I have a young horse who is progressing nicely through foundational training, has a good brain and is eager to please. Occasionally there are some protests (mainly bucking) when asking for upward canter transitions, almost exclusively in one direction.
A few months ago, trainer recommended acupuncture in case he was sore over his (not fully developed) topline, I thought it was woo-woo but wanted to keep an open mind. The acupuncture vet tested him (I think by poking/pulsating but I wasn’t there) and determined horse is not reactive/sore to indicate necessary treatment.
Now trainer has recommended acupuncture again, I still want to keep an open mind but don’t actually believe in this stuff. Google results are hitting me with basically advertising and pro-acupuncture sites; I’m having trouble finding anything scientific or proven. I can accept that not everything that works has fully funded research backing it up, but with something as popular as acupuncture I’d expect some positive academic work.
I guess I’ll let him get tested again/potentially treated once and see what the results are, observing skeptically. Probably little harm in that except money wasted.
Anecdotes aside (I’ve had no problem finding those), can anyone point me to scientific literature on this? I want to understand how needle placement is determined and how sticking a needle through the skin works to alleviate discomfort.
Maybe there’s an answer in these articles. The one, the only, Dr Kerry Ridgway. May you rest in peace and know you made a huge difference in the world.
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I did a search on PubMed for acupuncture clinical trials. I didn’t spend a lot of time, but did not find anything conclusive.
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Here’s another pubmed search on equine acupuncture. I will say my own sweat-challenged horse got an extra month of normal sweating this summer after three acupuncture sessions in early June. I don’t know by what sort of voodoo it actually works but am delighted by the results!
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