Horse Chiropractor

I’ve been meaning to get the chiropractor out. And meaning to… And meaning to… It’s just one of those things that kept slipping by the wayside. With the vet saying Eugene was back sore, the trainer wanted to have her Chiro out. She couldn’t get him to respond so I told my husband to give her our Chiro’s contact information. While we were at it, I wanted to get our other three seen as well.

Eugene got seen on Monday and then our other three were seen on Tuesday. Our Chiro is a bit of a character. He talks to the horses in baby talk and just absolutely loves all of them. And they love him back. Even Shasta loves him and she hates strangers. Hell, she barely tolerates me. He told me the trainer was really concerned about Eugene being skittish, but the Chiro said carrots solve a lot. And I’m sure the carrots help. But even treats haven’t convinced Shasta to like the vet or the farrier, so there’s something in the man himself.

Did you say carrots?

I’m a little skeptical of chiropractors since they didn’t work for me at all. Which is sort of how I feel about Back on Track products, but that’s a story for another day. Anyway, I’m skeptical, but I do find the whole thing pretty fascinating. I didn’t tell him anything about the horses go see what he found without any influence. And, especially with Shasta, his findings really seemed to align with the things that were wrong with them.

We started with Dijon who was out nowhere. Seriously. Not a single problem. The horse is 16, he has a saddle I know doesn’t fit him, he bowed his back tendons, he’s a klutz, and apparently doesn’t have a single thing out of place. When he was done, I told the Chiro he’d had nothing out the last time either. He was really fascinated. He said he almost never sees horses without anything wrong. Especially if they’re not being seen regularly. And our Chiro doesn’t charge if he doesn’t make any adjustments so he has nothing to gain by lying to me.

We moved on to Nilla who was pretty much in love with the man from the first carrot. It was actually kind of difficult to get the exam done as she kept turning around to sniff him.

Do you have more carrots?

She was out on her T13 with rib displacement as well. He said this would cause canter/bucking issues and girthiness, which are issues we have. Then he did the neck and she was out on the C4 and C5. He asked if she ever pulls back and I was like, “all the time. See the chain?” Seriously, it’s her favorite hobby. Apparently that causes that sort of neck issue. Nothing was out in the legs, stifle, pelvis, SI or anywhere else. Overall the Chiro was very impressed. He kept saying how I must be doing such a good job with saddle fitting (I’m not – another story for another day) and must be such a balanced rider (very unlikely given my back) because she was in such great shape for never having seen a Chiro.

I cannot keep my head straight, I must mug your pockets for carrots

I was kind of disappointed. I really hoped he’d pop a bunch of things on her and then she’d be magically better the next time I rode her. Now I know she didn’t have that many issues so she and I really have no excuse.

We moved on to Shasta and this one was fascinating. Once again I didn’t tell him anything in advance. He started on the left at the shoulder and right away she was very reactive at both the T3 and T4. He immediately stopped and said that was really bad. The nerve that runs down the horse’s front leg is there. So they get a pinched nerve and lose sensation in that leg. He said it’s very dangerous as they can trip and even go down because they can’t full feel their leg. He pulled out a pocket knife and using a blunt-tipped knife (like a can opener piece) he could sort of stab Shasta in the leg and she didn’t react. So he popped those two vertebrae back in and then repeated the leg test with just a pen cap and she jumped and glared at him. I missed getting a picture, but there was also a lot of licking and chewing.

Not mad, just “watching” him with her ears

The Chiro said they usually have the opposite hind pelvis out from compensating and sure enough, she was out there. He asked if she’d been bad about picking up that foot and said horses will often kick out at farriers when the pelvis is out like that. Since my husband does all her hoof picking, I didn’t know. I did ask my husband later and he said she’s not that pissy, but that is her worst hoof, trim wise. All the other hooves are looking nice and round and even and that hoof keeps warping itself.

The Chiro also predicted something out in the T12-13 area as that’s where you’d hit going from the T3 left to right pelvis. Sure enough, her right T12 with rib was out. She was very happy to have all of these things popped back in.

The left front is the leg she injured back in July. I told him that after he was done and he said she might have developed the vertebrae issue from protective stance during her injury and rehab. I sort of wonder if she had the nerve pinch even back then and that caused her to injure that leg. Like I said, we’ve been terrible about scheduling the Chiro. He recommended mounting from the off-side for the next month for her and switching sides going forward.

I had sent out an email telling everyone at the barn that the Chiro would be there if they wanted their horses done, but no one did. One owner brought her dog though and the Chiro did him, which was pretty cool. I didn’t know dogs could get Chiro, which is dumb, because I guess anything with a spine can, but I’d never thought of it.

He’s such an attractive horse