Durango Animal Chiropractor

I’m so grateful to be back at it! 💪🏼 You can’t beat adjusting in a barn; especially when the farrier asks if you can fit him in. 🙌🏻🐴🧲✨Heck yeah!

Bond: Little guy, big personality! Approximately 18 years old, Tri-paw, and toothless (1 remaining). Rescued about 6 years ago, and going strong! I’m proud to be his Chiropractor.

The ‘belly lift’ or sternal reflex that horses exhibit while having their sternal region scratched or stimulated causes:
The abdominal muscles to contract ➡️⬅️
The top line (back) to lift ⬆️
The head to lower⬇️

As long as a horse has shown me they are comfortable being asked to perform this reflex, I encourage their riders/handlers to incorporate this opening stretch/reflex into their horse care routine. ☺️🏇🏻

This is an awesome way to engage stabilizing muscles of the spine, open the spine and rib cage, and turn on abdominal muscles for support. 🩻🐴

Here, you can see Ford has conformation that, over time, could cause more of a sway back if he is not actively engaging his core. After his adjustment, I had his owner practice the belly lift and I took these photos to illustrate how much lift and engagement he is comfortably capable of! Pretty impressive! 💪🏼