Lorna's veterinary training informs how she reads a clinical picture, providing an additional clinical layer within the physiotherapy assessment and treatment process that goes beyond the scope of a single-discipline practitioner. This allows clearer differentiation between primary pathology, compensatory dysfunction and emerging issues, and ensures that the right moments for communication or referral back to you are recognised and acted upon.

Practising as both a veterinary surgeon and a veterinary physiotherapist, Lorna understands how to make a referral clinically useful from both sides. She appreciates the diagnostic reasoning behind the veterinary management plan and can align physiotherapy goals accordingly. The result is a strengthened clinical picture and an effective working relationship between disciplines.

Current and recent medication – NSAIDs, corticosteroids, joint medications – is factored into rehabilitation planning. Exercise progression is designed within a full understanding of pharmacologically managed pain, ensuring that clinical decisions are made in full awareness of the horse's broader medical management.

Neurological awareness is integral to every assessment. Subtle deficits that may mimic musculoskeletal dysfunction are recognised appropriately and dictinct froma primary MSK cause – ensuring the clinical picture is interpreted accurately and that onward referral is initiated where indicated.

Western veterinary acupuncture is available alongside physiotherapy where clinically indicated – without the need for a separate referral pathway or practitioner. For referring vets, this means that acupuncture can be incorporated into the treatment plan from the outset, whether for muscle tension, pain management, neurological cases or chronic conditions, with treatments documented within a single integrated report.

Referral reports are written by a fellow veterinary surgeon, using appropriate clinical language and the right level of detail. Reports avoid lengthy narratives and instead are structured to surface the clinically relevant information quickly: findings, treatment, response and any recommendations for onward management or further investigation presented clearly and efficiently.