# Equine Chiropractor & Masseuse



## CJ82Sky (Dec 19, 2008)

i use a chiro and masseuse semi-regularly and have had great results with both.
cost for chiro is usually $110 - $125/horse and if he uses the myofascial release tool, as much as $145/horse. to reduce costs, i do tons of trot work and stretching exercises with my horses both on the ground and under saddle. i've found the more fit they are, the less i need the chiro.

i've also found that when bringing a horse back to work, i prefer to do longing a few times a week for about a month or so before getting the chiro / massage bc if the horse is out of shape i've found the adjustment just won't hold and the horse will be out of whack again in a few days/week.

for massage, i'm lucky enough that a good friend is an certified ESMT and boards her 3 horses with me and we barter. i'll do add'l lessons/training in exchange for massages for my horses and i've seen great results here as well!


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

I have four horses and 19 years worth of paying equine chiropractors from the OH/PA border to SoCal to Middle Tennessee.

Chiropractics is-is-is worth the money as long at the chiropractor is a good one.

I once had a chiro tell me that the guy who hurt my Arab and her went to the same school. She said "we all learn the same techniques; it's HOW those techniques are applied that make the difference in hurting the horse or not".

Everyone one of my horses has been worked on and with great benefit. My foundered horse is still in Chiropractic Rehab. When the very nice barefoot trimmer that trimmed him cut into live sole and cut his heels way too short in one fell swoop, he also caused the horse to have "severely strained flexor tendons" <----vet's words, not mine.

This horse also has a fractured sacrum from a 2006 self-induced accident so that compounded the founder/tendon issues because it changed the way he was distributing his weight.

He is slowly recovering, I could write my usual book but won't.

My equine chiro has retired from traveling much further than 20 miles so I had to find a new one. I got lucky again, to find a great lady. It seems the women do a much better job at adjusting simply because we are a lot gentler creature; no offense at all to the men, just my personal experience.

She's not cheap and charges mileage. I'm more than 40 miles away, so when she came and worked on two of my four last Saturday, it was $210.

The horses got Value Received and Bless her, she even brought her horse trainer husband along to take my horses to the roundpen so I wouldn't have to go out in that 105 degree heat. I had a cooling vest on but was still ready to pass out. I just stood in front of the tub fan pushing hot air and watched

Find a high caliber chiropractor and you've found your horse a new friend that they're happy to see when the car or truck pulls up to the barn


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

It's so so so so worth it. I need to find one in the Upper Marlboro, MD area for Sky. He definitely needs a tune up as his last one was almost a year ago!


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## flytobecat (Mar 28, 2010)

Agree with everyone else. It is totally worth it if they know what they are doing.
Our girl charges $75 a horse. She does acupressure body work and chiro with them for 3 hours. Most horses benefit from it, and seem to enjoy the sessons.


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

Equine Chiropractors are very good at what they do.. separating horse owners from their money. People spend money and buy into it and project a placebo effect. 

Do your research, look for actual studies, then look at the source of those studies. Last time we had this discussion someone posted "Proof" I read into it and it was written by a highschool student.

Not even the diploma mills the pass out human chiropractor credentials or the American Chiropractic Association recognize equine chiropractors. 

Kinda like the equine podiatrists that are making the snake oil circuits these days.

If your horse has issues Id suggest an actual Vet.


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## walkinthewalk (Jul 23, 2008)

Joe4d said:


> Equine Chiropractors are very good at what they do.. separating horse owners from their money. People spend money and buy into it and project a placebo effect.
> 
> Do your research, look for actual studies, then look at the source of those studies. Last time we had this discussion someone posted "Proof" I read into it and it was written by a highschool student.
> 
> ...


Joe, I can't believe you're such a naysayer on this subject.

I generally agree with you BUT let me just say:

I have Level III Spondolothesis. You can Google it but:


> *Grade III — 51 percent to 75 percent slip*
> Grade IV — 76 percent to 100 percent slip
> Generally, Grade I and Grade II slips do not require surgical treatment and are treated medically. Grade III and Grade IV slips might require surgery if persistent, painful, slips are present.


After seeing my X-rays, the chiropractor first refused to work on me when I went crawling into his office and was going to refer me to a top neuro-surgeon in our region. I was just about a dog's hair away from the vertebra slipping and causing me permanent paralysis; he didn't even know how I drove my car (with a clutch), then walked into his office on crutches.

According to him all of that was not possible given those X-rays. There are some things life a person is better off not knowing, I guess

You know things are bad when a chiro won't work on you -- well nevermind you don't because you think they're all snake oil.

I begged and he agreed. Within three months I went from walking with crutches to a cane, then walking into his office in flip flops.

That was two years ago and, by some miracle the lower part of my back (where there are NO discs), has fused itself. Yahoo, as far as I'm concerned his non-traditional methods (even in chiropractics) not only kept me from becoming an invalid but kept me out of surgery.

I fall under them once in awhile but I can still trim my horses, even though I did hand over the two special needs guys to an equine podiatrist. I still muck stalls, spend 2 - 4 hours at the barn every day with the horses, bush hog the pastures, mow and let's not forget the house work.

It takes me a lot longer than it used to but by d**n I'm walking upright and all thanks to that snake oil chiropractor who wanted nothing more than to take $35 a week from me.

So please with all due respect do not sit behind the keyboard and say all chiropractors are hog wash. I am living proof of the work some of them are capable of. 

That being said, there is a human chiro in the next town over that I wouldn't take a lizard to; like any degreed profession, one has to know who's at the Top of their Game and who isn't


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## gypsygirl (Oct 15, 2009)

Joe4d said:


> Equine Chiropractors are very good at what they do.. separating horse owners from their money. People spend money and buy into it and project a placebo effect.
> 
> Do your research, look for actual studies, then look at the source of those studies. Last time we had this discussion someone posted "Proof" I read into it and it was written by a highschool student.
> 
> ...



can you please provide links to these studies ?


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## Skyseternalangel (Jul 23, 2011)

Not that this is about horses (the way it happened is) but I got treated three times at a chiro after intense pain when I tried looking up or down from a bad horse accident. And within 3 visits it was better because I caught myself returning to normal tendencies like peering up at the sky or looking down while I ascend the escalator (I have a huge fear of escalators..)

It's still lingering a little bit but it made a huge difference. 

And when I had someone work on Sky, it made a huge physical difference in his back and how he carried himself. 

Sorry I don't have big fancy reports done by well known and credible scientists. Just a gal with experience that it's not a bunch of hoo-hah.


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## atthezookeeper (May 19, 2012)

Wow, some folks just have to rain on someone else's parade. I went to the chiropractor after a car accident. I saw the xrays. I fell better and I'm in less pain and took less meds than after seeing the orthopedic MD. We've had several horses worked on, the vet referred them, all have had rematkable and lasting improvement. Our horses actually like, are happier, and more comfortable creatures with the services of our chiropractor. Collectively my family has 85+ years equine experience some of it college, we all unequivacally support, endorse and use chiropractic therapy for horses and humans. Oh, and the chiropractor we use had a human practice but prefers the animals and switched. Personally I feel so much better after an adjustment, I wish I could go everyday. Same with the massuese.


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## waresbear (Jun 18, 2011)

I use a horse chiro/massage therapist for my horses. Does it work? You betcha, HOWEVER, if the horse is constantly throwing something out of alignment, usually means there is something else wrong lower down that is causing the problem. That needs to be investigated first otherwise all an adjustment & a massage can do make the horse feel better for a short period of time before things are out of whack again. But if the 
misalignment is caused by a trauma like landing a jump wonky or pulling back on a leadrope etc, a chiro is the person to call. Even if is another alimentary happening elsewhere in the body and is treated, I would still call a chiro/massage practioner to adjust afterwards.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## CLaPorte432 (Jan 3, 2012)

I had my mare seen by a chiropractor back in March.

Absolutely do they work. My mare has visibly felt better and by the next day she was moving so much looser and freely. Best $90 ive spent on that mare.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## nickers103 (Aug 10, 2010)

Wow! Thanks all for the interesting feedback! My horses have each been seen regularly by a vet and farrier and I think I might run the idea by them first before looking into scheduling a first appointment with the equine chiropractor. I agree with all of you in that it is important to weed out the "good from the bad" and I appreciate everyone's advice and stories! THANK YOU SO MUCH!


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## natisha (Jan 11, 2011)

My vet is a chiropractor for horses too.
I've seen it work many times like night & day. I could type examples but those who already know they work don't need them & thoses who are skeptical don't either. I was a skeptic for a long time too until I had work done on myself & saw it work on horses.
I won't do deep muscle massage on my horses. I've seen a couple of horses who could barely move for days after a session. Now that person might have just been too rough but I won't take the chance.


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## Cowgirl140ty (Jan 7, 2010)

My older (hes 11) gelding gets the treatment about every six months. But he is riddeb regularly and pretty hard. Hes used on a ranch and I also do jackpots on him in sorting and penning. The one i use also does acupuncture. So each trip runs about $180. And i can tell a difference.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Copperhead (Jun 27, 2012)

I lost faith in chiropractic work when I was younger, and not one chiro I went to could give me any relief from the pinched nerve in the right side of my back, going down my arm. Fast forward 10 years and I found a chiro by accident that was actually worth my money. She took x-rays, created a back crack routine and put me in physical rehab. Its been 5 years and I've yet to feel my pinched nerve. The deterieration in my arm was so severe I had lost a lot of muscle in it. She rebuilt that muscle, but I don't have any reflexes in my right arm anymore and it goes to sleep a lot.

I'm sure if I went back on a regular basis, she could help me with that. But we live in different states now!

I am a certified equine massage therapist and I've never lost a client or heard anything negative about my techniques. I certainly believe in what I do, I feel it benefits the working horse, the retired horse and I have seen a lot of improvement in the horses I've treated out of injuries. I have a new client I'm visiting tomorrow who's horse keeps popping her hip out of line. She had the chiropractor come down for an adjustment and I'll be working in line with that, using massage therapy. One or another is good, but both is ideal. I'm happy to have a chiropractor work in my area with me


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