Chiropractor visit

I finally had the chiropractor out to see "inside" my horse. I wanted the very best, so I got my vet's recommendation on one who works with him.


I asked across the street about the chiropractor and the ladies there said, "Oh, she's really arrogant."

Well, my trust in my vet is more important than her bedside manner so I hired her.

Indeed, she is not a friendly person at all, and acted appalled when I called the knee of the horse "the knee" - not knowing that in German, that is not called a knee, it's a carpal joint. OK then. Still learning my body parts!

She was very insistent that I tell her what breeds of horse make up my horse. I told her Arab and Trakehner and various other Warmbloods. She said it's a relevant part of her examination of a horse, its breed. I don't know about that. She said that both Arabs and Trakehners are very wound-up breeds, not a great combination: )

But she seemed to know what she is doing when she went over the entire backbone ear to tail, and also the legs and hooves and face/jaw of the horse.

Interestingly, she found nothing at all in Mara's head and neck, and the legs were fine too.

It was only when she got to the lumbar area that she found two vertebrae out. She "fixed" them, whatever that means, for now.

I did not like the rump area palpation at all, Mara objected to it. The lady took these pencil like wooden sticks and ran them along the muscles in specific zones.

Mara did her best to get out of that part.

I asked her to show me some stretching exercises and she did. She was adamant that if the horse ever pulls away from you, you are doing something wrong in the stretch.

She also stressed the importance of always setting up the horse squarely so the horse can do a particular movement. She said if the horse pulls its leg away from you, you've failed to set the horse up correctly and its not the horse's fault.

She showed me a specific movement for testing the lumbar vertebrae. She took a hind leg and tried to touch the toe of the hoof to the ground, where the horse's leg is pulled only slightly back, cannon bone held perpendicular to the ground, and you just hold the leg like that til the horse relaxes and lets its toe down.

If Mara can do that, her lumbar area is OK.

She told me that Mara is strongly left sided and will show difficulty doing anything to the right.

She made me wait 5 days for the muscle to loosen around those bones she moved, and then told me to lunge Mara in large circles both directions.

Then the next day I was able to ride in large circles and then go out on trails.

The bill was 150E, quite high, IMO. She said she will contact my vet to update him on what she did, so that my vet can have this as part of Mara's health records.

The next visit, she said, if necessary, would only cost 80E. She said it's possible I won't need her again, or not for years.

She did a thorough analysis of my saddlefit and helped me feel under it. She said it fits great, not to change anything.

I had done some Internet research beforehand to learn what to beware of, and I'm glad she did none of those things (using hammers or activators).

I noticed Mara did not seem too happy during the session, and did not give any signs of releases, which I was watching for.