Bowen For Life
EQUINE CASE HISTORIES
(NB all the horses in these photos were brought out of their stables and allowed to stand in what ever position they found comfortable. None were made to stand square).
Diagnosed in 3/03 as having sustained sacroiliac ligament damage N/S and nerve damage to gluts N/O, cause unknown.
Veterinary treatment - shock wave; steroid injections into ligament; acupuncture
with needles in gluts, electrically stimulated performed by Dietrich Von Schwitz,
fortnightly to monthly to quarterly.
Physio - treated fortnightly to monthly to quarterly. Electrical stimulation with
EMS machine several times a week.
Over the next 3yrs his owner kept trying to gradually increase his work but each time she got to the stage of introducing lateral work the horse would “shut down” and stop going forward. Then she would have to go back to Guilford for acupuncture and the cycle would begin again.
When I first saw him in 2/06 this medium dressage horse had insufficient flexibility to leg yield. On a L circle his N/H repeatedly locked momentarily. He appeared sluggish and reluctant to go forward especially in canter. His tail was clamped down.
There was improvement after 3 treatments with no reoccurrence of the locking hind limb and more impulsion generally. Three months later and after a further 3 treatments his owner felt that he really started to release through his spine and swing from behind. He started doing canter half pass, renvers and travers in 5/06
The horse has had a monthly top up treatment June to August then bi-monthly in October.
In November he went to Towerlands competed in the Medium qualifier scoring 8s for
his half passes. His owner feels he is getting stronger all the time and
more supple. Sadly this horse passed away in 2010.
[See Testimonial]
3 MONTHS LATER
Loss of Jumping Form
BEFORE TREATMENT AFTER TREATMENT
BEFORE TREATMENT AFTER TREATMENT
This 12yo Jnr Show Jumper was impaled on a gatepost 6mths previously. His jumping had deteriorated. Working in a hollow outline, he kept propping and sliding into the bottom of the fences when asked for a long stride.
After 3 treatments his posture improved. His confidence has returned jumping and
he started to work in a soft, relaxed outline.
I spoke to his owner at the beginning
of Nov’06. He has maintained his form and has required no further treatment.
[Top]
Diagnosed Ring Bone
This is photo was taken after treatment, unfortunately none were taken of him moving before he had Bowen. The following is a synopsis of his owner’s testimonial:
“... When Benson was diagnosed with ringbone I went home and wept. Remedial shoeing and joint supplements helped and we were careful with his exercise, no jumping or trotting on the roads. However there were days when he was uncomfortable and unlevel. I felt this was the best we could expect. Pauline was a student at the time and looking for case studies. I asked if there was anything she could do. She was realistic, saying she could not cure arthritis. But improving the blood flow might make him more comfortable. There were no promises. He had a standard 3 sessions. After the second treatment I began to sense there was a change in Benson’s way of going. He had a twinkle in his eye that had not been there for some time. After the final session he was ready to take on the world. Bowen has helped restore Benson’s quality of life in a way I dared not dream. I know ringbone is progressive. I know eventually it will be too advanced to treat. I’m still very careful where we ride and conscious of hard ground. There are many people involved with Benson’s well being, but I genuinely believe Bowen has given us back our horse. For as long as we can, we will enjoy him”.
This 12yr old part bred lusitano presented very much favouring the right rein. On the left rein she had the tendency to “motorbike” around the corners, grabbing the bit & leaning on her riders’ left hand. Her owner was aware that she had a lot of uneven muscle development behind her right shoulder & along her spine. However as the mare had a history of azoturia she was reluctant to try any form of manipulative therapy or techniques using deep or prolonged pressure.
Both horse and rider received treatment at the same time and Bowen has had a profound effect on both of them. The horse went on to finish 4th at Royal Windsor & the rider has given her own account of the merits of Bowen [See Testimonials]
© Bowen for Life (www.bowenforlife.co.uk). All rights reserved 2007
This horse is a shiverer and has a club foot. There were no big problems as such with his performance, but he was quite spooky and tended to become tense easily, especially when asked for lateral work. His owner felt that this was possibly due to some low level discomfort and he was using spooking as an evasion when placed under pressure.
His work has improved significantly since having Bowen. He recently won a Medium at Patchetts. See Owner’s Testimonial more details.
BEFORE
6 MONTHS LATER
AFTER
BEFORE TREATMENT AFTER TREATMENT
FURTHER CASE STUDIES
For further Case Histories relating to horses see The European School of Equine Bowen
Therapy web site at:-
http://www.equinebowentherapy.com/