Controversial post about horse chiropractors.....

I've had acupuncture myself for back problems, with miraculous results, went from could hardly walk to jumping off doctor's couch within 10 mins and didn't need to go back for another 6 years until I was recovering from a broken ankle and had obviously been walking badly to alleviate the discomfort (my GP is also an acupuncturist). I have also seen good results on a 'not quite sound but not sure what's wrong' horse and a hopping lame horse, both treated by a qualified vet who does acupuncture.
 
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I hate it when people say they had someone click the pelvis/poll/etc 'back in'! Codswallop! If a horses atlas/axis was 'out' it would be dislocated and the horse would be paralysed or dead!
Muscles can be uneven each side and so they can be worked on but a horses spine can not be 'out' to the extent that most people think. The force required to move a horses pelvis is huge (falling at a gallop for example) and not just a small woman with a light stick!
To be fair i have never had a chiropractor but if i ever needed a 'back person' it would be a veterinary physiotherapist.

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In total agreement with all of the above and have never found a back person, ( I have tried one once and seen other friends horse being "treated") being anything but a total waste of money and a load of old nonsense. Ask any old Irish horse dealer and they will say the same. Its all just another ploy to fleece unsuspecting, misinformed or ignorant horse owners, of their hard earned cash. The trouble is many of these "back people" have connections in high places, ie well known Dressage riders and eventers who endorse them. Then other people get taken in by the hype and so it goes on.
The anatomy of the horse just does not allow for vertebrae to be "out" and if they were you could not just knock them back "in" with a few well placed wallops across the spine. The horses' spine is rigid with little lateral movement as most Dressage riders know. If it was like a cats (flexible) the weight of the guts, full of water and grass/hay would bend it like a bow and the belly would be on the floor!!!
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If in any doubt see a vet.
 


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In total agreement with all of the above and have never found a back person, ( I have tried one once and seen other friends horse being "treated") being anything but a total waste of money and a load of old nonsense. Ask any old Irish horse dealer and they will say the same. Its all just another ploy to fleece unsuspecting, misinformed or ignorant horse owners, of their hard earned cash. The trouble is many of these "back people" have connections in high places, ie well known Dressage riders and eventers who endorse them. Then other people get taken in by the hype and so it goes on.
The anatomy of the horse just does not allow for vertebrae to be "out" and if they were you could not just knock them back "in" with a few well placed wallops across the spine. The horses' spine is rigid with little lateral movement as most Dressage riders know. If it was like a cats (flexible) the weight of the guts, full of water and grass/hay would bend it like a bow and the belly would be on the floor!!!
frown.gif


If in any doubt see a vet.

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Well Im sorry but just because you have tried it once and it didn't work doesn't mean that all back people are rubbish.

Most of us know that bones can't be moved by humans but they can be affected by muscle imbalance.

As far as Irish horse dealers are concerned I know several who have their selling horses checked because a "straight" horse works better.

Good back people will work (with vets permission) and be busy all the time.

Others will fall by the wayside as clients are really not stupid and if they don't see/feel a difference will not continue to use these people.

I firmly believe it is the intent of the person to help the horse - rather than those whose only intent is to relieve the client of their hard earnt money.
 
Hi again, all friends,

I think it's downright impossible to ascertain exactly who is the best person to treat your horse.

We have good + bad vets. Likewise, we have good + bad therapists.

We also have con-merchants, + i totally agree with comments about it being impossible to 'put it back in', unless we're talking about a dislocation, which is something else.

I'm an acupuncturist, + find it very maddening as a bona fide practitioner, that the law prevents me from treating animals. A vet encouraged me to do acupuncture on my old mare, bless him, but the points he chose were 'fit all' ones, not the ones i'd have used, from my Chinese acupuncture diagnosis. He was the first to offer the info that he'd merely done a weekend course. (Mine was 3 yr, BSc).

He also gave me hypodermics to practise with (no need, my slim-line human ones slid in just fine, to practised fingers!) (Then the practice charged me for the hypodermics!!!)

It's very similar when GPs + physios profess to do 'acupuncture' - it's just a shorthand version of an ancient therapy, therefore we risk losing the real thing in years to come.

I once had an unqualified 'back man' or 'healer' to my horse, on the recommendation of my trainer at the time - he talked to her, then thumped her back in a couple of places (which i found very, very scary). She felt looser afterwards, but then he charged me £70... + he was a friend of my trainer's partner... (hmmm... not had him again!)

I've had an osteopath to my other horse, who was great - full diagnosis, loads of feeling stuff on his back, etc, written report to vet, etc. Also cost £70, but i knew what i'd got for the money.

Hope our shared experiences have helped, all best wishes to all, BS x
 
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