chiropractor for horses with back pain massachusetts

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Stall Calls with Dr. Bruce Indek: The Off Track Thoroughbred

Monday, March 26, 2012



Author: Dr. Bruce Indek



Many riders are using OTB’s these days and with those beautiful animals comes some problems that your animal chiropractor can help with.



Since most of these horses have only worked to the left during their early years, there will often be rib asymmetry. What I mean by this is that the barrel of the chest will be rounder on one side and flatter on the other. Take a look at your horse from the front and look for symmetry at the rib cage. This problem will cause saddle issues, off balance rider and potential injury to the hips and shoulders of your horse. The animal chiropractor can adjust these ribs and do some muscle work to give back this symmetry. You as the owner will have exercises to do with your horse to support the correction.



Butt tucks are a simple exercise you can do to check if your horse is engaging correctly. To do these you will start at the dock of the tail and go 3 inches down and 5 inches out. At this point you will be in a groove between 2 buttock muscles. Scratch out to the sides at the same time and look for your horse’s butt/pelvis to raise. If you do not see any movement, scratch a little harder. If there is lack of movement or asymmetrical movement [ more on one side than the other ] this may be a sign of subluxation within the Sacro – Iliac joints or lumbar. These subluxations are fixable by your chiropractor.



Gastric issues in the OTB. Since these horses have a tremendous amount of stress at the track, many have sub-clinical { not symptomatic } gastric issues. They have very little turnout time and spend many hours a day in the stall with little interaction. I have found that many of these horses have cinch sensitivity. This sensitive area is directly related to the gastric region. If your horse bucks, hollows the back or tends to colic a gastric problem may exist. Nutrition and Chiropractic care can often clear up this sub- clinical gastric complaints.