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On the equine transpositional systems, numbering systems for horses.

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Re; transpositional systems.

This is a very interesting question and one I have thought about for a long time.

It seems there are two kinds of transposition. The anatomic and the energetic.

First,  there is not an agreement on point naming. There are about 3-4 different systems just for horses. And over the years there have been at least 3 different  naming systems for humans too. Before Mao the points only had names which were according to their qualities not numbers. He realized the importance of acupuncture and brought all the practitioners together and they developed a numbering system probably in the 40”s.  So a numbering system would be Ki1, Ki2, k3 etc. before that they only had names such as Baihui. (meaning roughly ;100 meeting points)


This system then came to west in the early 70”s.  This is for humans.  Anatomic locations were given for the point locations but only worked as a guide to help find the points. The practitioner had to have the feel in the hands to get the exact position of the point. And then could feel the nature of the point.  This took me one year to get the feel in my hands. Before that it was a bit hit and miss. Without the feel the acupuncture is meaningless. Or at best a bit rough.


At this time some veterinarys in the west decided to try to apply to animals. Which is good. They had not experience with humans and the energetic nature of the points. So they used the anatomic correlations.  This formed the first transpositional systems.  Except there are some problems here too. They cant be too exact as  humans and horses are not anatomically similar in many ways. Humans and dogs are more anatomically similar.

And the energetic effects also vary. This can only be determined by feel.


So anatomically horse has 17 thoracic ribs and humans 12.  So where do the back shu points being 12 transpose to the 17 thoracic ribs  on the horse.  There is not an agreement anatomically.  But when it comes to energetics and functions it is quite clear but one needs to have experience with people and the qualities of the points of people( not book learning) to feel this energetically.  So for example Bl12 is for cough. In the system one is using is Bl12 useful for cough? If it is below the withers as in some anatomical systems it wont.   

But there is an agreement that Baihui meaning 100 hundred meeting points gets transposed from the top of the head (GV20) in humans to the top of the Hind end in the horse which are not anatomically similar but energetically similar.

Neck is much longer in a horse and has a lot more points so where do they transpose to?



As far as the ting points go the system I use is not completely  anatomically transpositionally correct. It is energetically correct and simpler. Yang is protection and the yang points are on the  outside where the protection is needed, not the front.  (esp of hind end where the least protection is needed at the front)But it does not seem to matter which system you use. Correctness is not a word for acupuncture. If there is a result, it works. As well the ting points are so very strong they have a broad range of effect. And if the practitioner has a feeling for it ,he or she will know if it is working and respond with other points to get the result. And it is this feeling that I hope to convey in the course. Then the names wont matter.  That is my challenge.

One also has to consider bipeds such as goats and cows. How do you do the anatomic transposition there? You will see there is an inside and outside more obviously , forming the yin and the yang.

But they do matter when it comes to communication among colleagues , to know that you are talking about the same points.  Usually , if you knew the chinese names, you could add those.  Or point to them on the charts. And in books you need to know they are talking about the same points.   After a while you get a sense for what point is being used and you will know which one they are talking about in your system even if you use a different  number.

Even in my human book I have to ‘interpret’ what point is meant. It uses both chinese name , and a numbering system.  But which numbering system? I sometimes have to look up the Chinese name to make sure .


In conclusion there is no need for a controversy. There is no correct. There is what works. And this is also very person to person oriented. What works for one person may not work for another.  But try to get on the same page with each other in communicating.

for more ; go to www.horse-acupuncture.com

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