Why Bodywork ?

THE HORSE’S QUANDARY

Horses for the most part are generally quite stoic.  It is part of their survival instinct.  Horses tend not to show their vulnerabilities and that includes pushing through movements and pain as best they can.

THE ROLE OF THE EQUINE BODYWORKER

The down side to the stoic horse is that eventually over time accumulated tension, pain whether from poor riding, poor fitting tack, dental issues, aftermath of injuries such as scar tissue and damaged fascia or lameness will have the propensity to manifest in behavioural and performance challenges.  These small accumulative tendencies often go unnoticed.

Bodywork, simply put, is a hands on therapeutic modality.

Experienced, trained professional bodyworkers can detect subtle differences in muscle and range of motion that are beginning to form before they are noticed by the rider and even before they conspicuously start to affect the horse.  What a good bodyworker DOES NOT DO is DIAGNOSE, FIX or TREAT.  That is a veterinarian’s expertise.

What an experienced bodyworker with expertise in muscle DOES DO is IMPROVE by releasing tension in muscles and joints. Prior to commencement of the session your bodywork practitioner will take a history, and if possible watch the horse move in hand or under saddle, followed with an assessment by palpating key junctions of the horse’s body while watching for reactions, or lack of, from the horse. 

A skilled bodyworker is expert in reading the horse’s reactions.

Your professional bodyworker will then address the areas of tension applying specific techniques.  A good knowledge of anatomy and an understanding of biomechanics is necessary to know where, when, why and how to release tension. She is then able to put the pieces of the puzzle together to come up with the potential primary source of the problem.

Restrictions accumulate over time, even years, and eventually result in poor performance, acting out and possibly the horse breaking down mechanically. The primary source of the problem may be a long way from the perceived source.

Regular bodywork contributes to the well being of any horse whether a high performance athlete, casual competitor, or a cherished, senior companion.