Will Chiropractic Benefit My Horse? Part 1 of 3

Manage the full spectrum of your horse's health

by Brooke Johnson, DVM

Many horse owners are using chiropractic care as an important component of their horse’s health care plan. When used in conjunction with traditional veterinary care, it can provide pain relief from chronic or acute problems. Chiropractic approaches health issues from a different angle from traditional medicine and offers an additional tool to keep your horse working in top form. 

Symptoms and Underlying Causes

Qualified animal chiropractors can diagnose and treat vertebral subluxation complexes (VSCs), or areas of motion restriction within the spine, through a chiropractic examination. There are also symptoms owners, riders or trainers can observe that may indicate a horse is having spinal problems and could benefit from a chiropractic exam. The most common sign is pain, which may be expressed in posture, reaction to touching the body, or refusal to work. The following signs may indicate pain or other effects of a subluxation:

• Reduced performance

• Abnormal posture

• Pinning ears during saddling

• Difficulty during collection or lateral gaits

• Changes in behavior

• Abnormal gait rhythm

• Muscular atrophy

• Interfering or consistently pulling shoes

• Difficulty flexing at the poll

• Shortened stride

• Unusual itching

• Asymmetrical or reduced perspiration

Horses are also exposed to a variety of situations that may cause subluxations, such as:

• Trauma - falls, slips, or being cast in a stall

• Performance - each discipline strains the spine in a different way

• Rider - a crooked seat while riding can lead to spine problems for the horse

• Shoes - poor hoof care or overgrown feet may result in spinal problems

• Saddle - poorly fitting saddles are a very common cause of back pain

• Transportation - long transportation times, trailer accidents, or traveling rough roads can affect the spine

• Birthing - difficult births can cause problems for the mare and foal

The Spectrum of Health

The above lists are just brief samples of the situations that can cause VSCs in a horse’s spine. That said, a horse does not need to have any outward signs of disease to benefit from chiropractic. To illustrate this, we need to think of health as a continuum or gradient that ranges from optimal health to disease (see image below). Stages of health can be labeled in order of increasing severity as general health promotion, deviation from normal, vertebral subluxation, dysfunction, signs and symptoms, advanced disease, and palliative care. 

On the disease end is the majority of medical care, while chiropractic care is weighted heavily at the health end. This makes sense because if a horse sustains major trauma it needs traditional medicine to provide urgent care. 

Notice where "signs and symptoms" appears on the health continuum. Several stages of disease have already happened prior to any detectable outward clue that health is less than optimal. If medical care, chiropractic care, or a combination of both is used to treat signs of disease, it is important to remember that stages of disease resolve in reverse of the order in which they appear. Once signs resolve, there are still subclinical aspects of disease present. Chiropractic is unique and powerful because it can have a major impact on resolving subclinical disease patterns. 

Full Health Potential

An example of using chiropractic to gain full health potential would be a dressage horse that initially receives chiropractic care to address a recent behavior change such as head tossing when asked to take a right canter lead. An animal chiropractor would do an initial exam, determine if there was need for traditional veterinary care, then perform adjustments to correct any vertebral subluxations found. If after two chiropractic exams the horse didn’t exhibit head tossing anymore, the chiropractor would likely set up a regular supportive care program aimed at correcting any problems still in the subclinical phase. 

If any disease can be stopped before advancing into an outward clinical phase then chiropractic is helping the horse achieve optimal health.