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beau
Gold Member
United Kingdom
806 Posts |
 Posted - 10 Jul 2007 : 4:36:32 PM
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Hi, at the risk of starting a debate lol, what are peoples thoughts on equine alternative therapies,
How do you decide what/who to use - equi-massage, acupuncture, shiatsu, mctimoney, etc, Am wanting beau to have a few back massage sessions,
Jodie
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Porsche
Gold Member
1194 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2007 : 4:43:36 PM
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The key thing to remember is that they are not ALTERNATIVE therapies but COMPLIMENTARY therapies...
Also, people often turn to them as a last resort then announce they don't work at a stage where nothing could help complimentary OR conventional!
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Some people are like a Slinky ... not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.
     
RIP Fuzzy Bear...Angela RIP......Legacy 1day old...............La Carrera.................Aisa and Bruce |
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rosyw
Platinum Member
England
3756 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2007 : 6:16:14 PM
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Quite right! they are NOT ALTERNATIVE.
I can highly recommend Shiatsu, we were at our wits end with one of our horses, the vet gave us 2 choices, PTS or bone scans for about £2000 I wan't prepared to do either and had been recommended to try Shiatsu and was totally amazed that it turned our aggressive, stressy, very skinny, virtually unrideable mare into a calm relaxed (most of the time!) little horse. If you get the right person they will show you so many things you can do to help your horse yourself, even if you don't have any great problems in the first place it's great to watch them totally 'chill' .
Photo below shows her, now 17 yrs young, having enjoyed playing in the mud!!
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Judith S
Platinum Member
Wales
15686 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2007 : 6:20:25 PM
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We use McTimmoney Chiropractic treatment on our horses - have had wonderul results! My friend is the practitioner.....she looks on AL (has 4 beautiful Arabs of her own) - but she doesn't post!!! I keep saying she should |
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beau
Gold Member
United Kingdom
806 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2007 : 7:39:20 PM
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Whoops sorry complimentary therapy my bad lol,
the reason i am thinking bout this route is that the physio has told me my boy is quite tense and something like a complimentary therapy regime might help him relax, just cant decide which particular type of practitioner to go for,
Thanx for ur replies will get some details. |
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Pauline
Platinum Member
England
3185 Posts |
Posted - 10 Jul 2007 : 8:49:49 PM
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Beau
You have to work out why your boy is tense,
1)Does he have any kind of pain or discomfort.
2)Is there something around him that is making him tense.
3)Is he being bullied by other horses
These are just thoughts as these are some of the reasons people call me for to look at their horses.
The right Complimentary therapy would work.If it is his back then get a GOOD Chiropractor
Pauline |
Pauline Higgs
Equine & Human Holistic Therapist
www.thegentlestouch.co.cc
www.endurancegbmidsouth.co.uk
Berkshire / Hampshire Border |
Edited by - Pauline on 10 Jul 2007 8:55:38 PM |
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SEZ
Gold Member
England
1101 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2007 : 12:34:33 AM
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| I think the Bowen technique sounds interesting. Anyone have an opinion on it? |
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shfwarrior
Silver Member
England
311 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2007 : 07:32:46 AM
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| hiya regarding the bowen technique. I have no experience of this in horses but i do know if it wasnt for this my o/h would be badly disabled now. 10 yrs ago he had an accident unloading a two yr old. since then he has had physio(at the hosp) to no avail. surgery, the scar tissue made more pain, but regular sessions of bowen have kept him mobile and stopped his large leg muscles(he used to play rugby) siezing up completely. If he has to miss a session he gradually gets lamer until he can catch up. correct me if im wrong but its all about re siting muscles into their correct channels i think. hope this is useful.....sue |
   
Dymchurch,Kent |
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beau
Gold Member
United Kingdom
806 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2007 : 08:17:23 AM
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Hi, thank you Pauline, i have asked myself this, i do think he is uncomfortable through his back when schooling, tho physio says must work it out of him, through schooling, to be honest im thinking as he has not been schooled properly before and using all these new muscles that he probly didnt realise he had, lol, so my thinking was that a complimentary therapy might encourage him to stretch and relax etc,., would this help do you think ?? Some interesting things pls keep them coming lol.
Jodie |
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carly.rebecca
Bronze Member
Wales
72 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2007 : 09:04:32 AM
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I am training to become a McTimoney animal practitioner at the moment so obviously think it is a really useful treatment which can have wonderful results!! Glad to hear that otehr people are in favour of complimentary therapies!!  |
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arabic
Platinum Member
England
4562 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2007 : 11:58:13 AM
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Freddie had a McTimmoney session earlier this year and will be having one annually from now on. He had no issues or anything needed and she complimented him on how well he was for his age and nothing ever done. She gave him "the once over" and I couldnt believe the difference in him the following day. So supple, relaxed etc (not that he is ever tense) -it was amazing.
He stretches a lot and people are always laughing at the postures he gets into but I do wonder if that has helped him.
Sandie |
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Pauline
Platinum Member
England
3185 Posts |
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shah
Gold Member
England
1356 Posts |
Posted - 11 Jul 2007 : 9:53:22 PM
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Here's another vote for a Good chiropractor - it's made a huge difference to the way my boy moves. No vet or osteopath ever found anything wrong with him but two sessions has really made our day and he's now much more comfortable, finally building muscles in the right places! Pauline knows an excellent one that I can certainly recommend too And she has a lot of good, useful experience so I can recommend her too
In the past we've been through most complimentary therapies and they've all worked in one way or another, some more, some less - here are my experiences (can soon write a book I think after all we've tried  :
> Massage/acupressure/reiki is great for pure relaxation or for relieving sore, overworked muscles. If you have a good masseur out they will show you some things you can do yourself - helps the wallet!
> Bowen too is excellent for relaxation, normally brings my boy to a sleep! It's particularly good where deeper tissue is involved as it's inobtrusive and can go deeper than ordinary massage.
> Aromatherapy/bach flower therapies are great for helping emotional problems (I found natual horsemanhip great for this too by the way), my nosy boy loves aromatherapy and happily picks what he wants and then has a good sniff .
> Kinesiology is good for finding problem spots, picking oils etc.
> Osteopathy/chiropractacy - hm, my jury is out about osteopathy as we didn't have a brilliant practioner while the chiropractor was excellent, the osteopathy is certainly less obtrusive and leaning more towards heavy massage, simple manipulation, while the chiropractor really goes in deep and can sort out old or deep laying problems.
> TTouch, the Tellington Touch, another good relaxation technique that can work really well.
I've not tried acupuncture or shiatsu, depends on the case and the problem.
But as Pauline says, the most important thing is to try and find out the underlaying cause - not easy and can be a long process of elimination - and even then, something that works with one horse doesn't work with another so it can be guess work.
Good luck on finding something that suits you and your horse |
West Sussex |
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