Acupuncture for Horses.
By Dr Jenni Ahmat
The Chinese have used acupuncture and traditional herbal medicine to
treat horses for over 5000 years. Their system of medicine is very old,
very complex and difficult to compare to modern Western style medicine.
However, over the last few decades there has been a surge in the
application of acupuncture to veterinary medicine. In particular,
acupuncture as a treatment for
athletic horses with sore backs seems to
have attracted a large following wherever there are significant
populations of horses in training.
While the jury is still out on whether or not acupuncture is a treatment
of any scientific merit, the overwhelming evidence in the field seems to
be that it is very helpful to horses in strenuous athletic training.
Acupuncture appears to give tremendous pain relief to muscle-sore
horses, as well as help them recover better from the physical and mental
stress of racing and training It also seems to help older horses with
leg injuries cope better with a return to training and can therefore
benefit these horses trying to maintain soundness through their final
campaigns.
So what actually happens during an acupuncture treatment on a horse?
The traditional Chinese medical theory behind acupuncture is that
energy, or “chi”, flow throughout the living body is disturbed by
injury, stress or disease. This disturbance of flow can be altered by
stimulating certain anatomical points with the insertion of fine needles
at the points, or a more modern technique is using a cold laser beam
directly onto the points.
Acupuncture points can also be stimulated by the injection of vitamins
such as Vitamin B12, under the skin at the locality of the point. In
particular, this type of treatment may be used on the major points that
run down either side of the horse’s spine, and is believed to increase
the potency of the acupuncture treatment as well as the effects of the
injected substance. Appropriate therapeutic veterinary drugs, such as
Cartrophen, which are normally administered by the intra-muscular
route., may also be injected in small dose divided quantities along
these major points on either side of the spine.
Sometimes, acupuncture points may also be further stimulated by the
application of a tiny pulsing current between two or more needles - this
type of treatment is called electro-acupuncture. It is highly
favoured in treatment of human back problems,
but is usually only used in horses to treat cases of severe nerve
damage, such as facial paralysis. In China, another form of acupuncture
treatment often used is the burning of the herb “moxa” contained in
special cone-shaped needles placed at the points. The heat given off
from the burning moxa has a deeply penetrating and soothingly relaxing
effect on the body. However, although well tolerated by horses, this
type of treatment is not favoured much in the Western world because of
the element of fire risk in stables.
Usually, a routine acupuncture treatment consists of the insertion of
fine needles at the points along the back and neck muscles, accompanied
by treatment of various points on the lower legs with the cold laser if
the horse does not tolerate the needles well. The author particularly
favours the use of disposable Japanese needles which are very fine, and
have a ball point tip which rolls into the tissue, rather than cutting
the tissue like the triangular sharp point of the hypodermic needle. All
horses tolerate these fine needles well, and most horses experience
profound endorphin release with the treatment and deeply relax for the
30 minutes or so that the needles are left in. In the author’s opinion,
treatment with acupuncture needles alone is the simplest ,most effective
and safe form of acupuncture for use in busy training stables.
How does the acupuncturist decide what points to put needles in?
When treating humans, much information can be obtained by questioning
the patient, and examining the physical demeanour and other more
specialized techniques such as looking at the tongue or reading the
pulses on each arm at the wrist. The patterns of the person’s illness or
injury will dictate to the trained acupuncturist which points to select
for treatment.
When examining horses, it is useful to have someone there who knows
about the history of the horse’s past problems and present behaviour
because pulse diagnosis in horses, while presently receiving some
investigation from interested researchers, is not a traditional, or
reliable, method of diagnosis in treating animals . In addition, the
acupuncturist will examine the horse’s reaction to pressure on certain
major acupuncture points along the neck and back. The sensitivity of
these points will give very accurate information to the trained and
experienced examiner as to what musculo-skeletal pain patterns are
present, and which parts of the body will be under the most stress.
These patterns are evident long before there are any signs of clinical
lameness. However, once
clinical lameness has manifested, the patterns become even more
pronounced and established.
Many factors influence the nature of these pain patterns, which are the
basis of the horse’s training problems, or lameness injury or disease.
These factors include the stabling environment,
shoeing and associated foot problems, as well as riding and training
techniques and the horse’s conformation and general constitution. When
dealing with performance problems in horses it is important to keep this
big picture in mind. For this reason, the equine acupuncture specialist
needs to be someone with an extensive grounding in horsemanship and
veterinary background. This combination of knowledge allows a good
interpretation of the horse’s problems as described by the trainer, and
an accurate interpretation of what will be found when conducting an
examination of the sensitivity of these various key acupuncture points.
From this information a good decision can be made on the nature of the
problem plus what points would be of most benefit and how frequently
might the treatments need to be.. Selecting acupuncture points for
treatment is not a matter of “cook-book” recipes in horses and correct
point selection is an essential part of successful treatment results.
Also the information gained from this type of examination is of enormous
value to the horse’s trainer because it enables him/her to have a better
understanding of why the horse may be having problems and how to best
manage the problem. To a certain extent, some predictions may be
speculated from the consistent pain patterns as to future likely
lameness risks and management decisions made on how to minimize
them, as well as a general guide to just how well the horse may be
coping with its workload.
Training and especially lameness problems in horses, however, are always
likely to be complex because of all the factors influencing them. For an
understanding of how to unravel these problems, one needs to be able to
recognize what is a primary and what is a secondary, or compensatory,
problem. Treatment of a secondary problem without addressing the primary
one will not lead to permanent improvement. In USA only qualified
veterinarians with appropriate specialized training in acupuncture
undertake the treatment of horses with acupuncture. This provides the
horse industry with the best quality, value for money service because
the acupuncture treatment can be integrated with referral to appropriate
conventional veterinary diagnosis and treatment such as X-rays, nerve
blocks and intra-articular injections etc where necessary. This
combination approach yields excellent results in the management of most
lameness problems.
How often do horses in training need to be treated?
A treatment regime may vary with different acupuncturists, and from
horse to horse. The author has found that a general rule of thumb is
that horses receive an initial series of up to three treatments about a
shoeing interval apart. For most racehorses, this works out at about a
month to six-weekly intervals between treatments initially. The
acupuncture effect is cumulative with the more treatments given, so it
usually works out that initially the horse may need three or four
treatments over about 5 months, and then the spacing of treatments can
become up to 3 or even 6 months apart. In some older horses with
niggling problems, a more frequent treatment regime may be needed.
Interestingly, some trainers have found that an
acupuncture treatment a few days before a major race start can have a
hugely rejuvenating and freshening effect on the horse. This strategy
works best if the horse has already had its initial series of
treatments, and then the pre-race treatments are added accordingly. It
is especially useful for horses that are targeting major races at the
end of fairly strenuous campaigns, when a frequent problem for the
trainer is the risk of the horse dropping performance due to over
training. This can be a very hard thing to judge by the trainer’s eye
alone, but the information that can be given to the trainer by the
acupuncturist will warn of the situation possibly looming because the
pain patterns prior to going over the edge will usually become very
pronounced and difficult to settle down despite the positive effects of
the acupuncture.
It has been commented by some trainers that they consider an acupuncture
treatment to be as good as a shot of Bute. The author does not think
acupuncture has any such masking effect on the pain or pathology of
lower leg injuries. What it seems to do is magically increase the
horse’s sense of well-being and their ability to cope better with their
injury and their pain, but it does not miraculously remove what damage
is already there.
In some horses that are nervous and tying up, or mares that are cranky
and bitchy, the acupuncture treatments can have a seemingly harmonizing
effect on the hormonal system and by creating the sense of well-being
help ease some of the animal’s tension. An interesting survey that was
conducted in USA indicated that trainers felt there was a lower level of
lower leg injury and breakdown in their stables once the horses were
receiving regular acupuncture treatments, and that their horses were
calmer, had improved appetites and exhibited less stable vices whilst in
training. These observations tie in with the theory that acupuncture
increases the horse’s sense of well being whilst under the stress of
athletic training.
It would seem by the growing popularity of acupuncture in the
performance horse industry that its future in the industry is long term
and likely to get better with more research and attention being given to
establishing its credibility with professional training becoming
available in USA for qualified veterinarians wishing to specialize in it
. Certainly, as more pressure goes on trainers to produce horses drug
free and increase the longevity of the horse’s racing career, new
methods of treating old problems are needed.
Profile on the author:
Dr Jenni Ahmat (BSC BVMS)
IVAS (USA) Cert. Vet Acupuncture
AVCA (USA) Cert. Vet Chiropractics
Graduated from Murdoch University in 1984 with an interest in
acupuncture due to influence of pioneer equine acupuncturist and anatomy
teacher Dr Sheila White. After spending 10 years in general practice and
with a major hobby interest in equestrian sports, travelled to USA in
1994 and spent 12 months there studying for veterinary acupuncture and
chiropractics qualifications Was based at an equine rehabilitation
centre in Pennsylvania where many new techniques were being tried to
rejuvenate horses with leg problems. Now lives in Perth with farrier and
racehorse trainer husband Geoff Ahmat, and moderately handicapped by
motherhood.