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Not
Just Lameness: chiropractic helps much more
A stallion at stud
had suddenly stopped covering. He was certainly interested but he was refusing
to mount any mares offered. This had been going on for at least a week.
Everything the yard tried had not worked. He was expected to cover four mares a
day for a long season, so his refusal put a great deal at stake.
Vav Simon,
veterinary
chiropractor, found he had a severely
rotated pelvis. This would have been so painful that it clearly explained why he
would not even try to mount the mares. Vav treated him straight away.
His movement was
immediately better as he walked down the yard. Vav advised a day’s rest to help
him settle, and made further suggestions about preventing any recurrence. Back
at work, he did the job without hesitation.
Veterinary Chiropractic
Gently manipulating the skeleton
by hand, chiropractic was originally developed for humans. It has been widened
to work on other mammalian species, with veterinary chiropractic now being the
post-graduate training. Horses and dogs of all sizes are the main patients.
When bones become misaligned,
several things follow. The whole structure may be weakened, and the nerve
pathways that emerge in the joints between the vertebrae may be impinged. That
makes the nerves malfunction, producing pain, reduced muscle activity or
internal organ problems. These misalignments are much smaller than a
dislocation, but can have enormous impact – as anyone who has had sciatica
knows!
Reproductive Problems
A show pony had suddenly stopped
getting pregnant and repeated coverings with a proven stallion were not
succeeding. Vav’s assessment found lumbar misalignments that could well have
been disrupting her ovary and womb function. Straightened out with one
treatment, she ‘took’ well and foaled successfully.
Misalignments have two main
causes. The more obvious are the traumas: eg slip, fall, kick, etc. Less obvious
– but often more serious – are the repetitive asymmetrical movements: eg
circular exercise patterns, foot balance problems or misaligned jockeys. A mare
carrying a heavy foal lying to one side may become misaligned in her lumbar
region, which could create problems in labour if the nerves to the womb are
constricted.
A horse’s shoulder is
not an ordinary joint: it is held in a sling of muscle and ligament, there is no
bone-to-bone connection. This means that shoulder problems are often much more
difficult to treat than other joints, and can be prone to becoming critical.
A Filly on Three Legs
A filly was running
around a paddock holding a front leg up. She had impeccable breeding and there
had been high hopes for her. The yard had tried absolutely everything to sort it
out without success, and there
were only two days left before the final decision.
The filly’s mother
was anxious and would not stand still. She had barged the baby, who fell, and
then continued running around, forcing her to follow all day. This meant the
filly’s strained shoulder got no chance to heal, and she had visibly lost
condition.
Vav’s assessment
found nothing chiropractic wrong with her legs, neck and back. However, she did
find a large area of shoulder and neck muscle that was in total spasm. This
filly was in such pain from over-using damaged muscles that she would not put
the foot to the floor.
This was reassuring – nothing worse was wrong and
the soft-tissue work required was viable, which raised some hope for success.
Treating these muscles by hand-massaging meant Vav walking sideways beside the
limping filly for over an hour as she chased her mother around the muddy
paddock! Fully recovered, she went for a record fee at the sales.
Not Just Lameness
Many people tend to
call on the chiropractor for lameness problems. But misalignments have many
causes and many consequences, and these cases show it is well worth getting an
assessment in a wide range of other situations. Regular check-ups can nip
problems in the bud, maintaining good health and consistent performance.
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