Equine Bowen Therapy

Gentle Treatment for a wide range of conditions.

"Quite simply one of the most straightforward and effective 'hands-on' therapies available"

What is Equine Bowen Therapy (EBT)?

 

EBT is a gentle, subtle and relaxing hands-on therapy, which makes it particularly suitable for nervous or sensitive horses. As with the human treatment rolling type movements are done using fingers, thumbs and the heel of the hand, over muscles and soft tissue. There is no ‘crack-crunch’ and we always treat the whole horse, this is because the area of pain is not always where the problem is and there can also be areas of referred pain.

Which horses or ponies can benefit from a treatment?

All horses and ponies can benefit from a treatment, whether they are top competition horses that need to be able to perform to their optimum, or the leisure horse. You do not need to wait till your horse is showing some signs of soreness before they will benefit from an EBT treatment. I treat a variety of horses, including stallions, from many disciplines, such as, Dressage, Show Jumping, Eventing, Showing, Point to Point, Driving and Polo.

What conditions respond well to EBT?

Unlevelness, disunited canter or irregular action / muscle atrophy or uneven development / stiffness on one rein / sore back or ‘cold back’ / deterioration or sudden loss of performance / uncharacteristic change of behaviour or temperament / sluggish lymphatic system or weakened immune system / and many more …… Horses can injure themselves in many ways – whether it’s from getting cast in the stable, pulling back when tied up, slipping on the road or from ill-fitting equipment such as saddles and rugs. EBT is not a substitute to veterinary care and verbal permission from your vet is required prior to an EBT treatment. This is the same for any form of treatment such as physio, osteo, massage etc. This can easily be done, normally by just talking to someone on reception at your vet’s.

Testimonials

My warmblood stallion, who works at PSG/Inter 1 level dressage, has always had a placid nature and been reasonably even on both reins, but suddenly was finding it harder to soften and engage on one rein and, when pushed, began doing huge unseating bucks.
I tried an equine physio, who gave him a form of sports massage, but I found the problem returned fairly quickly. I then tried an equine chiropractor, but there was little or no difference after the treatments. A friend of mine recommended Emma, as she had identified a problem in a horse of his which other ‘back people’ had failed to diagnose.
After the first Bowen treatment I noticed my horse was far more supple and he has become more and more so with each subsequent treatment and no longer gets angry when asked for more. His ability to engage has improved and, most importantly, he hasn’t bucked once since the first treatment.
All equine athletes need and deserve regular muscular check ups and I can whole-heartedly recommend Emma.
Charlotte Tappenden

 

Emma has been treating my horses now for just under a year and from the very beginning has offered an extremely professional and reliable service. Her meticulous ways at first were strange to me, but now I have a good understanding why. I have ridden to medium level dressage and novice level eventing, and have 5 competition horses; Emma has been great for them all, especially one of my eventers who has soft tissue damage due to his feet. Before my horse went lame he would resist working through due to the pain in his feet, and I was mistaking this for back pain, which in theory it also was, but it was due to his feet. I had Emma treat my horse on two occasions and the difference was plain to see, as he was happy to work through, but then a lameness became apparent. This showed how honest my horse was and that Emma had correctly identified that the problem originated with his feet.
I believe myself to be a sceptical individual and need to feel and see obvious results to be convinced. I could not recommend Emma enough and the treatment that is Equine Bowen.
Daniel Tenchio

 

Having purchased a ‘just backed’ 4 year old, I first called Emma to assess him in the 3rd week. He had travelled from abroad and that, coupled with the task of bringing him into work, brought about the usual problems of tightness through the back, shoulder and hamstrings.
Through Emma’s sympathetic, yet extremely competent, approach, I was able to literally stand and watch as she gently manipulated the shoulders of my new 17.2hh youngster as he fell asleep! Clearly the horse found this type of therapy very relaxing and was not intimidated by any of the moves administered.
Following Emma’s advice and 2 follow-up treatments, the horse not only maintained his ability to work freely, he also visibly built muscle without becoming tight and proved happy in his work throughout.
All in all I cannot recommend Emma and Equine Bowen enough, especially as when I sold the horse a few months later one of the comments from the Vet during the vetting was that it as good to see a newly started horse of such a considerable size able to work freely, unrestricted and comfortably. The proof of the pudding, as they say ……….
K Brown, Kent