By By Tiffany Watkins

Horses in western society are reaping the benefits of a traditional
Chinese medicine that has been around for over 5,000 years.
Acupuncture as a way of treating horses is spreading rapidly, and area
veterinarians are using it to assist in their treatment of large
animals.
Dr. Kevin May of El Cajon Valley Veterinary Hospital calls acupuncture
"another tool in the toolbox."
Acupuncture stimulates the body to heal itself and is good at breaking
muscular skeletal pain, said May. The treatment relaxes the horse's
muscles and breaks the pain cycle.  It is also a good tool for reducing
inflammation.
May knows the treatment is working when a horse drops its head, its
eyes get droopy, and it licks or chews in relief.
A horse's nerve sometimes gets damaged from trauma. Acupuncture can get
the function of the nerve back and stimulate nerve growth, said May.
"It's so cutting edge," Dr. Jon Matthews of Matthews Equine Services in
Ramona says of acupuncture.
Acupuncture began with horses thousands of years ago, Matthews said.
In China, soldiers on horseback rode their horses hard so lameness was
not uncommon.  The soldiers began to notice that, when horses were
stabbed in the area where they showed lameness, the lameness improved. 
The Chinese began experimenting with smaller swords, then knives and
then needles to penetrate the area that needed improvement.  The
practice eventually passed to humans where the results have been
extremely beneficial.
"The effects are obvious," said Matthews.
Horses are natural athletes and they want to be healthy and sound. 
They have nothing to gain by being lame or acting in pain, like some
humans who hope to gain sympathy from those around them by showing a
weakness.  Horses want to be able to run and eat.
Dr. Lisa Grim of Equine Veterinary Medicine in Rancho Santa Fe said
acupuncture is safe and with each treatment the equine releases
endorphins, which produce a calming effect.
Grim treats horses with acupuncture in a variety of situations,
including lameness and reproduction.  She treats mares having
difficulty getting pregnant and stallions with low sperm count.
"Chinese medicine regulates and balances the flow of energy in the
body," said Grim.
The acupuncture procedure stimulates inhibitory nerves that block the
pain pathway, she added.
Acupuncture is about 50-percent of Matthews' practice. He also uses the
treatments for reproductive reasons, saying that reproductive
acupuncture helps increase the reproductive rate and helps uterine
problems such as pooling urine in the vaginal vault.
In addition, Matthews treats internal organ problems in the liver,
kidney and bladder with acupuncture.  Acupuncture procedure to treat
equine muscle problems typically takes a half an hour.  It balances out
the muscles and allows for normal skeletal functioning.
"It's relatively affordable and there are no negative side effects,"
Matthews said of acupuncture.
Horses are not sedated during an acupuncture treatment because it would
affect the results.
Acupuncture for a chronic problem such as arthritis will only be
temporary, Matthews said, but 24-karat gold implants can be a permanent
cure.  These gold round spheres are about the size of a BB and are
implanted into the acupuncture site to provide permanent relief for
chronic pain.
Horses are just like people in that they have different pain
thresholds, Grim said.  Some horses relax during acupuncture and some
horses don't like the experience.  Research is ongoing, and Grim is
pleased that she has added it to her practice.
The three veterinarians all agree that acupuncture can improve a
horse's well-being and the owner's relationship with the horse.