Horses respond to acupuncture therapy

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Horses respond to acupuncture therapy

 

By Susan Salisbury, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Saturday, December 6, 2003

 

 

Brown-eyed Beau is only 12 years old, but he doesn't seem to mind being pierced

with 22 hollow, stainless-steel needles.

 

Or care that he's being zapped with a mild electric current through a series of

wires.

 

Beau is a horse, so he can't talk back, but he can kick. Thankfully, he doesn't

show that horsey trait a single time during his treatment Friday by veterinarian

Carole Holland.

 

Holland is one of about 20 veterinarians in Florida with specialized training in

acupuncture, according to Dr. Huisheng Xie, a University of Florida professor

who has taught about 100 equine veterinarians the art since 1998.

 

Holland, 42, of Jupiter, has been an equine veterinarian for 17 years. A year

ago, she became certified in the 3,000-year-old practice of acupuncture for

horses in a private program run by Xie, who also teaches courses in Chinese

medicine at UF's College of Veterinary Medicine.

 

How does acupuncture work to relieve pain and treat equine ailments such as

colic, a painful intestinal condition, or founder, a condition that causes foot

pain?

 

" No one knows exactly how it works, " said Xie, whose Chi Institute is based in

Reddick, between Gainesville and one of Florida's horsiest areas, Ocala. " In

Chinese thinking, problems occur because everything in the body is out of

balance. If a horse has a sore back, there must be energy blockage. "

 

Chinese practitioners believe acupuncture clears the channels that block that

energy. Western researchers theorize that acupuncture encourages the release of

endorphins, the pain-killing hormones the body produces.

 

In Holland's practice, which is concentrated in Wellington, Caloosa, Jupiter and

Boca Raton, she uses a combination of traditional Western medicine and

alternative Chinese medicine, including acupuncture and herbs.

 

With Florida's equestrian competition season here, Holland and her assistant,

Karen Woodbury, are busy, with 11 appointments booked for today.

 

" Acupuncture relieves pain, " said Holland, who speaks from personal experience.

In 1988 she had a headache so severe that nothing would make it go away.

 

" My best friend took me to this Chinese guy who did acupuncture. By the time he

got to my toes, my headache was gone. I thought it would be good for horses,

too, " she said.

 

Holland compares the way energy flows through the body to a highway where

traffic is supposed to move freely. A wreck stops the traffic.

 

" We have to find out where the wrecks are and fix them, " Holland said as she

pressed her hands on Beau looking for sensitive areas. " He's got kind of a stiff

neck today. "

 

As she massaged Beau's neck, he sighed deeply with what sounds like relief, and

occasionally nuzzled her.

 

Beau's owner, Rose Miller, was nearby as the horse was treated in the privacy of

his own barn in Caloosa, a northern Palm Beach County equestrian community.

 

Miller, a part-time travel agent who also takes care of horses for other people

in Caloosa, sought acupuncture for Beau a year ago. He was slow to recover from

a broken left hip.

 

" I think it relieves the pain for him. The muscles are starting to come back.

His belly was hanging down and his back was swayed, " Miller said. " He's doing

much better. "

 

The treatments cost from $75 to $200 each, depending on what is done.

 

Holland's next patient is Hank, a 5-year-old who had a short career as a

racehorse, but wasn't fast enough, said owner Christina Banks of West Palm

Beach, a loan officer for a mortgage company who has given him a new life.

 

Hank boards next to Beau and is undergoing his first acupuncture treatment.

 

" He's got a sticky stifle, " Banks said, explaining that Hank's legs are stiff,

causing him to wobble.

 

Holland and Woodbury are ready with their needles. Holland said that chemistry

-- the kind between human and animal -- helps, too.

 

" The horse has to like you, " she said.

 

susan_salisbury

 

 

 

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