Realigning the spine/ pulling his tail????

Ive been having some problems with shadows back.... he's seen a chiro and im making an apt. For him to come back out again. He's just sore along his spine... I had a friend over at the barn the other night and she got behind him and grabbed the base of his tail and gave a slow, yank that rocked him around. She said its ok to do and kinda pulls their spine and straitens them out. Kinda freaked me out, is this an ok thing to do??? Is it at all benifical or can it hurt him more????

Usually the way an owner does this is standing behind the horse and pull the tail slightly out and down and hold it, not a yank. What I'm referring to is a stretching exercise not a chiro manuever that rounds the back while the horse stands square, it is helpful with soreness to a degree. I'm not much into the untrained yanking personally, heck half the chiros out there scare me.

Is he turned out often? Without knowing if there is another underlying problem there are a few things to consider. Turn out often helps horses, when they roll and plan often they do more benefit to realign themselves than quite a few chiros I know. If you're like us though, our show horses unfortunately can't have as much turn out time as needed and they also don't recieve the proper amount of vitamin E that they recieve in green grasses.

I bought him with a sore back a few months ago... we had him adjusted and he was 100%... his previous owner said he had jared his back jumping and wouldnt jump again (fine for me!) and we thought wed straightened it out with the chiro. I need to get him into side reins and muscle up his top line and get him going again, im hoping that once I get him adjusted I can start really working him.

As far as turn out... he's out 24/7. I do see him roll, although I've noticed that he never completly roles over, just from side to side. Is that normal??? Btw he's 12 years old, in good weight but hasnt had a lot of work lately.

Thanks :0)

Yes - it's a stretch - not an alignment.

Encourages the horse to relax and release the tension.

We lean back slightly with our weight andmove the tail in small circles in both directions.

At which angle do you hold the tail and for how long do you do this for?? Do you just let your body weight pull on the tail (im about 115 pounds)??? Bizzarre...ive never seen this. Thanks for the info :0)

until you get the muscle built up it will keep popping back out. Personally...unless its really bothering him and causing him to be lame or buck...I would wait to call the chiro until you have some muscle built up.

As for the yanking...its already been answered but its more a massage thing than a chiro adjustment.