Healthy as a horse" is a time-honored saying, but a misleading one nevertheless. People in the horse world know all too well that performance horses, like human athletes, are trained, fed and cared for so they can go faster, jump higher and run longer. Daily training can result in injuries and aches and pains, which often get treated with drugs that allow the horse to compete but which merely mask and notremedy the problem. Now owners and trainers dissatisfied with drugs and "quick fixes can turn to the alternative therapies.
At every horse show and athletic competition, there are many, horses working below their potentials due to pain and stiffness. Considerable time and money is spent pursuing the causes of and solutions to decreased equine performance. Owners and trainers administer medications such as pain killers and muscle relaxants, add dietary supplements, try new equipment such as "orthopedic" saddle pads, and stall rest horses for extended periods. Sometimes these methods solve the problems. Frequently, however, the symptoms are only alleviated for temporary relief. The horse returns to work with the same restrictions and problems.
The unrecognized cause of pain and stiffness in these horses may be problems in the spinal column. Subluxations, or misalignments of the bone in the spine may cause decreased flexibility, lack of muscle function, or even problems in the nervous system. Chiropractic techniques offer a unique solution for many of the health and performance problems of horses by restoring function of the neck and back. Chiropractic does not replace traditional veterinary medicine, but it can be used as part of the total health care plan for the horse.
A chiropractic adjustment or manipulation restores the function of the spinal column by restoring the function of the nervous system chiropractic care is a drugless, noninvasive approach that offers many benefits for the health and performance of the horse.
The spinal column of the horse is a complex structure consisting of bones nerves, ligaments, muscles and blood vessels. The small bones that make up the spinal column are called vertebrae. Excluding the tail, there are usually thirty-two vertebrae in the spinal column, sixteen to eighteen modified vertebrae make up the tail. The bones of the spine are jointed in the horse there are approximately 200 joints in the back, neck and tail. These joints allow the vertebrae and thus the spinal column to move.
Within each vertebrae lies a portion of the nervous system, the spinal cord. The spinal cord passes through the center of each vertebra, as it travels from the brain down through the spinal column. As the cord desends, nerves branch off and exit at holes. or foramens, between vertebrae. These branching nerves carry information from the brain to all the organs, muscles, tissues and cells of the body.
This information may instruct a muscle to contract or relax, a gland to secrete, or a tissue to repair damage. The nerves, also carry information from the body to the brain. A vast amount of information about the extent of tissue damage, the location of pain, heat. or cold, or the position of the body and its extremities is transmitted back to the brain. Since the nervous system integrates and controls the functions of all the tissues and cells. there must be undisturbed nerve transmission in both directions for the body to function properly.
The spinal column serves to protect the central nervous system, or spinal cord. Nerves are extremely sensitive structures. Research has shown that merely the weight of a dime can cause enough pressure to disrupt function and interfere with communication between the central nervous system and the body tissues.
The spinal column also offers protection for many internal organs. The kidneys are tucked under the upper lumbar region. The heart and lungs are protected by the thoracic vertebrae and the rib cage. Large blood vessels in the chest and abdomen lie near the spinal column for protection.
Chiropractors use the term subluxation to describe a specific problem or disease state of the spinal column. A subluxation can be defined as a misaligned vertebrae that is stuck or unable to move correctly and causing pressure on the nerves. Subluxations, therefore interfere with flexibility of the back and neck and disrupts the functioning of the nervous system. When movement between two vertebrae is restricted, the horse does not have total flexibility of the spine.
Stiffness and resistance to movement results in lower performance. Restrictions will accumulate. As the spine gradually loses flexibility, the horse compensates by shifting weight or moving a limb differently. As a number of restrictions and compensations accumulate, the horse changes its way of going and becomes "off". What the horseman notices is unusual, perhaps indefinable gait abnormalities that vary from limb to limb and change depending on gait and the movement being performed.
Nerve pressure alters the flow of information that is necessary for proper integration of the function of the body. Every movement, requires a constant synchronization of the muscles in contraction and relaxation. If proper nerve messages to the muscles are obstructed, this coordination will falter. These slight changes may result in an unsuccessful performance.
Chiropractic promises to be an important portion of equine health care. Spinal adjustments can increase flexibility of the equine athlete and provide a nonmedical way of eliminating pain. Obscure and recurring lameness is common in the equine industry and chiropractic care may provide the answer for some of these cases. Finally, when used as a preventative health-care approach, chiropractic offers tremendous value in the maintenance of the performance horse.
