With a career focused on the well-being of animals Debbie Prattley is broadening her field of expertise to include human health too.
A vet with a PhD in animal health, Prattley has made horses her focus and uses a broad range of physical therapies and acupuncture to treat ailments and improve performance. But the realisation that the experience of both horses and riders could be improved by working with people as well has led her to study a Master of Osteopathy at Auckland’s Unitec.
When she qualifies as an osteopath at the end of 2015 she will be able to help the horse and rider team work in greater harmony.
“They have to be able to communicate with each other so that the horse knows what the rider wants and the rider knows what the horse is doing,” she says.
“For the rider a lot of that communication is through physical cues.
“So if for some reason the rider can’t do those the way they should be able to they might position their body in a way that’s really awkward, or they might not be able to absorb the movements of the horse with their bodies, so the horse doesn’t get a clear message.”
Prattley is especially keen to help those who use Riding for the Disabled, a charity based throughout New Zealand, get even greater benefits from therapeutic riding with a research study aiming to create a set of new protocols coaches will be able to put to use in the training arena.
In her role as a veterinary chiropractor she has been working to keep the horses of the Wellington Group RDA in good shape for several years. The Group wanted to find a way to measure goal achievement in their riders and it was here her project was born.
“The idea came from that. I’m hoping to put together a protocol they can use to assess their riders, and help set some goals for them and then monitor how well they have been able to achieve their goals in their time on the riding programme.”
The primary aim of Riding for the Disabled is to help people living with disabilities better cope with the tasks of everyday life.
“It might be they haven’t got very good core strength so they can’t stand up for very long, or they can’t do certain movements, so it might be difficult for them to get dressed or brush their teeth - any of those normal day to day activities might be difficult for them.
“The different sorts of benefits they might get from riding include improving their balance and coordination, their posture or communication and that translates back to helping them with their everyday activities that they need to get through.”
New Zealand Riding for the Disabled chief executive Guy Ockenden says Prattley’s project will help improve the charity’s work.
“It will be enormously beneficial,” he says. “It is really good to have someone come in with a qualified eye and do an appraisal of what we do. If it is able to be translated in a real and practical way to how we operate that would be amazing.”
To help with her project Prattley has been awarded $4800 from the Todd Foundation, which makes grants for practical research.