Equine Chiropractic

For some reason, I have had a lot of people mention equine chiropractic to me over the last few days. I also get a lot of hits on my website from people looking for information about equine chiropractic.

One person actually looked up Equine Chiropractic "Quackery" - which I found interesting.

What I would like to discuss today is my view of equine chiropractic.

I feel that many people are using a chiropractor when they don't really understand why they are using one except that it is popular, or someone told them to try it, or they think they are doing the right thing because a friend had good luck with one.

But, do you really understand what chiropractic is doing? Do you really understand why your horse "needs" one?

Have you had the horse examined and know exactly what the problem is, or are you trying chiropractic because you don't know what else to do?

I have found that many times when someone has used a chiropractor for their horse they are only getting temporary results. Sometimes they say they didn't see any changes at all.

When I go to clinics and other "horsey" places, people will ask me what I do. And when I tell them, I get to hear all their stories about how they tried a chiropractor and the results they received. Some good, some bad. But I am interested in the amount of people who are now turned off by equine therapy because their horse was no better after the chiropractor. Or, was only better for a day or two and then went back to how they were before the adjustment.

I have come across a horse or two that had a major problem and benefited from an adjustment. So, I am not trying to say that you should never use chiropractic. What I am saying is that without addressing the soft tissue (which HAS to be affected by the subluxation) you are sure to have continuing problems. And, I will say that I believe most problems are better treated with soft tissue therapies. Quite often, during a session, I will feel and/or hear the bone "correct" itself. The bone is only able to be where the muscle allows it to be, so adjustments are not really dealing with the real problem - the soft tissue.

If you would like to read more about my experiences and thoughts on equine chiropractic and soft tissue therapies, please read the article on my website titled "Equine Chiropractic: Pros, Cons, and Alternatives".

Do you agree or disagree with my opinion? Please feel free to let me know what you think. But, if you would like to comment, I would ask you to read the above article to have a more complete understanding of my view.

Thanks,
Tina