What is Chiropractic?
Equine chiropractic care is a holistic approach to many health and performance issues of the horse. The goal is to eliminate the cause of a problem rather than only treat the symptoms.
Animal chiropractic care focuses on the proper function and health of the spinal column. The spinal column is a very complex structure consisting of bones, nerves, muscles and ligaments.
What is a Subluxation?
It is a chiropractic term used to describe a bone that is "stuck" or unable to move properly in its full range of motion. When a subluxation occurs, it affects the flexibility and movement of the spine and can interfere with nerve transmission signals to other parts of the body.
Subluxations generally cause pain and stiffness and lack of flexibility. Internal organ function can also be affected (nerves control the function of all tissues of the body).
What causes Subluxations?
There are many different reasons that a horse can have subluxations. A combination of several small incidents often add up to create an ongoing problem.
The following is a list of possible causes of subluxations:
- Macro-Trauma: slips and falls, missteps, getting cast in the stall, etc.
- Micro-Trauma: repetitive movements such as sliding stops, jumping, isometric dressage moves.
- Lifestyle: Stall confinement, trailer rides, etc.
- Rider Ability: The horse may need to compensate for an unbalanced rider.
- Equipment: poorly fitting tack, esp. improperly fitting saddles.
- Shoeing: Improper foot care of poor shoeing.
- Conformation: Individual traits such as long-backed.
- Age/Gravity/Condition: The body accumulates many small stresses and compensations. Gravity is a constant force pulling on the body. Horses that are overweight/out of condition are more likely to develop problems.
