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Champion Equine Therapy

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24.01.2022 Introduction to Equine Stretching by Cassandra Boers (Qualified Equine Bowen Therapist) Purpose: To educate all horse owners about the benefits of stretching their horses, why they should be including this in their daily routines and how to apply them. This post is not a detailed book and I cannot cover every aspect of every stretch, but I want to highlight the key points and hopefully get every horse owner on board. Your equine friend will thank you for it, and you will n...Continue reading

24.01.2022 Lateral Low Reach Stretch Active Stretch: the horse creates the stretch, you provide the incentive How to do it?... Stand with your back touching the horses ribs behind their shoulder. With a carrot or using their halter encourage the horse to bring their head low and to the side. AIM: to bring their head out below your far knee if possible. Hold for as long as possible but at least 10 seconds and repeat 3-4 times. Trouble shooting: make sure your horse bring his head out to the side and down and around. You want to get the horses head low - so aim below your knee and try to get their head past your far knee. Why do this Stretch? Promotes bend through the body, spinal flexibility as well as core strength and stretches through the neck which is essential for good posture, movement and balance. Areas it targets: Affects the muscle groups used to creat bend in the whole body Stretches the longissimus and spinalis muscles Recruits abdominal, particularly transverse and obliques Stimulates and promotes core strength Mobilises the vertebral rib joints and stretches intercostal structures Challenges balance and improved special awareness and proprioception which is great for young horses and those who are a bit uncoordinated. Stretches through the entire neck apparatus and withers. There are are a few variations on this Stretch to target specific areas which I will post soon, so stay tuned and try this one on your horse for starters.

19.01.2022 The Bowing Stretch Active stretch: the horse creates the stretch itself you just provide the incentive How to do it?... Using one or two carrots (because they are long you are less likely for your fingers to be mistaken for treats) one in each hand; use your outside hand one to bring the horses head down towards the ground and follow on with the other to bring the horses head between the front legs. Keep the carrot close to/touching its lips as it can't see the carrot on this angle! Aim: to bring the head down as low as possible, if you haven't done this before take it easy as you established what your horses range of movement is. Try to maintain the stretch for 5-15 seconds and repeat 3-4 times AFTER it has been warmed up. Do this daily or as often per week as possible. Why use this stretch? This stretch has a very extensive effect on the horses body, particularly engaging the abdominal group which are the carrying muscles that support the riders weight and the trunk suspension of the horse. The abdominals are an under strengthened muscle group that get forgotten in people's quest for top line. Yes, top line provides a well formed back for the saddle and rider to sit on and stabilises the spine, but the muscles designed for weight bearing are the abdominals the counterpart antagonists to top line, important for correct back posture, lifting, support and pelvic alignment. It also recruits the illiopsoas group, important for pelvic alignment, stability and flexibility and proper movement. The longissimus Dorsi muscle in the back is stretched, it is designed to create movement and flexion. Because it receives the saddle and rider weight it’s important to stretch this to relieve tension. The Nuchal ligament (if you scroll down on my page there is an article on this) among many things it is important for balance. Overall this excersize provides a top line stretch while improving core strength. Troubleshooting: If the horse bends its knee to get the carrot this is okay, it will still be stretching through its back. What does it target? The major and problematic (soreness and tension) areas are as follows: Nuchal ligament is engaged and stretched Rectus and transverse abdominal are engaged Flexes the spine Engages the illiopsoas group and deep hip flexors Stimulates the thoracic sling Spinalis, longissimus dorsi (top line muscles) iliocostalis are stretched Trapezius and rhomboid (sits over the whither area and forward into the neck) are stretched Engages the external oblique and internal oblique Affects deep vertebral muscles and mobilises vertebrae joints. *the horse pictured is a 4yo stock horse and his first time doing this stretch.

19.01.2022 What is Bowen you ask? The Bowen Technique is a dynamic muscle and connective tissue therapy which will enable the body to heal itself, to correct dysfunctions both acute and chronic and to restore the body’s balance. Being a Holistic treatment it will address the whole body, but it can and is targeted towards specific problems as well. ... This multifaceted way of addressing pain relief, stress/tension release and healing, is a hands-on treatment where a series of moves are applied to specific points of the body to stimulate the soft tissues of the body, including the fascia network, muscles, tendons and ligaments, but can also have a strong influence on the skeletal system. The Bowen moves release soft tissue adhesion, as well as deliver signals to the nervous system to which the body will then respond, within its own capacity, and will continue to do so over the following days. Bowen often addresses the cause of the problem not just the symptom and can therefore have both profound and permanent results.

16.01.2022 Food for thought!!

14.01.2022 Its so important as a practitioner to check the whole horse! The body is so intricately interconnected I never take it for granted that even seemingly small problems can have flow on effects. I always check the horse from "top to tail" to make sure I haven't missed anything and to make sure I'm getting the "whole story" of what is happening to your horse. If you have ever had stiffness in your neck you will likely find that it will impact elsewhere on your body. I recently sl...ept funny on my pillow and woke up with a really sore neck on my RH side. After a few days my gluteals on the LH side of my body became sore and restricted. (Often pain and restriction presents on the opposite side to the original dysfunction as the body tried to compensate for the decreased range of motion). The below article addresses some of the ways the Nuchal ligament can sustain trauma and the consequent restriction / stiffness. Can Bowen address this issue? Most Definitely! Is it worth addressing? Of Course! Aside from wanting our horses to be as comfortable and as healthy as possible, the flow on effect of strain at this area (whether your horse pulled back, Is a high anxiety horse - a lot of tension is carried in the neck, stepped on the lead rope or you find they are lacking a range of motion) Its worthwhile for their performance and well being to have the dysfunction corrected and their whole body worked over.