Runaway Creek has one of the most progressive health and fitness programs in the Western Performance Horse arena.  We make it a top priority to stay current on the best available preventative and rehabilitative therapies and techniques available for our  horses.     Being such an important part of our program has not only allowed our horses to reach their 3 year old futurities in top condition and injury free, but enabled those horses to go on to compete at the top of their class many years later.  That is not to say that we have not faced injury because it is unrealistic for any program to evade some sort of physical injury.  But when those situations have arisen, we were usually able to return those horses to full competition in a relatively short period of time.   We have even successfully managed several horses that had OCDs and serious joint issues without invasive therapies or injections.

 One of the biggest challenges that we faced was justifying the enormous investment in equipment and trained personnel required to conduct this type of work captive to our operation.   And even though there are numerous practitioners of various progressive therapies geographically located in our area, it was a challenge to effectively arrange for those therapies when needed.   Understanding this problem and recognizing a growing need to other operations like ours,  we made the decision to focus our operation toward managing and offering an affordable total fitness solution to the public.    Whether you want to condition young prospects for sale, prior to starting, returning to competition following breeding or time off, maintaining fitness through post surgical care, or during a lay-off from an injury, we have a program to support you.          

    Started Horses:  Many of the treatments we offer are also excellent methods for conditioning your 2 year old athlete, preparing them for a lifetime of rigorous physical demands that will be placed upon them.   Aqua-Treadmills  and Euro-Cisers can be used to aid in bone development and physical conditioning of young horses without damaging joints and tendons.    To compete today, horses are being pushed harder and started sooner than ever before.  If those horses are fortunate enough to hold up through their futurity years, the odds are not in their favor to remain sound much beyond that.  Therefore, it is becoming more and important to condition our 2 year olds well before we start putting the added weight of a rider on their backs.   Aqua treadmill conditioning is one of the best options available.   

   Maintenance:  After these young horses are started out on the best possible foot, our maintenance programs are available to help avoid an injury situation.   Micro stimulation and other modalities that are geared toward improvement of blood flow and waste removal from your horses system will non-invasively treat minor joint and tendon injuries, muscle soreness, as well as  manage a number of common chronic ailments, including arthritis.  Therascopes™, Therapeutic Ultrasound, Cold Lasers and deep muscle massage therapies are used for these types of situations.  

   Injured Horses:  When a serious injury occurs, and those unfortunate situations will occur, our goal is to return your athlete to top condition in the shortest time possible allowing them to return directly to competition.    We will work hand-in-hand with your veterinarian to develop the best treatment or combination of treatments to achieve that goal.     

  The Marginally Sound Horse:  This is the most common issue that owners and trainers face and can be very frustrating.  These horses typically remain in training putting an added burden on the trainer to resolve or manage the injury.  These horses do not compete at their potential and therefore the owners, horse and trainer are not very happy.  The best option is to remove these horses from training for a period of time for treatment.   Trainers are justifiably uneasy about doing so since in most cases, these horses are put into a lay-up situation that does not return the horse in a fit condition, usually resulting in a re-injury.  The added benefit of placing these horses into our program is they will get the down time they need, receive the proper treatment to correct the injury while maintaining the horses physical fitness level.  These horses usually return to training without re-injury and are able to compete at their true potential.