Acupuncture has been in existence for over 2,000 years. It has been effectively used on cats, dogs, horses, and people.

Verbiage is the single largest hurdle to overcome when trying to get people to accept acupuncture. What makes acupuncture difficult for Western minds to understand is that it is full of Chinese folklore and language.

The term for the vital energy/force that moves throughout the body is Qi (pronounced Chi). Historically, in fact, Soulie de Morant, a Frenchman, who was the first person to translate Qi as energy actually mistranslated the term. He over simplified the Chinese understanding and application for the body and how it works as well as meaning of the word. It turned out to be way more complicated than that. The phenomena that infuses life and movement into beings is referred to as Qi. This refers to a life force, but that is also misleading, since Qi, in various different contexts, can mean various different things.

Chinese medicine, for example, identifies particular types of Qi, which then refer to very specific phenomenon in the body or the environment. Qi is not simply one thing. What Qi describes is really quite ordinary. Everyone has and feels Qi. Have you ever felt pain or pleasure? Sad or Happy? Cold or Hot? This is experiencing the Qi in your environment and body. Qi contains this general meaning as well as more exact meanings for specific types of Qi. Qing Qi, for example, refers to the clean fresh air that the lungs inhale and is then transferred by the blood, oxygen being the clear reference. Shui Gu Zhi Qi, translates literally into water and grain Qi, or the Qi that is contained in food and drink, which is the essence of what is extracted by the spleen and stomach, is distributed by the blood, and nourishes the various tissues of the body. Wei Qi, translates to Defensive Qi, which serves to protect the body from pathogens which are external. This is the Qi of the immune system.

If you take every acupuncture point and dissect it to its component in the nervous system, you can trace the route the stimulus takes. The acupuncture needles stimulate the nervous system either directly by tapping a nerve or directly by causing a local reaction that stimulates the nerve. The nerves translate that information to the higher centers in the higher and lower centers of the brain, spinal cord, and nerve roots. The brain and higher centers process the information and then send out restorative signals that return us to normalcy. What we don’t understand is exactly how the brain translates that information to bring about the correction. If, for example, you have a colic where you have a lack of intestinal mobility, needles can be inserted at points # 21, 22…27 and track any or all points that affect the intestinal tract. That information goes to the brain and the brain sends signals to speed up the intestines. Problem solved.

The opposite is also true. If the intestinal tract is moving too fast, needles can be inserted at identical points which will result in the brain transmitting the information which causes the intestinal tract to slow down. Acupuncture is also very effective at reducing pain. There isn’t much available in the way of pain medication for horses. We expect horses to perform and most horses are agreeable and willing to perform, even to the point of performing while feeling discomfort. An effective and safe way to alleviate this discomfort it with acupuncture. It is safer for the rider and the horse and will improve the horse’s longevity. Also, It has no harmful side effects. There is a relationship between pain relief and muscle physiology. If, for example, you have a hurt joint, you will still try to use it as best you can, but you will compensate by putting more weight on the sound joint. Over time, you will under develop the sore joint, over develop the sound joint, and become out of balance as a result.

Acupuncture restores the body’s balance by relieving the pain. Acupuncture should preserve the length of the horse’s performance life and make him/her happier. Everyone uses horses for purposes for which they are not built. We ask them to do things they may not be anatomically designed to do. So, as a result, we inadvertently cause some of the damage. Much of that damage can be overcome through the use of acupuncture which decreases pain, increases joint flexibility, improves muscle function, and facilitates overall movement. Before inserting the needles, a diagnostic check of the horse’s body should be run to see where there are tender or sore areas are. Using a smooth dowel or a pen diagnostic lines should be traced along the horse that pick up the positive acupuncture points and muscle trigger points. By the way, the insertion of the acupuncture needles is quite literally painless for those who are squeamish about needles.

If you watch the procedure while it is being done on a horse who has sore muscles, you will witness a transformation from tenseness and flinching from touch, to a relaxed state of seeming pleasure. Two types of needles are generally used, neither of which penetrates the body further than 1 to 1 1/2 centimeters. Silicon coated needles are used on the back and stainless needles on other parts of the body. The first three needles are inserted in the relaxation channel, which is located on the front of the shoulder. These are one gall bladder point and two large intestine points.The pins go in until it feels like the body grabs the needle. When you feel the collagen grab hold of the needle you stop inserting the needle. Usually, the needles stay in up to 25 minutes. The Chinese say it takes about 20 minutes for Qi to make one revolution in the body. For horses who don’t accept it so well, the needles can be removed after about 10 minutes.

Other horses will stand for hours with the needles in. Acupuncture is not a replacement therapy for other kinds of medicine, but rather an augmenter and works in times when traditional medicine fails. The ultimate goal is for acupuncture to become recognized as a medical specialty that can be practiced with a consistent approach.