| The Bowen Technique for horses |
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IMPORTANT NOTE
In the UK it is illegal for anyone to treat your horse without Veterinary consent. Therefore consent from your own Vet must be obtained prior to your horse receiving treatment.
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Welcome to my equine page. This contains details of how the Bowen Technique has been adapted to horses with some fantastic results. I trained with Beth Darrall of the European School of Equine Bowen Therapy, see links page for links to the official EBT website which contains full details of Equine Bowen Therapy and practitioner listings nationwide.
Horses are very sensitive creatures and respond well to Bowen Therapy. As with the human version, the practitioner will make rolling moves over muscles, tendons and ligaments in precise areas of the body. Again, it addresses the horse’s body as a whole and helps to relieve muscle tension and spasm, stimulate the lymphatic system and is very relaxing for the horse.
Conditions which respond well to Equine Bowen Therapy are:
- Cold backed symptoms
- Stiffness or lack of lateral flexion
- Uneven shoe wear
- Sluggish lymphatic system
- Weakened or poor immune system
- Unlevelness
- Recovery from injury or illness*
*The equine case study on this page show some amazing pictures of a badly injured horse and his improvement after having Bowen.
In addition, all horses, whether they have any evident 'problems' or not, will greatly benefit from a Bowen treatment to help with their flexibility and movement, and to prevent injury with regards to sport horses.
And if you are balancing your horse then it makes sense also to treat the rider in order that the horse will have a balanced weight upon his back every time you swing your leg over that saddle. Bowen practitioners will often recommend that the rider receive a treatment too. |
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| Pelvic / Back problems |
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 Zebedee pre-Bowen treatments
Zebedee is a 15.3hh irish draft x thoroughbred gelding aged 10 years. He has been owned by his present owner for 2 years, and is in light work, hacking out two or three times weekly.
Zebedee has a history of back problems; when he was originally purchased he was very underweight, would trip in all paces, bucked in canter and could not circle. He was checked all over by a vet, his feet were trimmed and he was checked by a saddler. He put weight on and was exercised, then another check by the saddler revealed a lump on his lumbar spine which the vet checked and thought may be kissing spine. The vet recommended a physiotherapist who has treated Zeb for 18 months via 7 separate treatments starting in May 2003.
Initially there was a vast improvement and he was walked in hand and built up fitness. Following his last physiotherapy treatment he became very sore over the following 2 or 3 days and would not allow his back to be touched. The owner felt he was bruised through his back and did not request a further treatment.
When Zebedee was initially walked up in hand, he was tracking one whole hoof width outside the front foot with his near hind, and his whole pelvis looked tilted to the nearside. He did not track up on the offside and was reluctant to turn left. He did not look happy walking forwards, his ears were back although not pinned, and he was very shuffling in trot and nowhere near tracking up. All four shoes were more worn on the outside edges.
The photograph shows the hindquarters, and there is obvious muscle atrophy on the nearside, despite the shadow he is standing square in this picture!
 Zebedee had three Bowen treatments in all over a one month period. During the treatments he was very relaxed and sleepy, though at first he was sore and extremely reluctant to be handled, especially through his hind quarters, back and loin area. He was hacked out gently and has now returned to normal work which involves schooling sessions, hacking and some small jumps. Overall Zebedee is a much happier, more balanced and forward going horse and, as the second picture shows, the muscle atrophy and pelvic rotation has been corrected, giving a much nicer, more balanced outline to his hind end. Zebedee continues to have maintenance Bowen treatments every couple of months to keep his body in balance.
Zebedee after Bowen treatment |
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| Wound healing |
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 SAMSON – barbed wire injury to foreleg
Samson (Sam) is a 16.3hh Irish Sport horse x TB and he is aged 10. He had only been owned by his current owners for a few days when he broke through electric fencing in his field and caught his right fore leg in some barbed wire. He panicked and pulled back, causing an horrendous injury to his hoof, pastern and fetlock area. Miraculously, his tendon, although it had been scraped, had not been damaged.
Sam was attended to by a local Vet who immediately referred him to an equine hospital where he underwent a lengthy operation to try to rebuild the foot and pastern, and to stitch the gaping wound back together.
Sam was in the hospital for 6 weeks, during which time he received intravenous antibiotics directly into the wound area and into his quarters to try to combat infection, and was on high doses of very strong painkillers and some sedation to keep him calm.
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  Despite all of this, he returned home to his owner's yard with less than 10% chance of survival, and with virtually no hope of ever retaining any athletic capability again. The wound had caused the loss of the synovial fluid in the joint and he had also suffered with cellulitis, an inflammation and infection of the cellular tissue.
The first three photographs on the left were taken a few days after Sam returned home, and before he started receiving Bowen. The Veterinary surgeons had done a fantastic job in giving Sam a chance, but the wound was still very wet and pussy, and incredibly smelly and rank looking.
Sam started his Bowen treatments on 12th October 2004 and was initially very uneasy and apprehensive about being treated after having had so many needles stuck in him! The first treatment was carried out with lymphatic drainage in mind and was terminated early as the horse appeared to have 'shut down' mentally; although he had become very relaxed and accepting of the Bowen treatment, he appeared to have reached his limit as to what he could cope with in that first session.
Two further treatments were carried out at weekly intervals, during which Sam was much more relaxed from the start and responded very well to the treatment, showing signs of relaxation such as yawning and sighing, and he also defecated during the treatment. Sam’s owner had noticed that after the first treatment he had more droppings in his stable, and had drunk more water than normal. The wound itself had been incredibly wet and pussy the following day but had been drying up ever since.
The bottom two photographs were taken on 8th November, just over 3 weeks after the pictures above and after 3 Bowen treatments. These show an amazing difference in the wound which has dried up almost completely and is now a very healthy pink colour.
 
To date, Sam is almost completely sound, and is back out in the field with his friends. He will be reassessed by a Veterinary surgeon in the New Year with a view to bringing him back into work again.
Sam had 5 Bowen treatments altogether.
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 Update June 2005:
Samson has now resumed normal riding activities. He is enjoying regular hacks out and can manage walk, trot and canter, and he has even cheekily popped the odd small fallen branch of his own accord when out hacking!!. He is virtually sound, and his wound completely healed. His vet will come out in 6 months time for a check up.
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 Samson’s leg September 2006 – one year on from the original injury
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Below are two pictures of a nasty wire laceration on a 7 year old thoroughbred gelding. The wound was clean but quite deep and was very swollen, hot and painful to touch. This horse was treated using Bowen therapy and focussing on lymph drainage. Small additional moves were made, as allowed by the horse, around the site of the cut. He received three treatments in 8 days, along with daily washing of the wound with an antibacterial lotion to keep it clean.
 
Here is the same wound 8 days later…..
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| Tense, Nervous or Highly strung horses - Relaxation |
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 This picture shows Nicky, a 33 year old chestnut arab mare who, although in fabulous condition for her age, more than lives up to the old ‘chestnut mare’ adage!! Nicky is highly strung and very prone to anxiety and stress. In this picture you can see how up tight she is – literally ‘strung’ like an upside down bow. |
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 And here is Nicky after receiving a Bowen treatment. Successive treatments have really helped her to relax both physically and mentally and to maintain her fitness and flexibility. She definitely does not look like a 33 year old horse and she is a credit to her owner. |
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 Another very tense and excitable horse, this is Marley. He is prone to stress to the extent that when he first arrived with his owner he had severe sweet itch and virtually no hair along the length of his mane, neck, back and tail. Here he is pre-Bowen…. |
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 ….and here he is, all relaxed, having had a 45 minute session of Bowen. Marley needs lots of slow moves and big gaps to allow him to assimilate what is going on, and given this, he responds really well and looks much more relaxed, as the picture shows. |
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 Here is Summer, a 7 year old Arab X mare. Summer’s owner wanted her to have Bowen Therapy to resolve a few stiffness issues in the mare, having just purchased her. MVB was also able to help regarding the fit of the saddle as the original saddle was too tight for her lovely flowing movement. |
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 Summer responded really well to the Bowen treatment – she only had one treatment – and, although there were a few minor muscular issues, as the picture shows, she was much more relaxed and looked in a much better shape overall after the treatment. Notice in the second picture how her shoulder and pelvic muscles have really released nicely, allowing her to stand with better posture. She is also carrying her tail in the second picture and her expression is much brighter. |
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SOX – a dressage improvement
Sox is a 9 year old, 15hh Irish cob. He has been with his current owner for 4 years and they hack out and compete at local unaffiliated dressage. They take one lesson a week from a very good classical riding instructor who was trained by Mary Wanless.
Sox did not specifically have any 'problems' as such, but showed a tendency to be harder to flex to the right and to accept the right rein contact.
After the first treatment Sox was very subdued and his owner was quite worried about him. He was very quiet, although he drank more and there were more droppings in his field.
After the second and third treatments there was a marked change in his attitude. He was very exuberant, even wanting to play ‘tag’ in the field with his owner whilst she was dung collecting. He became more sure of himself and confident and his paces became much more springy and elevated.
His owner commented that his trot and canter had never felt so powerful and bouncy and she had several very good schooling sessions. The Instructor noticed the difference almost immediately after treatment 2 and commented on a further improvement in his paces after treatment 3. She felt he was more elevated, found collection easier and was working up and through his back much more. He was also flexing equally well to both sides and accepting the rein contact.
Sox’s owner was delighted and they are currently preparing to tackle more dressage tests and show off their newly attained elevation and presence! |
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