Alternative Therapies
Chiropractic Care

by Joyce Harmon, DVM

Chiropractic care both for people and horses has been practiced for over 100 years and is gaining in popularity rapidly. Now many health insurance policies cover chiropractic care. Currently veterinarians are beginning to recognize the value of chiropractic care for horses.

Around the turn of the century, when chiropractic was getting started, a clinic for animals was established. The animals were partly used to help prove that chiropractic care was not a placebo effect for people, and also to demonstrate that adjustments could be made on all animals with a spine. Since that time, many chiropractors have worked on animals, but only as a favor to their clients. Little research has been done using animals as the model.

Human chiropractic research has been undertaken in several different areas. It is well understood that when the spine is slightly out of alignment the nerves that exit between vertebrae and go to the rest of the body get pinched. This can be very painful, but sometimes it just results in a poorer function within the body. In time, however, most misalignments lead to pain, especially in horses. Studies have also been done showing that people who are adjusted regularly have fewer days off work, have less health care costs, and recover from injuries with less or no hospital time. This type of information is certainly applicable to horses, since we ask them to perform for us on a regular basis.

Chiropractic care treats subluxations or misalignments of the spine. The causes of misalignments occur in the traumas that horses experience daily, both those created by the horses out in the pasture or in the stall. The signs and symptoms we see as horse owners can vary from mild protest at being ridden , an undetermined lameness, or a dangerous attitude. Most horses react negatively to pain; we tend to call most of these problems training difficulties. Most of the time the horses are reacting to pain and chiropractic care can help. Specific problems that are treated with chiropractic include back pain, stiffness of both neck and back, discomfort at being saddled of cold backed when first ridden, resistance to training , short strided, refusing jumps, and difficult to get into a frame or head set.

In January of 1993 the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) adopted a set of guidelines concerning the various therapy options that are available to horse owners in order to improve the standards of care the horses receive. The standards for chiropractic read:

Veterinary chiropractic should be considered a medical act and should be performed by a licensed veterinarian or a licensed chiropractor under the direct referral of a veterinarian in accordance with that state's practice act. It is recommended that extensive educational programs be undertaken before a veterinarian or chiropractor is considered competent to practice chiropractic on animals.

There is an excellent course given by the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association to veterinarians and licensed chiropractors teaching them how to adjust animals humanely and effectively. Unfortunately there is a growing number of people calling themselves chiropractors who have minimal training. This can be extremely dangerous to the horse as chiropractors are working with the spine, and improper work can be extremely dangerous.

To evaluate the care your horse is receiving, first find out if the person is a veterinarian or a chiropractor, and then ask about the training he has received. The techniques used should be done with the practitioner's hands (best), or in skilled hands, a small instrument called an activator. Techniques that use mallets, two by fours, and rough handling like pulling the leg high above the ground are dangerous and should not be tolerated by the horse owner. For every horse that is helped by one of these methods there are many more that are hurt. The pseudo-chiropractors answer when this happens is usually that there "was nothing that could be done to fix this one", a statement that demonstrates the person's lack of knowledge. In many cases the practitioner will never be heard from again in a particular area, once a number of horses have been hurt. With chiropractic care it is imperative that horse owners protect their horses.

When good quality chiropractic care is given to horses, there is usually a quick response, and they may even be better the next day. Many horses, however, will need to be treated several times in a row before they have improved as much as they can, have adapted to feeling better and can hold their adjustments. It needs to be remembered that as long as we continue to ride them and ask for them to be athletes, they will have recurrences of old problems and new problems will show up. This means that chiropractic care can be done regularly to the benefit of the horse. If horses are consistently sore after treatment, or they get worse, the care being given is either inappropriate for that horse's problem or the practitioner is not skilled. Look for a different practitioner if positive results are not being seen in 2 to 4 treatments.

Chiropractic care is an excellent method for helping horses and riders to get the most out of the performance or pleasure sports they are pursuing.

Reprinted with permission of Joyce Harman DVM MRCVS,
Harman Equine Clinic Ltd. Orleans, Va. 22128
703-675 1855