Knowledge
Equine Chiropractor
Matt Kenna is a fully qualified veterinary and sports chiropractor working with elite athletes and their horses. He is currently working providing consultancy to premiership football teams, high goal players and treats horses across all levels of polo from low goal to high goal. Based between Guards and Cowdray, he travels all over the south of England.
We all see it. The sun comes out, it warms up and our mares start squealing, humping, trying to kick each other and go through all the emotions under the sun in a ten-minute window. They prance about with tails in the air and our polo ponies become dressage horses. We are talking about them coming into season. Many women I see in my human clinic experience tightening and an increase in back pain during their menstrual cycle. Why? Nerves send information from the brain to the body along the spine via the spinal cord. The ovaries are located near the lower back, within the pelvis. The nerves that send information to the ovaries travel down the spine to the lumbar spine (lower back) and then exit the spine, as spinal nerves, to go to the ovaries. Nerves also feedback from the ovaries which is how our body knows what’s going on, it provides the information that controls all the functions, much like an engine management
system in your car. During a women’s cycle, these nerves become overly excited and send this information back to the brain. Where these nerves enter the spine in the lower back they also excite other nerves in that area. Because these other nerves innervate and control the surrounding muscles, skin, bones and nearby organs, these subsequently become excited too, which leads to contraction, especially the muscles. The same thing happens in our horses, so with the vast majority of polo ponies being mares, that puts a huge proportion of horses playing polo in a position where this may be possible. They will experience attitude and behavioural changes, but the thing that gets reported to me the most and the reason for most of my visits, is a decrease in performance. Engaging their rear ends, in some horses will be difficult, they will find turning one way easier and they may not stop as easily as it involves a lot of lumbar flexion
and pelvic engagement. Lumbar pain, muscle tightness, reduced power from behind, tense quarter muscles, canter problems, issues with circle work on one rein and a sharp character along with many other signs could indicate ovarian/ uterine problems. To the frustration of many owners, some mares also appear to be constantly in season. The behaviour changes may be due to completely normal physiological events related to the mare’s oestrus cycle or may be a sign of a more serious problem. Over the last few decades, many authors have related ovarian dysfunction to personality problems in the equine. Ovarian tumours, cysts and granulomas were thought to contribute to hypersensitivity and aggression. After these issues were corrected, behaviour improved as their cycles normalised, so the behaviours were thought to be merely hormone-related. Chronic pain is now being
The Moody Mare
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Polo Times, June 2022
www.polotimes.co.uk
