Atlas Checkup

Jag was a 10-year-old sorrel Quarter Horse. My longtime clients, Jenny and Gene, called to have me take a look at him. They had been in the horse-training business for over 30 years. They said to me, “If you can’t fix him, we’ll have to put him down. He’s too dangerous.”

“Why? What happened?” I asked in astonishment. Jenny replied, “That horse came after Gene like he was going to take him out. I mean, full gallop, teeth bared, ears flat back. Gene tried to call his bluff, only he wasn’t bluffing. Usually a horse will turn aside if  you stand your ground, but Jag kept coming and hit Gene in the chest! If Gene hadn’t finally jumped out of the way, Jag would have run him over.”

I could hardly believe my ears—Gene was a true horse expert. He could normally read horses perfectly from 100 feet away. “Do you know what set him off?” I asked. “Anytime you try to do anything around his head he starts getting that evil look in his eye,” replied Jenny.

Well, with a few Body Checkups I discovered that Jag had his atlas subluxated—the farthest I had ever seen. One side was easily 3 inches off from the other. I can’t imagine the kind of pain that horse was suffering. I was able to adjust it, although we had to use a twitch with two men holding him for safety.

The very next day Jenny called in tears. “What’s going on?” I asked. Jenny said that Jag had put his head out over the stall door, which he never does, and when she came over to him, he did something new: He turned his head toward her. “It was like he wanted me to touch his face,” Jenny said. “So I did,  and he was perfectly happy letting me pet him all over his head. He never got that evil look in his eye at all! It’s a miracle!”

Checkup Directions
FUNCTION: The atlas, also called the poll or the first cervical vertebra (C1), is one of the two anchor points for the dura mater of the spinal cord; the other anchor point is the sacrum. The atlas is responsible for 90 percent of the head’s rotational movement. It is
also protection for the brainstem as it travels from the skull to the remainder of the spinal column.

NORMAL RANGE OF MOTION: The atlas can move quite a bit in order to rotate the horse’s nose right or left. It easily moves 1 to 2 inches as it is pulled down toward the ground on each side, and also moves from front to back (toward the tail) approximately 1/4 inch.

HOW TO
Stand facing the rear of the horse. Stand either directly under the horse’s head, or to his side, whichever is more comfortable for you. The atlas sits under the headstall of the halter. Place your hands on each side of the horse’s atlas, sliding down from midline onto the wings of the atlas (fig. 1.3).

TEST 1

The wings of the atlas may be up to 6 inches long, so don’t worry about exactly where your fingers are; just place them in approximately the same spot on both sides of the horse (fig.  1.4). Hopefully, the horse is comfortable with where you and your hands are located. Some horses can become concerned with your position and tense up. Just give him time to relax. If he doesn’t, consider his actions part of your diagnosis.

1.3 The side view of the atlas area. The wings of the atlas are marked by the white dots.

TEST 2

With your fingers still on the wings of the atlas, gently pull one side of the atlas down toward the ground. Release the atlas as you come to its natural stopping point. Pull down and release on that side a few times to get a feel for the atlas’ range of motion. The horse’s head should rotate along with the atlas. Repeat this on the other side. The atlas should move the same distance down toward the ground on both sides, and without tension or resistance.

Diagnosis

If the horse is evasive (especially with your hand placement), the area has probably become sensitive to touch and it’s highly likely that the atlas is subluxated. Also, when you place your hands on both sides of the atlas wings and your fingers sit higher on one side than the other, you can be pretty certain the atlas is subluxated.(fig. 1.5). When both sides of the atlas do not move through their range of motion with the same ease and for the same distance, the atlas is subluxated. Of course, the atlas could be “stuck” evenly on both
sides. You need experience working with different horses to determine if this is the case.

An interesting fact about the atlas is that it works together—functionally—with the occiput and TMJ (temporomandibular joint). I call it the “TMJ-atlasocciput triangle.” You can feel part of this “triangle action” on yourself with a simple experiment: Tip your head to one side, relax and wait a minute. You’ll feel your jaw (TMJ) move over to the same side as your head. This test shows you the body’s interconnections in a small way. When any one of the three points of the triangle is subluxated, it tends to pull the other two parts out of alignment with it. Be sure to check the TMJ (p.000) and occiput (p. 000) when you feel the atlas is subluxated.

Summary: ATLAS

• Indication of probable subluxation, call chiropractor
• No subluxation, check for other causes of atlas symptoms:
  • Chiropractic subluxations at: occiput, TMJ, or C2 (pp. 000, 000, 000)
  • Dental problems, sharp tooth edges, or tooth abscesses
  • Mouth ulcerations
  • Bit discomfort
  • Guttural pouch infection
  • Sinus infection
  • Gluten sensitivity (when horse shows inability to concentrate)