Horses reap benefits from chiropractic care

Story taken from The Wrangler, Horse and Rodeo News by Gayle Smith

    Humans are not the only ones who can reap the benefits from chiropractic care.  Horses, like humans, can suffer from sore muscles and joints caused by the jobs they are asked to perform.

    When Dr. Tammy Anderson, DVM, started her own veterinary practice in her hometown of Bowdle, South Dakota in 2004, experienced horse chiropractors were rare in her area.  "In our area, the only chiropractors available (for horses) were either self taught or educated through short courses with no major veterinary course involved," she explained.  "The only person legally allowed to practice chiropractic on animals in the state of South Dakota is a licensed veterinarian."

    Anderson, who often receives adjustments by a human chiropractor, said she couldn't help but think horses could also benefit from chiropractic care.  "I had seen multiple types of syndromes in animals that couldn't be helped by traditional medicine," she explained.  "A horse in any discipline can find benefit from an adjustment.  Performance horses tend to benefit the most, because of the extreme conditions they are asked to work in.  Even the birthing process can cause "stuck" vertebrae," she added. 

    Shortly after she started her practice, drought conditions plagued the area in 2006-2007, and Anderson became concerned about the number of cattle leaving the area.  "I wanted to ensure I was able to offer something few vet clinics could - a licensed veterinarian that is also a chiropractor, so I attended Options for Animals."

    Anderson started adjusting horses in 2007.  Since then Anderson has never regretted her decision to seek training to become a licensed chiropractor.  In fact, her husband, Mark, enrolled in an equine massage therapy course so they could help even more horses.  The couple travels throughout the state performing chiropractic work on horses to make them feel better.

    "Equine massage helps relieve tight or sore muscles," Anderson explained.  "Chiropracitc works with joints.  A massage can help the horse move more freely for a time, but if the underlying issue isn't dealt with, the massage will be needed over and over again," she said.  "However, I have worked on horses, that without massage, I would not have gotten a successful adjustment done.  Together, we work on problem spots on horses and get a much better result," she said. 

    Anderson said horses that could benefit from chiropractic treatment usually show some physical symptoms that are noticed by the horse's owner.  "Often times, the horse's performance or inability to perform is the main complaint," she said.  "However, back soreness after riding, adverse reactions to saddling, mounting, or simply crow hopping at certain gaits are other complaints I have treated with adjustmens.  Chiropractic adjustments have been successful in eliminating the cause of the symptoms."

    When evaluating whether a horse can benefit from chiroptractic treatment, Anderson checks the motion of joints, and whether or not the joint moves the way it should.  "If a joint doesn't move the way it should, I adjust it," she said.  "A chiropractic adjustment deals with the motion of joints.  Joint motion that is restricted or totally immobile not only causes pain for the horse, but also restricts nerve function.  The weight of a dime on a nerve can reduce the nerve function by 70 percent," Anderson explained.  "So if the nerve is supposed to fire at a certain rate to a muscle, and its firing capacity is reduced, that muscle doesn't function as well as it should.  It will create more wear and tear on the joints those muscles protect.  Also, as one joint is less mobile, the other joints in the area have to be more mobile to compensate for the immobility of the stuck joints," she added.  "For instance, a horse that doesn't have a history of trauma to the shoulder, can show up lame in the shoulder due to compensation for reduced mobility in the withers."

    Anderson said she starts every adjustment at the jaw and works back toward the tail.  "If the treatment on the back required a great deal of adjusting," she explained, " I won't check leg joint motion.  But if the changes I made in the back were not major, I will check the legs."  Anderson said the main reason is if the vertebrae have increased mobility, this adjustment alone will change the joints in the legs. 

    How long a horse has suffered with problems dictates how long chiropractic treatment is necessary.  "Horses that have had issues for longer periods of time tend to require more than one treatment to get full motion restored," Anderson said.  "Performance horses tend to require more treatments due to the flexibility they are required to maintain to perform."

    Anderson also shows her human clients how to aid in their horse's recovery.  "The most important part of an adjustment is the after-care exercise," she said.  "I like to say an adjustment is only as good as the quality of after-adjustment exercise.  Most generally, I have the owners long trot horses anywhere from 5 - 30 minutes daily, for a minimuim of one week."  Many horses require two weeks , she noted.

    "Long trotting is the best, because the horse has to really stretch all his limbs to maintain the pace and all four legs are used evenly," she said.  Experience has shown the horses that have received the recommended exercise, show the most improvements, she noted.  Often times, Anderson said she prescribes the owner an anti-inflammatory to use on the horse to make sure it can exercise.  Anderson said she doesn't prescribe the drug so the horse won't limp, but to reduce the overall stiffness the horse will experience from moving joints it may not have moved for some time.

    Anderson said after giving a chiropractic adjustment, she monitors the horse for any sign of change.  "With a chiropractic adjustment we want to see change.  Any change is good," she explained.  "The horse may, in the owner's eyes, be moving worse, but no change is worse than stiffness and soreness.  With the change in movement, we know muscles are stretching, and the joints are moving again.  I liken the change to the healing of a cut.  Once the scab tissue really forms well, the cut starts to itch.  This itching is very annoying, and not preferred to healthy skin, but definitely more desirable to an open cut," she said.

    After an adjustment, the main changes Anderson watches for are increased muscle mass, improved movement, improved attitude, and improved flexibility. 

    Through her practice at CrossRoads Veterinary Clinic, Anderson has been able to offer her clients the best of both worlds.  As a licensed veterinarian and an animal chiropractor, she is able to utilize knowledge from both fields to locate the source of the problem in the horse.  As any human knows who has received a chiropractic treatment, the adjustments may be painful, but the relief is worth it. 

    For more information on Dr. Anderson's practice, she can be reached at 605-285-6888