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Equine chiropractic therapy and its affects

The effectiveness of equine chiropractic therapy treatments in athletics and pain management

Sierra N. Ortiz
Washington State University
Pullman, Washington, United States, 99163

Keywords
athletics, chiropractic, equine, pain management, therapy, treatment
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Equine chiropractic therapy and its affects
I. Introduction

Equine manual therapies play a very important role in the recovery and pain management

of horses. There are a vast variety of techniques in this field such as physical therapy,

chiropractic manipulation, massage therapy, joint mobilization, etc. The equine species endure

many responsibilities throughout their lives and, depending on what they are used for, these

obligations could cause an overall buildup of stress on their bodies by the time they are old

enough to retire. To expand, such tasks could possibly cause pain or injury to their bodies to a

great extent. Manual therapies have been developed over the years in order to aid in relieving

pain resulting from injury or stress. It is a practice that has been used on humans for centuries

and veterinarians have begun transitioning these practices into their world of veterinary medicine

and are seeing fantastic results. Furthermore, doing such therapies can even aid in discovering

the source and level of a horse’s pain (Haussler, K., 2018). The effectiveness of these therapies is

always growing, and they are an important asset when learning about your horse and their

specific needs. The field of equine chiropractic in particular is a practice that is becoming more

and more popular. Chiropractors utilize “the application of controlled force to specific anatomic

areas to modulate pain and improve function” (Acutt, E., et al, 2019). As more research is being

done in the field of equine chiropractic therapies, veterinarians continue to learn and develop

their techniques in order to perfect the art of this treatment.

II. Body

At the University of California Davis, researchers completed a study where they observed

equine muscle function before and after receiving chiropractic treatments. The study involved six

different breeds of healthy, professionally trained show jumping horses. One mare and five
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Equine chiropractic therapy and its affects
geldings were utilized: one Dutch Warmblood, one Belgian Warmblood, one Irish Sport Horse,

one Thoroughbred, one Hanoverian, and one Warmblood x Thoroughbred cross. The tools

utilized in order to measure the horse’s muscle function were static bioimpedance and dynamic

acoustic myography. Bioimpedance relates to a muscle’s degree of contraction by measuring the

passage of current through said muscle. Dynamic acoustic myography, on the other hand, is used

to analyze the sounds produced by a muscle during activity. The muscle groups used to collect

bioimpedance data on the horses at rest were the trapezius, the latissimus dorsi, the LM, and the

GM. These specific muscles were chosen because the LM muscles play an important role in

stabilizing the spine when in motion and the rest are significant because of their importance in

movement. Following the bioimpedance data recordings, each horse underwent a diagnostic

acupuncture palpitation exam where an observer applied pressure along the horse’s muscles to

get a response “in the form of muscle fasciculation.” The chiropractic adjustment methods used

were “short lever, high velocity, low amplitude, and controlled thrusts.” After the diagnostic

acupuncture palpitation exam, a CURO system is used to document acoustic myography data at a

walk and a trot before the chiropractic adjustments and approximately 24, 48, and 72 hours after

the chiropractic adjustments (Acutt, E., et al, 2019).

A separate study was done on a nine-year-old Gelding Quarter Horse who was having

trouble performing tight turns when barrel racing. He was beginning to get aggravated when

saddled in which he would even start bucking whereas he had never done so before. With the use

of static and motion palpitation, many segmental joint fixations were found around the horse’s

spine and extremities. Treating these joint fixations was done by utilizing manual high-velocity

low-amplitude adjustments spinally and extra-spinally. Thermography was employed two hours

before treatment and then twenty minutes after treatment in order to effectively document the
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Equine chiropractic therapy and its affects
effects of the adjustments. A thermographic camera was used to record the effects of the joint

manipulation due to the fact that “joint dysfunction affects the autonomic nervous system and the

autonomic nervous system controls blood flow” (McQueen, E., et al, 2017). Furthermore,

thermography aids in developing reliable quantitative and qualitative measurements of the

relationship between joint manipulation, the autonomic nervous system, and overall

performance. Two weeks post-treatment, the gelding had a checkup in which observations were

made regarding his behaviors and performance compared to pre-adjustments (McQueen, E., et al,

2017).

To continue, an earlier study was performed in order to grow the amount of scientific

research in the field of equine chiropractic work. The overall goal of this study was to determine

the effects of chiropractic adjustments on horses with clinically diagnosed back issues. The study

utilized ten Warmblood horses all around the same age and size. All selected horses underwent

an examination by a certified veterinarian with the appropriate training in chiropractic

techniques. They were looking for horses who showed signs of pain during this examination in

the form of a reaction to palpitations or if they had any physical dysfunctions. When the

examinations of the chosen horses’ joint mobility were completed, they underwent the

chiropractic adjustments. The treatment consisted of high velocity, low amplitude thrusts in

directions determined by the specific joints. The data collection consisted of a system to record

kinematic measurements of the horses while they walked and trotted. Markers were placed on

specific areas of the horses’ body and six infrared cameras were placed around the track. To

analyze the collected data, Matlab and a coordinate system was used to describe the motions.

These said measurements were taken before treatment, right after treatment, and three weeks

after treatment (Gomez Alvarez, C., 2008).

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Equine chiropractic therapy and its affects
III. Conclusion

The research study completed at the University of California Davis on the six different

breeds of professional show jumping horses showed a dramatic positive change in the muscle

function and activity level of each muscle group of the given horse after receiving chiropractic

treatments. Also, 72 hours following treatment, sensitivity the horses had previously shown was

eliminated (Acutt, E., et al, 2019). Regarding the case study on the barrel racing gelding, two-

weeks post chiropractic manipulation it was observed that the nine-year-old was no longer

showing signs of aggravation as well as his barrel turns returning to normal, and “his trot and

lope being smoother then before he was symptomatic” (McQueen E., et al, 2017). Lastly, the

study completed on the ten warmblood horses with diagnosed back pains showed results of

chiropractic adjustments developing a “less extended thoracic back,” “a reduced inclination of

the pelvis,” “improvement of the symmetry of the pelvic motion pattern,” and an increase in

range of motion (Gomez Alvarez, C., 2008). In conclusion, data collected in these studies show

the effect of chiropractic treatments for pain and injury being significant and extremely

beneficial to their overall wellbeing. Future research would best be focused on the longer-term

effects of these chiropractic treatments in order to develop more concrete evidence of the

advantages of chiropractic manipulation.

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Equine chiropractic therapy and its affects
References

Acutt, E.V., le Jeune, S.S., Pypendop, B.H. 2019. Evaluation of the effects of chiropractic on
static and dynamic muscle variables in sport horses. J. Equine Vet. Sci. 73:94-90.

Gomez Alvarez, C.B., L’ami, J.J., Moffatt, D., Back, W., van Weeren, P.R. 2008. Effect of
chiropractic manipulations on the kinematics of back and limbs in horses with clinically
diagnosed back problems. Equine Vet. J. 40(2):153-159.

Haussler, K. K. 2018. Equine Manual Therapies in Sport Horse Practice. VET CLIN N AM-
EQUINE. 34(2):375-389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cveq.2018.04.005.

McQueen, E.K., Urban, S.E., McQueen, M.T., 2017. Equine performance and autonomic
nervous system improvement after joint manipulation: a case study. J. Equine Vet. Sci.
56:80-87.