Dawn Does Chiro - With Photos

Dawn has needed some chiropractic work - she has had some cramps and soreness in her neck, which has affected her work on the left rein.  This morning she had a session, and I managed to get some photos.  These photos show only a small fraction of what occurred, but you may find them interesting and they should give you a feel for how it went.

Dawn's had chiro a number of times before, knows our chiropractor/vet Dr. Alice Marold very well, and was very happy to be worked on, even though she had to leave her turnout pasture.  Dawn was relaxed and attentive - she just stood in the aisle ground tied for the whole thing, except for when her ribcage was worked on - this can be briefly painful so I held her halter to keep her from biting - and when Dr. Alice was guiding her head and neck around in stretches.  At the very end, after almost an hour, when all the work was done and Dawn was happy with the results, she turned and started to walk off.

Here's Dawn's attitude:

Work started in the sacral area - tightness in this area often affects the neck and vice versa.

A release:

Behind the shoulder:

The large, lower neck vertebrae are inaccessible to direct chiropractic pressure - Dawn is helping by leaning into the pressure:

Base of neck:

Dawn supervises note-taking:

Base of tail:

This is Dawn spam - I was admiring how good her winter coat looks this year - lots of shine and even dapples:

Another release:

A stretch down - while Dr. Alice was working much farther back:

And a big release:

Tail pull:

Tail curl:

Work on the lumbar area - Dr. Alice is using her thumb on the other side along the spine:

Dawn was very focussed:

Fetlock and foot:

This picture is particularly interesting - Dawn is offering her right front leg before Dr. Alice even asks - Dawn is asking for her knee to be worked on:

Knee:

Other front leg:

Hind leg:

Starting to work on the neck, asking Dawn to bend her head and neck to the side, while working on any crampy areas in her neck:

Poll:

More neck work - this time working on cramps that were keeping her from bending towards Dr. Alice:

Huge neck release:

More neck work:

Dawn was very satisfied with her chiro session.  I'm always fascinated to watch how Dr. Alice and the horse interact to get the results the horse needs.  It just increases my already existing admiration for how intelligent and communicative horses are if we only listen to them.