Justin Beasley was still an active rodeo cowboy when he begged his friends to let him work on their bucking horses.
It was about a dozen years ago and he had just taken a class to learn a new chiropractic technique called veterinary orthopedic manipulation (VOM).
VOM, Beasley had discovered, is similar to chiropractic care but is more effective in correcting misalignments of vertebrae with bulls and other livestock. The technique uses a special tool to apply force to the affected area to aid the animal.
Resembling a handheld drill, the VOM (also sometimes called a “thumper) has special attachments that can be used to target an animal’s spine and surrounding areas.
It was during this class that he had also earned a new nickname from his veterinarian classmates as Dr. Cowboy.
Even the honorary title was not enough at first to convince his cowboy friends that his funny-looking tool would really help their horses buck like colts.
“I said, ‘Let me get my hands on some of your old campaigners who used to be really good and I can freshen them up,’” said the former pro rodeo brock rider. “Of course, they looked at me like they I stepped off the spaceship.”
One of his friends finally relented, giving Beasley a bull to work on.
“There's nothing romantic about working on a cow,” Beasley said. “But I adjusted this bull and did my little smoke and mirrors on the SOB.”
Beasley ran his device over the bull which delivered a motion faster than the human hand, but with less total force, into the joint segment. This helped align joints that had been out of place.
The bull had been chosen as the candidate for Beasley’s new fancy toy because the once top-notch bucker was now fighting the chute and sitting down rather than bolting out as before.
After one session with Beasley and his thumper, the bull stood up. Beasley was satisfied with the results, and then they were given an unexpected show as a young cowboy sat on the bull’s back for a test ride.
“The bastard bailed out of that chute, and he was like a 22-point bull,” Beasley said, astonished at how well his new tool worked. “It was the first time that bull stood up in six months.”
From then on, Beasley was in the bull chiropractor business.
Justin Beasley, a former bronc rider, was flown down to Oklahoma to work his chiropractic voodoo magic on a bunch of PBR bucking bulls. He had a fangirl moment and had to snap a selfie with World Champion Bull, Asteroid- who is currently cruising through his sunset years out to pasture, courting the "ladies" to ensure a prolific line of buckers for future generations. (Courtesy Justin Beasley)) 
Justin Beasley is a man of all trades. Not only does he heal bucking broncs and bulls of their sore backs and misalignments with his VOM technique, but he also shoes the horses. (Courtesy Justin Beasley) 
After a career as a bronc rider, Justin Beasley discovered the perfect way to give back to his rodeo community by offering treatments to animals, especially bucking broncs and bulls, to heal their misalignments. (Courtesy Justin Beasley) 
Justin Beasley loves to spend time on horseback when he is not out aligning spines. (Courtesy Justin Beasley) 
Justin Beasley became an animal whisperer when he discovered the VOM tool that would help any creature as small as a parakeet or at large of a tad align their backs. (Courtesy Justin Beasley)
Dr. Cowboy
Beasley first discovered the benefit of having chiropractic practices on animals 25 years ago when his lead horse was worked on.
“I rode the difference,” Beasley said. “Prior to that, if you would have talked to me about chiropractic work on horses, I'd have been laughing at you and on the ground rolling around, flapping my legs and stuff.”
Instead, Beasley was intrigued and began learning the long lever technique that had worked so well on his horse.
When he learned of a guy who was teaching a different technique called VOM using kinesiology, Beasley was ready to learn.
He was the only non-veterinarian allowed into the class because of his background working with rodeo horses, and that was where he earned the nickname Dr. Cowboy.
When Beasley started learning this new technique, he was convinced that he had just wasted $150 to learn a useless tool. He quickly realized he was wrong, and of the three chiropractic techniques he had learned, VOM is the most valuable.
“It’s what I use on the bucking stock that I adjust because there's no way you can physically manipulate a bucking horse or bull,” he said. “I can't grab a leg and yank on it or anything else, or I wouldn't be here talking to you today.”
He said that since starting to use his VOM thumper on bulls and bucking horses, he has seen results he didn't think were possible.
“I've brought animal back to the point where they were usable and healthy again,” he said. “I was just a cowboy that was interested in the game.”
Gentle Giants
After convincing his friend the value of VOM by working on his bull, Beasley was soon being asked to work on more animals.
The first tool he had bought was a manually operated device, but quickly realized he could not keep up with demand and switched to an electric version of the VOM.
“Once I got the electric one, I could blow through 45 of bulls a day instead of 20,” he said.
And these bulls are grateful.
He has had angry bulls suddenly become his best friend, prancing over to him and wanting their noses scratched.
“What's crazy is that when I work on these bulls, they never forget who the hell I am,” Beasley said. “The next time they come in, they stand there like a statue and I start clicking through them, there's the muscles exploding along, dissolving that tension.”
As the bulls turn into mush, Beasley is pleased to help them, although he warns that the VOM technique only works on reducing discomfort caused by misalignments, not healing injuries.
Beasley will work on more than rodeo stock and has been known to help out dogs and other animals. His latest patients, just like the bulls, were unexpected but grateful for his “clicker.”
He had been asked to work on a few show pigs, and since Dr. Cowboy rarely turns down a challenge, he worked on the pigs. They loved it.
“A pig is incredibly smart,” Beasley said. “After I work on them, I’ll show up in the barn and out they come and just start rubbing on my leg.”
For Beasley, it is important to get the word out that chiropractic work on rodeo bulls and livestock is not hocus pocus — it really works.
Despite branching off into helping other animals, his specialty remains bucking bulls and horses.
“My whole thing with the bucking things was just because of my affiliation and career in pro rodeo,” he said. “I wanted to give back something to the sport.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
