When Does My Horse Need An Adjustment?
By Dr. Jeff Van Petten, DVM Meriden Animal Hospital
When does your horse need an adjustment, that's a good question? We're talking about orthopedic adjustments, not attitude. All though a change in attitude may be a sign the horse needs to be seen.
When a horse changes their behavior and stops doing what they have done in the past willingly then you may have a problem.
When a horse changes his behavior many times that is a sign they are uncomfortable. I firmly believe that 85% of all training problems are physical. Examples of this is the barrel horse that all of a sudden decides not to go in the arena, may run by the barrel or go down the fence. I find a lot of these horses are sore and it hurts to run and set to turn.
Team roping horses refuse to set in the box or spin around in the box a lot, may duck out more, or refuse to pull. Jumping horses start stopping or refusing jumps. All of a sudden your horse does not like to be saddled, they may turn and try to bite, rear up, or lay down. This is often a sign they have a rib that needs to be adjusted.
Your horse may be diagnosed with a primary lameness such as D.J.D. in the hocks or arthritic changes in other joints. When your horse compensates for these problems they will cause extra stress on other parts of their body or skeleton. This stress can cause subluxations that if left untreated can become chronic problems, or affect performance more than just the primary problem.
If you have your horse have dental work done and has to have some major bit alignment work done, some horses will have some TMJ problems afterwards. They may still have problems eating or be resentful of the bit.
I also see a lot of young horses before they are ridden or right after they are started. You may have a colt that is very quiet and easy to work with on the ground, but hates to be saddled or have you step into the stirrup. You may wonder why a horse that has not done anything in their life yet needs an adjustment it may be cause they have been doing dumb colt things for two years growing up.
Your horse may be lame and your regular veterinarian cannot find any cause for the problem and you do not want to use the "lets put him on phenylbuatzone for six weeks and see what happens" plan.
Horses with ribs that need to be adjusted may be three-legged lame on the front. My wife, who dragged me into alternative medicine, brought home Gator from Indiana and told me if I could fix him he would be a good barrel horse. When his neck or rib was out he would be so lame you thought he was done. He would turn his neck just right to be adjusted when it was out, adjust him and away he would go. Some horses with rear end lameness may have a rotated pelvis or inflamed sciatic nerve that needs attention.
One of the most important things to remember is, if your horse is usually willing to do what you ask and all of a sudden stops, you probably have a problem that needs to be evaluated.
