Holistic vet Dr. Karen Mueller recently showed me how to adjust a horse’s sternum. This is particularly useful in a horse that pins his ears angrily when you tighten his girth.

Here are three pictures of the same horse as he is standing with his legs in the same position (square under him). His legs did not move during time the photos were taken.

This is “before”:

As you can see, the right side of his sternum (left in the photo) is upright and short so he is tilted to the right side. I then did an adjustment on his sternum according to Dr. Mueller’s instructions and brought it more to the left side:

I was not happy that I got a complete adjustment so I repeated it and took the final shot:

Do you notice how much more even the sternum looks here versus the first photo? When evaluating your own horse, you have to stand him with his legs evenly square beneath him and look only at the two sides on the bottom of the horse’s sternum, comparing right and left. Some horses are so uneven, it’s almost freakish.

Feel free to post a photo of your horse’s sternum in the comments. You can also visit http://www.animalchiropractic.org/ to find a certified veterinary chiropractor in your area.