I’ll Have Another is a horse on the cusp of making history. He’s also a horse with a chiropractor.
Horse racing fans are buzzing with excitement as they anticipate the possibility that I’ll Have Another could be the first horse in over 34 years to win the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing. We know that human athletes benefit from seeing a chiropractor. Considering I’ll Have Another’s wins at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, apparently horses can benefit as well.
I’ll Have Another has a gifted team, including an idiosyncratic member known as Larry Jones. The 6’3″ 250 pound 53-year old Canadian who prefers to go by the name “Thumper” is by all counts a uniquely gifted individual.
Thumper’s earlier career in ice hockey was derailed by injury and back surgery. Unsuccessful rehabiliation after surgery led him to seek care from a chiropractor in Calgary. Two weeks of chiropractic treatment turned Jones into a believer and ultimately led him to merge a passion for horses with his new found career in chiropractic.
“Keeping horses limber, relaxed and mobile is important as it is for any athlete,” Jones said.
Thumper reports using instinct to know when a horse needs treatment, saying the animals often indicate where they have tightness or pain. He has called I’ll Have Another a “yoga specialist” who has complete range of motion in all of his joints, and laughed as he said that he wouldn’t be surprised if the horse could put his leg behind his head.
My earlier blog posts have mentioned the exceptional athletes who depend on a chiropractor to help them maintain peak performance (George Hincapie, Super Bowl players). It should come as no surprise that whenever peak performance is necessary, athletes call a chiropractor to check for blockages in joint or muscle action.
Whatever the result of this weekend’s racing, I’ll Have Another and Larry “Thumper” Jones will advance the role of chiropractors in caring for both human and horse athletes.
