Horse adjustments

Grass Dancer

Watch your horse as it turns its head to eat a treat held at the shoulder or bite that fly which is buzzing around.  There should be no tilt in the head as your horse turns to reach back.  Many horses will back in order to try and get a treat; others will twist their head around and grab the treat with a sideways maneuver.  Another exercise that will give you a lot of information about your horse’s spine is a butt tuck.  In order for the horse to be able to correctly do this exercise, the thoracic and lumbar spine must be freely moving as well as the sacroiliac joints and the gluteal muscles.

Your horse may benefit from chiropractic care if he or she exhibits one or more of the following problems:

• Decrease in level of performance, laziness; remember the nervous system supplies the body with energy
• Loss of wind capacity (rib subluxation will affect the horse’s ability to respire)
• Problems or difficulty executing desired movements
• Behavioral changes (refusals, cinchy, bucking, head shy)
• Head carriage or fighting bit (may be due to a subluxation in the neck or jaw)
• Short striding, uneven strides, toe dragging, stumbling, forging, and uneven shoe wear
• Diagnosed conditions, such as degenerative arthritis
• Muscle imbalance, spasms or atrophy
• Abnormal posture when standing, standing with hips uneven, choosing to stand on uneven ground, not squaring up when urinating, holding tail to one side
• Gait problems, such as cross-canter, loss of collection, refusal to pick up a lead
• Injuries resulting from falls, training, or other activities
• Stressful situations such as poor conformation of the horse, various riding and training equipment, performance level and ability of the horse, shoeing
• Chronic disease conditions, multiple repetitive infections, weak immune system

Broncs from Carr Pro Ranch