Hey all, I have been doing chiropractic on horses for over 12 years now. For the past few years I have been just doing chiropractic and some equine dentistry, however since March I have started back in small animal veterinary medicine with an opportunity to expand the small animal portion of my business. Since that time I had decreased the amount of barns I have been working, well now I have settled down into a good routine and I am looking at my schedule and see some vacant spots which could be filled.

If you, or you know someone that, wish to have chiropractic services done at their barn, please contact me via my contact page (http://www.evetclinic.com/contact.htm) or call my office and leave a message at 219-663-7515.

To give you an idea of what I am looking for – a regular client or clients, no more than 1 1/2 hours from Crown Point, IN to fill the vacant spots I have in my routine schedule. The schedule will be on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday during the day on a regularly monthly day, for example, I go to Arabian Knights Farm on the first Wednesday of the month every month. If you would like regularly scheduled chiropractic services please contact me.

Today, I was asked to do a chiropractic exam on a small horse, actually it was a P.O.A. I am asked to do chiropractic evaluations and treatments for a variety of reasons, usually it is the horse is not taking a lead correctly or unwillingness to flex or difficulty to collect or slower times in whatever event the horse does. Today was a little different, the horse does not back straight. In fact when asked to back it always turns its hindquarters to the right, every time. I tried it out from the ground and found that the horse indeed did turn its hind quarters to the right when backed. When covering the horse’s eyes I found I could make the horse go straight.
Upon examination, I found that the sacrum was not moving balanced and that the neck was “stiff”. However I felt that this may not be the only problem, the symptoms from the neck and the sacrum were minimal, meaning that the muscles were not very tight, no soreness, no other major subluxations were observed. So I asked the owner what exactly happens when you ask the horse to back. She said when she asks the horse to go back he arches his neck avoiding any contact with the bit and flexes to the right. So again I thought the neck has to be the answer, however why did the horse go straight when I covered its eyes?

The answer happened to be where I was pushing the horse when asking to go backwards while covering the eyes. The head was up not flexed down like I did when I pushed on the horses muzzle to back him up initially. I knew the answer!

I reached in to the horses mouth and found two things – a wolf tooth and the actual problem a loose deciduous tooth on the lower right premolar! A cap! The horse was avoiding any pressure on that side trying to get the bit away from the uncomfortable tooth. When putting pressure on the muzzle the neck subluxations which were caused by the stress of avoiding the uncomfortable tooth were causing the symptomology.

I adjusted the horse, pulled the cap, and the wolf tooth. Within a week, I expect that the horse will back up straight. SO anytime you are having a problem with a horse moving correctly be sure to check the horses mouth. Also be sure to have a dental examination done a minimum of twice a year and sometimes more often for the younger horse that is loosing teeth.