Chiropractic
Chiropractic
If your horse has musculoskeletal restrictions and asymmetries, he or she may be unable to move in a balanced and symmetrical way. This may affect his or her straightness when schooling, or athletic jumping ability. Any horse, even one that ‘only’ goes hacking will have a happier working life, and remain sound longer if it moves evenly and correctly.
McTimoney Chiropractic for animals is a sympathetic and effective method of balancing the movement and function in all spinal structures from head to tail.
Spinal joints need to work in coordination with each other. A joint that becomes stuck can become painful in itself, but will also have a knock on effect on its neighbours, or on joints further away in the chain.
Abnormal movement in spinal joints can lead to anything from a mild deterioration in an animal’s performance or behaviour, to uncharacteristic resistance and refusal to perform, to downright dangerous reactions.
Horses
We place extremely unnatural demands on our horses. Stabling, shoeing, bitting, saddling, riding and driving are all alien to how a horse has evolved to live over millions of years.
Thus it is not unexpected that horses can struggle physically from our demands. Chiropractic is very good at keeping your horse’s neck and back flexible, supple and able to do what you want.
Chiropractic can help with the following situations:
- Performance horses coping with high demands
- Maintaining freedom of movement to keep a happy horse
- Bucking, particularly if recently started
- Change in normal behaviour
- Refusal to jump, especially if uncharacteristic
- Stiffness on one rein
- Difficulty working round / on the bit
- After a fall or slipping
- Uneven movement
- And many others
In addition to Chiropractic, I use supportive techniques from craniosacral therapy, equine sports massage and stretching, and TTEAM (Tellington-Jones Equine Awareness Method).
If your horse has a problem, I think that it is really important to discover the reason why, and not just treat the symptoms. This is one of the reasons that I have incorporated saddle fitting into my practice. I found that many apparent back problems were actually saddle fitting problems. If I am called to see a horse, I will always check the fit of its saddle. Many problems can be solved relatively simply in this way.
Some problems can be related to the management of the horse, so, if necessary I can assess feeding, stabling, foot balance and bitting amongst other things. Whilst I do not have qualifications in these fields, I have a good understanding of the implications if they are wrong, and I can refer you to an appropriate expert if needed. I am always ready to liaise with your veterinary surgeon or other horse care professional to get to the bottom of a problem.
Dogs
McTimoney Chiropractic is particularly popular for agility dogs. Like horses, the agility activity is demanding physically on the dog, and can take its toll with stiff muscles and restricted joints. Performance can be significantly improved with regular care.
Other working dogs also benefit from keeping their spinal joints coordinated and functional.
Chiropractic can help reduce the stiffness from wear and tear in spinal joints. I have had some good results with dogs with minor intermittent lamenesses that the vets have been unable to get to the bottom of. With careful consideration and evaluation, disc lesions can be helped.
Other animals
Chiropractic can be effective with any animal that has a backbone! I have a number of cat clients, and have been known to treat a pet rat.
I have also worked with sheep, cows and alpacas.
NB. It is a legal requirement to have your vet’s permission before I can treat any animal, and it is particularly important for me to contact your vet if there is any lameness issue.
Find out more at www.mctimoney-chiropractic.org/treat_animals.htm