God bless the New York Times-for finding, in the midst of their 2012 Belmont Stakes coverage, a story that both has nothing to do with I'll Have Another's Triple Crown chances and has introduced me to one of the weirdest professions I've ever heard of. The occupation, straight out of a Sim City 2000 newspaper: Horse Chiropractor.
As a doctor's son I've been brought up suspicious of chiropractic as a general rule, but I feel confused enough about horse physiology to let Larry "Thumper" Jones-the supposed horse chiropractor in question and apparently a fan of the human variety-speak for himself in claiming that he isn't a chiropractor, as others would suggest, but actually "a positionalist," interested in the horses performing a "biomechanical adjustment" under his astute care.
Apparently he's been instrumental in turning I'll Have Another into a Triple Crown contender from a sore-shinned, "lethargic" has-been-so whatever works, I guess, so long as Thumper stays away from my back.
More Belmont Stakes coverage handpicked by the editors at SB Nation St. Louis:
- If you're a eugenicist, rest assured that the Triple Crown genetics work out in favor of Optimizer.
- But Dullahan has drawn some interest from bettors.