This is a great case review for those of you may be competing your horse this show season and you want to have the extra edge in the ring. Does your horse perform in western performance, jumping, hunter pleasure, or English performance? How about dressage, eventing, endurance, competitive or pleasure trail riding? Acupuncture is a great way to enhance your Jumper Mare‘s stamina, improve performance, while keeping them pain free, and improve moving fluidly in and out of the show ring.

Once you schedule an acupuncture appointment with Dr. Gina she will arrive at your farm, take a thorough history and complete an acupuncture treatment on your horse. Recommendations will be made for follow up, further treatment and care regarding the musculoskeletal concerns of your horse.

Overall, acupuncture can be used to treat muscle soreness, improve range of motion, improve energy, move blood around the body, and stimulate the immune system.  All of this is to help keep your horse healthy, reduce stress, anxiety, and maintain connections from nose to tail so your horse’s skeleton can support the movements you ask of them. The goals of treatment are to move blood and energy so that the harmonious flow of both can be evenly distributed throughout the body.

Cassidy – A case of hind end performance in a Jumper Mare –
She is a 15 year old Jumper that started to have some issues in training whereby she would swap her canter leads behind. The owner was concerned and asked for an acupuncture evaluation to help improve the horse’s comfort and way of going to attempt to eliminate the problem. The show season was soon upon us and the goal was to get the mare fixed before competition season.

After Dr. Gina gave the mare an initial acupuncture exam, she found the mare to be sore in both shoulders as well as the sacroiliac region and pelvis. The horse was needled with an acupuncture point prescription in an effort to move Blood and Qi to eliminate stagnation, relieve pain, improve mobility, and create comfort in her way of going. Some of the points listed below are just a sampling of those used during her treatment.

• Since the Kidney Organ governs the hind end, Kidney supportive points were used (Shen Points on the left and right, Bai Hui, Bladder 23 and 52) as well as Master Points to support the hind end (Bladder 40) and pelvic region.
• Stagnation was alleviated with Bladder 67.
• The shoulders were treated locally with Gall Bladder 21 and Small Intestine 9 on both sides.
• Cassidy received an electro acupuncture treatment of the hind end, once every 2 weeks for three sessions.

With each treatment the mare improved and the owner was very happy with her progress.

In addition to acupuncture, the jumper mare received chiropractic treatment as well. These two treatments coupled together allowed her progress to accelerate and have her reach her full potential even faster. Both types of therapies address similar yet different aspects regarding body mechanics to improve the animal’s way of going.

After her initial treatment regimen, Cassidy continued getting monthly acupuncture treatments during her show season so that she could stay at peak performance. She was able to be in the ribbons with each show and her owners were elated with her progress.

If you have a horse competing this year, don’t hesitate to call the office and set up an acupuncture evaluation and treatment session with Dr. Gina at 610-351-1404.