Exclusively Equine Chiropractic and Dentistry

Why Exclusively Equine Chiropractic and Dentistry?

Exclusively Equine Chiropractic and Dentistry  offers first class, quality service in Black Forest Colorado and surrounding areas. In order to provide the best possible care, Sandra Blackwood, DVM, CVSMT has chosen to limit her practice to equine chiropractic, acupuncture, and dentistry.  Instead of dividing her attention between all aspects of equine medicine, Dr. Blackwood specializes in dentistry and chiropractic/acupuncture/sports medicine cases.  During any chiropractic case, Dr. Blackwood typically lunges the horse as well as screens for stomach / intestinal pain and looks for other health problems to identify underlying reasons for the horse's discomfort and optimize your horses health and well being.  Lameness and other problems are referred to a generalized veterinarian of your choice. 

Dr. Blackwood has invested in advanced dental training and equipment to provide the best care for your equine partner.  With a selection of motorized equipment, extraction tools, cavity filling materials, and, most recently, the addition of the Power-float water cooling system,  Exclusively Equine is well-equipped to treat dental problems.  Equine dentistry has come a long way from the traditional brief manual float without sedation or specialized tools!  

Dr. Blackwood received her post-graduate training in Veterinary Spinal Manipulation at the Healing Oasis Wellness Center in Wisconsin in 2005.  This program is the only school in the United States with a state-approved certification program in Veterinary Chiropractic.  She also attends regular continuing education in holistic medicine and acupuncture.  However, the horses have been her best and most instructive teachers.  Her file of cases treated numbers over 10,000.  The combination of veterinary training and life-long horse experience gives Dr. Blackwood a unique approach to equine spinal care.  Every horse she examines for chiropractic care is also evaluated for underlying problems, particularly lameness.  If these problems are not identified and addressed, a chiropractic adjustment will help the horse for a time but the problems will reoccur.

In addition to providing excellent care, Exclusively Equine values your time and strives to stay on schedule.  On the rare occasion that we are running more than ten minutes late, we will contact you.

Factors to Consider when Selecting an Equine Dental Professional

When evaluating a dental professional, you may want to consider the scope and level of their work.  How many dental procedures do they perform in a week?  How long have they been in practice?  Are they a veterinarian licensed to practice in this state? Do they balance the entire mouth or do they limit their work to filing off the sharp edges?   Can they treat dental infections and cavities? Do they sedate the horse, and do they use a dental speculum to examine the mouth?  The majority of horses require sedation to perform a thorough dental procedure.  Sedation and a dental speculum often make the difference between excellent dentistry and mediocre work.  The level of care will impact the results you get from dentistry;  comprehensive dental care will maximize your horse's performance, comfort, feed utilization, and tooth life.  Dr. Blackwood has performed well over 10,000 dental procedures and her Equine Dentist and technician, Brian Grover, has performed many thousands of dentals as well.  Experience does matter.  Watching our patients over many years has given us a feel for a moderate approach - many cases respond very well to a conservative approach, while a lesser number require a more aggressive approach. 

Also ask the dental professional if they are licensed and insured.  Although complications associated with most dental procedures are rare, problems can occur.  Only licensed veterinarians can legally administer sedation to your horse.  If you do not use a veterinarian to provide dental care for your horse, you should arrange for a veterinarian to provide sedation for your horse in most cases.

Chiropractic Facts

Probably the most common question we are asked is how we adjust an animal as large as a horse.  It must take a lot of force, right?  Actually, excessive force can tear ligaments, strain muscles, and even fracture cartilage.  The key to adjusting a horse effectively is skill not strength.  Unlike most chiropractic manipulations in humans, horses are adjusted a single joint at a time.  The force is applied in a very specific direction and in a very specific way.  In addition, the horse must be relaxed. Therefore, a thorough understanding of equine anatomy is necessary to perform effective adjustments without excessive, possibly damaging force.  Experience tends to result in faster, more precise but less forceful and obvious adjustments.  This approach restores spinal balance while causing minimal soft tissue stress and inflammation.

It is important that a chiropractic examination includes an assessment of the whole horse, particularly a gait evaluation for soundness.  At least thirty percent of the horses we evaluate have underlying problems that contribute to their chiropractic issues.  Low-grade lameness, poor fitting tack or blankets, shoeing issues, and dental problems commonly contribute to back and neck pain in horses.  Dr. Blackwood evaluates every horse she adjusts for factors that may be contributing to the horse's problems