Equine Bowen Therapy

How does Bowen therapy help a horse?

Horses are athletes, and they can suffer from the same muscle aches and pains that we do, only they can't verbalise it to their rider. This is even more so for the horses in high-performance events where greater stress is placed on the horse's athletic ability. For a horse to be able to give its rider 100% they have to be feeling good and their muscles and bodies need to be preforming at their optimum. Bowen can help with this by relieving muscle pain and tension, increasing circulation and encouraging the lymphatic system.

Conditions that respond well to Equine Bowen Therapy

Unevenness, disunited gait or irregular action

Have you ever looked at a horse and noticed that he isn't tracking up very well? Maybe he is lame, or his action seems stiff or the horse has difficulty going on one rein. These symptoms can be caused by a number of things. However, if a horse is compensating for pain when it is moving, then it will be loading other muscles, in turn causing stresses in other parts of the body. Bowen can release the tight muscles that are causing this and bring the horse back into alignment and balance.

Merlin had pulled a muscle in his left hind, so he was unable to track up

Laminitis or toxin over-load

Toxins in the environment affect many horses. Sometimes they can be affected by the types of grasses in their paddock, or by their hard-feed, or even have an allergic reaction to the nearby pine-trees. Bowen therapy will stimulate the horses natural immunity system. It can be an effective tool in healing a horse with laminitis because it stimulates the lymphatic system to carry the build-up of toxins out of the horse's body.

Muscle atrophy

This is often caused by poorly fitting saddles, which restricts the blood flow to an area of the back. These muscles then waste away. Often this is noticeable at the junction box on the horses back. Bowen will encourage the blood flow back into this area, as well as stimulating the lymphatic system to take away any toxin build up. With Bowen, and a change of saddle, gradually these muscles will rebuild themselves.

Hollow area at the junction box, indicating a poorly fitting saddle.

Over a period of 4 weeks and 4 treatments the area behind the wither of this horse changed dramatically.

Other symptoms

There may be other symptoms that the rider picks up on that are an indication that the horse can no longer preform at his optimum or has pain issues.

Such as:

• Deterioration of performance or change in temperament
• A horse with a cold or sore back
• Uneven wear of shoes or dragging of toes
• Muscular stiffness
• Unwilling to move forward.