Chiropractic is helpful, sometimes the only option for horses

WINDSOR -- Equine chiropractic is often very beneficial to horses, and results from the modality are often seen immediately. Avoca Equine's Dr. Keelin Redmond conducted an equine chiropractic demonstration Saturday at Equine Connection.

"Chiropractic can make a difference in a multitude of ways, particularly in performance horses," said Redmond. "How's a barrel horse going to turn a barrel if it can't turn its neck? How's a dressage horse going to get around through the back if it can't flex its back? It's wonderful in an obvious sense, and it's wonderful for the subtle performance issues. Reigning horses that aren't getting the same scores on their sliding stops, cutters who are letting a cow run off in one direction, jumpers with a little bit of a drift - that to me is where chiropractic really shines."

The modality is also a therapeutic option to use with geriatric horses, said Redmond. Equine chiropractic relieves pain and helps get horses back to their normal routine.

Horses will experience a number of changes as they get older, many of them irreversible.

The skeletal system is often impacted, and older horses may experience a number of maladies that include arthritis and degeneration of tissues associated with joints.

"Our hands are a little bit tied with old horses in terms of the therapies that we can use with older horses to make them comfortable because they often can't metabolize drugs as well, and they often don't work as well with joint injections," said Redmond. "(Equine chiropractic is) a wonderful non-invasive way to get them comfortable again."

Two of the most common problem areas in the horse's spine are the sacroiliac joint, or the joint between the vertebral column and hip, and the joints involving the lumbar spine, said Redmond.

Redmond cited during the demonstration a study that had been done in California that examined post-mortem horses, all of whom were involved in activities where the horses had all earned money and had suffered from back problems.

"(The sacroiliac joint is) a physically big joint, and an important joint," said Redmond. "Some horses are more stuck than others. It's a joint that I do adjust on 90 percent of the horses I see. There are some horses that I see that don't have clinical sacroiliac issues."

Contact Ben Baugh at bbaugh@aikenstandard.com.