Equine osteopathy: An Introduction to the most popular animal osteopathy career

Animal osteopathy is a unique but increasingly popular strand of osteopathic treatment with many animal owners, from farmers to pet owners, seeking a holistic form of medical treatment to keep their animals healthy.

Of all forms of animal osteopathy, equine osteopathy remains the most popular, primarily because of the demand many horses face, and how susceptible they are to injury and ailments that can impact mobility.

Here’s a deep dive into this branch of osteopathy, and details to help you better understand the steps required to become one.

What is equine osteopathy?

In essence, equine osteopathy is the application of osteopathic principles and techniques you’ll see in a regular osteopathy appointment, but applied to horses – assessing, treating and supporting the entire musculoskeletal system (and beyond) to promote greater movement, better performance, and support improved health and wellbeing.

At its heart, equine osteopathy shares the same philosophy as human osteopathy. The body’s structure influences its function, and restrictions anywhere in the system can

have ripple effects. It takes a whole-body perspective rather than simply treating the symptom or the area of pain in isolation.

For someone considering a career in animal healthcare, equine osteopathy offers a unique blend: manual therapy, working with a magnificent animal species, combining science and hands-on care, and making a real difference to performance, comfort and longevity.

What does an equine osteopath treat?

An equine osteopath works with a range of horses, from elite racehorses and high-level competition horses to police/service animals, leisure riders and older horses needing ongoing support. The kinds of issues they support with include:

• Performance problems: When a horse is under-performing, struggling with specific gaits (for example trotting or cantering), or showing resistance during training, it may be that underlying structural or functional issues are present. Equine osteopathy can help here.
• Gait irregularities: Short strides, stiffness, tracking-up problems, or uneven movement can signal biomechanical restrictions or compensations that an osteopath can address.
• Behavioural changes: Issues like bucking, rearing, bolting, or showing sensitivity to saddling or grooming may have musculoskeletal or structural roots rather than purely behavioural causes, which an osteopath can investigate.
• Back and joint issues: General back pain, spinal or joint dysfunction, and arthritis can occur in horses just as they do in humans, especially if working hard or ageing. This means that treatment for these issues is very sought after
• Rehabilitation support: After injuries such as ligament or tendon strains, osteopathic treatment can support recovery, restore mobility and help prevent re-injury.
• General health maintenance: Preventative care is increasingly valued, especially for competition horses, working horses or older companions. Regular osteopathic assessments and treatments help maintain mobility, prevent issues before they become major, and support longevity. 

How does equine osteopathy work?

Equine osteopathy applies the core principles of osteopathic practice to the horse. This means a whole-body assessment, looking at posture, alignment, soft tissues, joints, movement patterns and mechanical relationships. The osteopath might palpate the horse, assess range of motion, observe gait and function, then use appropriate manual techniques to fix the issue. Some techniques include:

• Soft-tissue massage: Addresses muscle imbalances and spasms.
• Joint articulation: Uses gentle, rhythmic movements to increase joint mobility.
• Myofascial release: Frees up the connective tissue surrounding muscles.
• Stretching: Lengthens muscles and joint capsules.
• Cranial techniques: Focuses on the subtle motions of the head to address issues throughout the body.
• Joint manipulation: Applies a quick, gentle movement to a restricted joint to restore its normal motion. 

Equine osteopathy vs. equine chiropractic

Osteopathy and chiropractic care are two disciplines that are often mentioned together, but they differ significantly in focus, methods and philosophy.

Equine osteopathy focuses on the whole-body approach, addressing joints, muscles, ligaments and even organ systems, and believes that improving overall bodily function helps resolve local problems. Techniques include soft tissue massage, joint mobilisation and cranial release.

Equine chiropractic, in contrast, concentrates primarily on the spine and its effect on the nervous system. Techniques tend to be quicker, directed thrusts (“adjustments”) to restore mobility to specific spinal segments.

In practice:

• With equine osteopathy you might spend time freeing soft tissue restrictions, assessing whole-body movement, working with the entire musculoskeletal network.
• With equine chiropractic you might focus more narrowly on vertebral alignment, spinal mobility and quick adjustments.

If you’re drawn to a holistic animal-care role that blends manual therapy, movement-analysis and longer-term performance support, then equine osteopathy is likely the better fit.

How do you become an equine osteopath?

Becoming an equine osteopath typically follows a structured path. In the UK, one credible route is via human osteopathy training first, because the fundamentals of movement, structure, biomechanics and manual therapy are shared.

Here’s how it generally works:

1. Undergraduate degree in human osteopathy: To start this process, you need to follow the path to become an osteopath. You study anatomy, physiology, pathology, osteopathic theory, manual techniques, clinical practice and professional development.
2. Registration and practice: After graduation, you register with the relevant body (such as the General Osteopathic Council in the UK) and gain experience working with human patients.
3. Post-graduate specialism in equine osteopathy: After building core competencies, you can specialise in animal or equine osteopathy through additional training, mentoring or post-graduate programmes.
4. Practical experience with horses: Working under supervision, gaining hands-on experience with horses in different contexts (sport, leisure, rehabilitation) is vital.
5. Continued professional development: Keeping skills up to date, understanding equine biomechanics, training demands and animal-specific anatomy makes you competent and credible.

In short, the route is not a quick shortcut – you’ll need to build on foundational osteopathic expertise, then apply it in the equine arena. However, if you’re passionate about animals and committed to a hands-on, specialist manual-therapy career, the journey is purposeful and fulfilling.

What’s the equine osteopathy salary?

Salaries in equine osteopathy vary widely depending on location, experience, clientele, specialisation and reputation. Because this is a specialist niche, top specialists working with high-performance sport horses or service animals may command higher remuneration than general animal-care roles. Entry or moderate level roles might earn less while building their client base, network and reputation.

While exact UK national averages for equine osteopathy are harder to pin down, many sources suggest that with the right experience and client mix, earnings can surpass over £50,000 annually, and may even outperform the standard osteopathy salary.

There’s also potential to increase earning potential by combining equine work with human clinic work or diversifying your services. In other words, equine osteopathy compares well with other osteopathy careers and presents a worthwhile choice, particularly if you have a passion for animals and movement.

Start your journey to equine osteopathy

If you’re intrigued by the prospect of improving the quality of life and performance of horses through manual therapy, you can start your journey by attending the London School of Osteopathy. At LSO, you’ll benefit from small class sizes, flexible study options (full-time or part-time), a welcoming community and hands-on training from day one.

Whether you’re a school leaver, mature student, career-changer or animal enthusiast, take a look at our admissions requirements, attend an open day, or talk to alumni and clinic tutors, to discover how you can balance study, life and your future career.

Learn more about studying at LSO and begin your pathway to this unique form of osteopathy.