The other night, I sought out a Bowen practitioner who was in the area to work on Jack. I had seen how it made visible changes in a friend’s horse (even during the session), and was advised that in his pre-MRI state that it was a good time to have Jack checked out.

For those unfamiliar with Bowen (as I was myself), here’s how Horse & Hound describes it:

Equine Bowen Therapy (EBT), a less well-known alternative therapy, is a light, soft tissue manipulative technique. Practitioners say it promotes healing and pain relief by:

• addressing the whole nervous system
• releasing muscle spasm
• relieving congested kidneys
• stimulating the lymphatic system.

Does this belt make me look fat?

How it works

• Practitioners use fingers and thumbs on precise points on the body.
• They apply a rolling action which affects the muscles, ligaments and tendons.
• During the treatment there are two-minute intervals when the horse is left to rest.
• There is no manipulation or adjustment of hard tissue.
• A treatment will take approximately 45 minutes.
• Two or three treatments, usually at weekly intervals, may be required to achieve lasting relief.

Jack’s session, which albeit also was a little interrupted by working in feedback on the other client there at the barn, lasted almost 4 hours. But we had a lot of findings as a result of this head-to-toe treatment, including:

• Not using adductor muscles near stifle on inside right hind, which may be related to a strain up the leg near the groin
• An old injury to the sternum which has some scar tissue around it
• Fluid and angriness on ribs 14/15
• Knots in Longissimus Dorsi in base of neck and on lower back
  • making him very guarded/blocked over his trapezius muscles

The hope is that correcting many of these things, we can create a horse who is less likely to compensate for his current injury (LF) by abusing the rest of his body. A hopefully more comfortable horse, with a looser body, will heal faster. And I’m all for that.