsible for their strength.

While understanding the horse is vital to what Simpson does, he wants to make it clear that he is not a horse whisperer.

“This is just nonsense,” Simpson said. “There’s no other way to talk about it and I’m sick to death of it. It irritates the hell out of my head.

“There is no doubt that I am very natural and comfortable with horses and I can probably navigate a horse better than most, but what I can achieve I will explain to you through science. It’s not a secret.”

Simpson was one of the first to learn last week that Via Sistina would be running through Cox’s Plate, despite her Mooney Valley jokes.

His initial fear when watching video of the incident on social media was that Via Sistina had injured her neck or leg when she hit jockey James MacDonald and nearly fell, but he was less concerned when she ran a few laps of the track. After treatment, it didn’t take him long to realize that she was fine.

No muscle spasms or lesions were observed, and joint range of motion was within normal limits.

“If I’m arrogant or honest, it’s about 10 minutes,” Simpson said.

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“Perhaps that’s a key point to share with human athletes – how she felt. This often happens to horses: they are stressed, constantly walk around the stall, do not eat, roam the ground, and other things happen that are unusual for the behavior of a horse. horse.

“She was cool as a cucumber. She ate all her breakfast and is ok. She was herself.”

With the Melbourne Cup just days away, Simpson’s skills are more important now than at any other point in the preparation. Almost all runners won’t race again until Tuesday, although most will continue running on the treadmill. Removing pain can be the difference between glory and failure.

Famous Earth Legend, last-time winner Athabaskan and underdog Francesco Guardi will all benefit from Simpson’s expert help.

“From today on, you’re going to really focus,” Simpson said Tuesday. “You really, really want to make sure you don’t cross the line in any way. Now they look like tight rubber bands and are ready to go. They know when it’s game time.

“Some people say, ‘I want more’, some say, ‘I’m fine, let me sleep.’ You really hone in on it, talk to the staff, talk to the coach, watch them train. All these one percenters are huge now.”

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