It is the role of an equine chiropractor, such as myself, to work on the mechanics of a horse’s skeleton, with particular attention to the spine.
The history of animal chiropractic can be traced to Daniel David Palmer all the way back to the late 1880s. DD Palmer – as he was known – is recognised as the ‘father’ of chiropractic methods. He developed the theory that spinal mis-alignment was to blame for many ailments that affected broader aspects of health.
Modern chiropractic treatments therefore have a legacy stretching back well over a century. There are two main areas of expertise when it comes to equine chiropractic.
The main one is spread worldwide and has developed mainly in the United States. It uses different technical approaches involving light and stronger mechanical thrusts and this is the technique I practice mixing my experience in osteopathic and chiropractic techniques. In the UK a second approach is quite common in the equine field but limited to this country and is known as McTimmoney. Those chiropractors are only using a very soft approach.