To answer this question you first need to understand what chiropractic is about, and how it can benefit your equine partner.
You’ve heard about chiropractors and may have even gone to one yourself, or know someone who has. But this modality isn’t just for humans. It can also be incredibly beneficial for your horse. Read on to learn more about chiropractic and what it can do for horses.
WHAT IS CHIROPRACTIC?
Chiropractic is a healthcare discipline that emphasizes the recuperative power of the body to heal itself without the use of drugs or surgery. The practice of chiropractic focuses on the relationship between structure (primarily the spine) and function (as coordinated by the nervous system) and how that relationship affects the preservation and restoration of health.
Chiropractic assumes that every living body has some innate intelligence. Animal chiropractic care is about total health and well-being. It’s about helping animals, including horses, feel great and get the most out of life by functioning at their optimum potential.
THE SPINE AND CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM
The spine is there to protect the spinal cord, which is part of the central nervous system; it’s like a set of armor made up of segments that can bend and move naturally with the body. A spinal segment consists of two vertebrae and the joints that connect them. A disc between each vertebra acts as a cushion.
Underneath that armor, a whole lot is happening. Messages travel from around the body up the spinal cord and into the brain. The brain processes those messages and sends replies back down the spinal cord to tell the body how to respond. The central nervous system is one big information highway, and it carries vital messages to every part of the horse’s body.
WHEN PROBLEMS ARISE
Sometimes the wear and tear of everyday life can impact the spine and can cause spinal segments to move in an abnormal, dysfunctional way. That wear and tear can happen gradually, for example from bad posture; or it can happen suddenly, which is common with sports injuries. Because of the close relationship between the spine and nervous system, everyday strains can actually impact the flow of information and communication between the brain and the body.
Messages may not be delivered to the brain or they may be inaccurate. When miscommunication occurs due to abnormal movement in the spine, animal chiropractors call this a vertebral subluxation or chiropractic subluxation. By making fast gentle adjustments to the spine, certified animal chiropractors restore its natural movement.
CHIROPRACTIC IS A PROCESS, NOT A PROCEDURE
The chiropractic adjustment and its immediate response are not the goal. The adjustment provides input to a system that uses the energy in the way that it is programmed for and capable of. The goal is to allow the system to sustain ease. Normal movement, normal physiology, and normal development. The goal is to allow the system to optimize and be able to handle the stresses of life. Animal chiropractors don’t fix or heal horses or other animals. Each horse is already whole and his body has the intelligence to care for itself. The proper specific adjustment allows that intelligence to express itself as optimally as possible.
The certified animal chiropractor will make only one diagnosis — vertebral subluxation. Without seeing the horse, it is difficult to know if these subluxations are present. And without adjusting the horse, it is impossible to know if removing the nerve interference present in the body will allow his innate wisdom to restore a homeostatic condition that is health.
The Chiropractor as Mechanic
If the central nervous system is like the engine of the body, a certified animal chiropractor acts as a mechanic, tuning the spine and central nervous system so the body can run like a racecar. Just keep in mind that as your horse is adjusted you may hear a popping sound that can seem a bit strange. In fact, it’s completely harmless. It’s just a release of gas from between the spinal segments and is no more significant than any other release of gas from the body.
How do Subluxations Affect your Horse?
A subluxation is, in general, a misalignment of the vertebrae of the spine. This can happen due to all sorts of reasons, and the side effects can vary from horse to horse. But one thing all sufferers have in common is that these subluxations definitely harm health and should be corrected.
These misalignments create pressure or irritation on the various nerves in the spine, and can cause a wide variety of symptoms throughout your horse’s body, such as localized pain, soreness, imbalance, and weakness. When pressure is applied on a nerve in the spine, the nerve energy is interrupted, which can profoundly affect the function of other systems or organs in the body. Dr. Chung Ha Suh of the University of Colorado showed that even small pressure on a nerve (about the weight of a dime) can reduce the nerve’s function by 60%. Further, the nerve will start to degenerate if the pressure is sustained for three hours.
HELPING THE BODY HEAL ITSELF
No animal chiropractor or doctor anywhere ever cured anybody of anything. Healing or curing is, very simply, the creation of new living tissue. If your horse has a sore ear, it’s because there are billions of cells in there that are sick and dying. When all those cells die off and are replaced with new healthy ones, the ear is healed; if they are replaced by unhealthy cells, the ear still hurts.
In other words, for a doctor to say they healed something means they would have to be able to create living tissue. We are getting closer to this all the time, but for now all the scientists, doctors, surgeons and chiropractors in the world are unable to create living tissue. Only a living body can heal itself, replacing damaged cells with healthy cells — if it is given the correct information and building blocks via chiropractic and other healthcare disciplines.
