Pelvis Out?!! vet or chiropractor?

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mummy2two

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Hi, i'm hoping someone could guide me in the right direction. I have on loan a ex-racehorse i've been told by a trainer that her pelvis looks out. Do i get a vet to check her first or a chiropractor?

When i ride her, especially in trot at times it feels like you are on the wrong diaganol all the time, like she does feel lame, would that have anything to do with it? Hope this makes sense and doesnt sound stupid? :confused:
 
Vet.

1 if you need to claim on insurance you have to have contacted a vet first

2 by law noone should treat your horse without having a vets permission first.
 
Chiropractor my mare has the same problem. It cost me 45.00 for 1st call out, then i had to use a scholl turbo massager machine on her back for 2 weeks then another visit from the Chiropractor and she is fantastic now and has even come sound, iv also put her on cosquine and she is fab
 
galaxy23 said:
Vet.

1 if you need to claim on insurance you have to have contacted a vet first

2 by law noone should treat your horse without having a vets permission first.
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I agree with with galaxy23, also continue to be very dubious as to whether a horses pelvis can ever really be 'out'....
 
Thankyou everyone, i did think the vets but people all have different opinions so not sure the best way, like you say though if i need to claim would have to be through vets anyway.. :)
 
It depends where you live My Chiropractor is a vet.

Even if the chiropractor is not a vet all you have to do is tell your vet you would like your horse seen by a chiropractor and most vets will give permission the vet does not need to see the horse.
 
Sorry to be pedantic but pelvis is out where? If ever you've seen human hospital documentaries and watched 3 strapping rugby playing doctors trying to put a heavily sedated adult's dislocated hip back in place you'll realise what a humungus amount of force needs to be exerted. If your ned's pelvis is "out" do they mean dislocated? If so, your horse would be rolling on the floor in agony and unable to stand. Ditto if it was fractured. So what do they mean by out? They probably mean that the horse is holding himself oddly and favouring one hind leg which gives him the appearance of being crooked when viewed from behind. If this is the problem then almost certainly your horse is lame somewhere but if it IS to do with the pelvis, it will be a muscular problem. Be aware that tracking down the cause of this lameness may be quite a task and it may end up being nowhere near the pelvis. Could easily be a foot or tendon thing. And as others have said, your vet is supposed to give permission for anyone else to treat your horse. If it was me, I'd try to get to the bottom of it or it could get worse. If the horse is lame, it shouldn't be ridden until you get the ok from your vet. Good luck in sorting it out x
 
Box_Of_Frogs said:
If this is the problem then almost certainly your horse is lame somewhere but if it IS to do with the pelvis, it will be a muscular problem.
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Not true - if the horse has tension in the pelvis causing it to be unlevel, it is almost always going to be the sacroiliac region - that is either the joint or the ligament.

Sacroliac injuries are very common injury amongst racehorses. I would get the chiro (but call vet and let them know). I doubt you will be able to claim from insurance as it sounds as though it is an old injury
 
I would say vet first then defo the chiro.

Reason I say vet first is do you really want somone else diagnosing what is wrong with your horse? ok so may be right, could be an old racing injury (very typical) or something that has never been sorted (proper after care) but you vet should be consulted anyway, surely its worth a quick vet visit first just to confirm that is all it is and not down to something else, more expensive route but seems to make more sense doing it that way.
 
Thankyou everyone, I just got told by a trainer that saw her that her "pelvis was out" i seem to get different opinions about her from different people(just very confused!!)will most probs consult a vet first, i'm really not sure what to do. Ive got this horse on loan only had her since November and she is only just six, raced last in 2008 and has been to 2 other homes and a riding school in that time!! Poor girl!! basically she needs to go back to the beginning schooling wise, which i dont mind doing, i did want to eventually compete with her, but now this has happened.. Just seems like one thing after another at the moment.
 
However.....commonly the muscles being tight causes this extra stress on the sacroiliac joint.

A pelvis being termed as 'out' really is a term everyone should stop using!!! it only causes confusion.

I would get vet to take a look then chiro incase there is a hind limb lameness
 
Tight muscles aren't going to be enough to cause the horse to be unlevel, after rest and exercise. It sounds like a chronic injury and probably the reason the horse was retired from racing.

Sacroiliac injuries are very common in ex-racehorses and sj mostly caused by falls. Also can be secondary to other problems like kissing spine or psd.

Best to get vet out to do a lameness work up and then go from there.
 
Get the vet out. You said in your first post that your horse looks and feels lame. Any chiropractor worth their salt won't treat your horse when you tell them it looks and feels lame - they should tell you to call the vet.
 
I am a bit surprised that you are so keen to rule out a muscular cause?! The pelvis is supported by a number of ligaments most of which share relationships/have attachments to muscles. So why is it so hard to beleive that when these muscles become restricted...the pelvis can become less stable. The muscles can affect the SI joint as much as the SI joint can affect he muscles
 
I would go with Chiropractor - Peter Beck works miricles. However everyone has different opinions i had a really bad expereince with McTimmony, which have put me off ever since. I was recommended them, having never heard of them and my horses hated her!!! He tried pinning her against the stable wall, kicking her and throwing his full body wieght against her. (Although every horses reacts different to everything so may be doing them an injustice) x
 
Check out the credentials of the chiropractor and if fully registered, contact him/her, discuss the issues and see how you feel. The chiropractor I have to my ex racer is fantastic, an ex vet who moved to chiropractic work because it DOES work. My boy has been better since a series of treatments from him, supported with regular shiatsu, so no more bucking!
 
Hello,

We have a horse in our care at the moment who was not performing as she normally does. So we called in are Physio and she detected that her pelvis was out. Now she has to work along side the vets and get them to give her the ok to carry on with treatment. As the realignment can be painfull and the muscles around can go into spasum then the vets can perscribe anti-inflam's and pain killers.

Together this can work really well and now this mare is back in work and starting her fittenning program.

If insured then this can all be claimed back with no problems.

Kind Regards
 
Chiropractor would do the job. Mainly, he has the knowledge on the muscular-skeletal system, if he extend the knowledge on animal, I guess.
 
OP - you need the vet in the first instance because they have to approve any altnerative therapy you may wish your horse to have.
 
magic14339 said:
However.....commonly the muscles being tight causes this extra stress on the sacroiliac joint.

A pelvis being termed as 'out' really is a term everyone should stop using!!! it only causes confusion.

I would get vet to take a look then chiro incase there is a hind limb lameness
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I completely agree, for the pelvis to be out (not dislocated) then there would need to be a horizontal twist in the spine however slight, this is very very very difficult for a horse to do (if impossible)and if it did happen then the horse would be crippled. People constantly think of the horses spine as the same as our and so reacts and moves in the same way, it doesn't! I agree with the posts that say that it is most likely to be related to a musculature problem as opposed to skeletal. The muscles contracting cause the ligaments and tendons to move position/shape and thus cause a tightness throughout the limb, this can lead to lameness or imbalance BUT if your horse is showing signs of lameness or being off balance then the vet must be the first port of call to eliminate the possibility of any other injuries being the cause. Also a chiro, physio, mc Timony or all the other different people you can get out should never treat a lame horse! I do think that chiro's work wonders and my mare would not be where she is now but they should never replace a visit from the vet!
 
VET VET VET!!!!

My horse TBXWarmblood - everyone at my yard thought I was mad when I kept saying he just isn't right. He was not even lame but every now and then would clip his right hind toe. Everyone told me I was mad to take him up the vets but I did and they said after a few tests they think he has just twinged something. So I had chiro who said "pelvis unlevel" and did loads of pulling and prodding which I think is a joke now. I was told to ride by Chiro and Vet and I did but only walk. Chiro told me to LUNGE!!! Seriously and this was a highly reccomended chiro. Then I knew he still was not right so insisted vets dig deeper - turns out he had a pulled suspensory ligament and is now happily recovering from his op.

If I had taken the chiros advice and lunged this would have put so much pressure on his leg.

I think chiro's are only good as a luxury to help horses that may have just twinged something or are tense and sore through their backs.

Go to the vet.
 
I know someone who was advised by other liveries at her yard to get a chiro out as her horse was unlevel at the pelvis. Many visits & £ later she finally called a Vet. The uneven pelvis was caused by damage to her suspensories. By this time the damage was so severe that she wasn't even paddock sound and was PTS.
The owner was desperate to avoid Vet call out because she didn't want to risk an insurance exclusion. If she had the insurance would have paid the bill & she may still have her horse.
 
In cases where it is just maintainance and general check-up it is acceptable to call a body worker out.

In cases where there is some injury of any sort, no professional bodyworker should see the horse without a veterinary referal first. For the reason covered by the above poster so well!
 
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