Treatments

Acupuncture Treatment for Horses
Horses that engage in demanding, high-performance physical activity inevitably sustain some injury or illness. Acupuncture is most often used in horses to alleviate musculoskeletal pain, but it can also treat many other conditions and aid muscle recovery.

Equine acupuncture has expanded over the past few decades to meet the increasing demands we place on the performance and muscle recovery of horses. It is increasingly used to prevent injury in competition horses by treating subclinical trigger points before they lead to performance-limiting problems. Acupuncture also minimises the need for drugs and so reduces associated side effects. It can be used to aid the recovery of muscles following strenuous exercise.

The most common use for acupuncture in horses is to treat musculoskeletal pain by both alleviating clinical signs of pain and attempting to treat the underlying causes.

Conditions Treated
Acupuncture heightens all the healing and coping mechanisms within the animal and can be a very effective treatment for horses suffering from:

▪ Back and neck pain – numerous performance or behavioural problems can be caused or exacerbated by back pain. These can include head tossing, teeth grinding, bit avoidance, difficulty presenting at jumps, difficult to collect, cold backed, head shyness, objection to saddling, lameness, slow to warm up, hypersensitivity to brushing, difficult to shoe.
▪ Osteoarthritis and joint pain, spavin.
▪ Kissing spines.
▪ Myofascial pain.
▪ Sacroiliac pain.
▪ Recovery of muscles post exercise.
▪ Poor performance syndrome.
▪ Tendon and ligament disease.
▪ Navicular disease.
▪ Laminitis.
▪ Post viral fatigue.
▪ COPD/RAO – non-infectious lower airway disease.
▪ Sinusitis.
▪ Chronic diarrhoea.
▪ Recurrent uveitis.
▪ Head shaking.
▪ Chronic wound healing.
▪ Post-operative recovery, e.g. following colic surgery. Acupuncture can improve the immune function.

What the Treatment will Involve
Treatment will take place on the yard and will require a non-bedded area for treatment (e.g. a good-sized, empty stable), ideally with a level trot-up area. A ménage or area for lunging and/or riding is also helpful.

Postural analysis and a full static and dynamic clinical examination may be required followed by examination on the lunge or under saddle. This allows identification of abnormalities, gait changes and any secondary issues which may have been caused by the horse protecting a region of pain. Sometimes horses that present with behavioural issues or back pain will also have concurrent lameness.

The needles used are much finer than those used for vaccinations and most horses tolerate them very well. Horses will often be quite relaxed and sleepy following acupuncture and we advise they remain in their stable for a short period after treatment. It is also advisable to avoid exercising your horse for 24 hours following acupuncture.

Do not stop any previously prescribed medication without first speaking to your vet. Do not hesitate to contact me if you have any concerns about any interactions with ongoing treatment your horse may be on.