Bowen Therapy For Horses - Toni Pilcher -Bryant

25/11/2024

A reminder to busy riders is that if you are having a wee break over Xmas , let your horses enjoy the break with a muscle release treatment onboard 😊

I am available for bookings up to Dec 21st

The photo is of a new horse I treated recently that had a big full body release and seeked the comfort of his person to be quietly right there during it.
Huge change in this horses posture and muscle tension after one full treatment 🥰

18/11/2024

Decided the rider needed a treatment too 😊 Didn’t have my table with me so we improvised , worked well 😁

Quite a number of people have asked lately if I am back working post my surgery.
YES I certainly am , been busy for a good month so don’t hesitate to make an appointment.
Express treatments which can be used as often as you want and allow you to keep riding with out resting them is ideal at this busy time of year.
Mares and foals benefit so much from post foaling therapeutic and it’s that time of year too 🤗

13/10/2024

25/09/2024

I am back working 🙂 Just light hours and mostly on my local Kapiti based horses but can stretch a bit further a field if I am feeling up to it
By mid Oct I will be good for travelling to all areas again 👍

The season is already taking off so horses and ponies will be starting to feel the need for some maintenance treatments to keep ;

Muscles loose
Posture straight/ balanced
Fascia free and hydrated
Blood flowing well
Lymphatic system stimulated for good drainage of waste product
And the horse happy and comfortable

So good too for mares and foals pre and post birthing 🙂

Look forward to catching up with you all !
Toni

24/09/2024

CDS Rohdiaflew ( Rohdinger x Flewelt MH ) still managing to rock some moves whilst heavily in foal to Awatuna Cordero ( Corofino2 x Awatuna Classic Rose )
Beautiful girl ❤️
Foal will be for sale btw . Jumping and dressage lines galore! Expressions of interest welcome.

03/09/2024

On my feet enough now to enjoy some cuddles with Flossy ( CDS Rohdiaflew ) who is growing a big baby ! Due Nov 😁

27/08/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/jRCbQEM29vr8NsZC/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Variations in the spinal column of the equine skeleton seem to have a profound effect on biomechanics, a shock to some and a no s**t moment for others.

What does that mean? I have found in my dissections that the majority of biomechanical dysfunction and early break down of joints appears to happen at a transition between vertebrae along the spinal column. Cervical to thoracic, thoracic to lumbar, lumbar to sacrum. In the cervical to thoracic region we get ECVM (equine complex vertebral malformation) which presents in many different ways. There is plenty of information on ECVM on the internet from people studying the issue. Some horses seem to cope fine with ECVM and for others it’s debilitating. As Tami elkenham said last week, eventually gravity wins and I agree. From the thoracic spine onto the lumbar we can get transitional ribs, these also present in many different ways. They can be onesided or on both sides and present as either a rib with no facet joint or a transverse process with a facet joint. The problem I have found with these is their lack of orientation with the rest of the ribs. I often find them pointing backwards into the flank area causing discomfort in bending. They also make saddle fit a challenge because they aren’t a true rib often.

What I am seeing allot in the horses/pony’s that present to me for dissection is sacralised lumbar. These horses always seem to have a stiff hind end gait and trouble rotating the pelvis for canter work. The lumbosacral junction is pushed further back into the pelvis, the ilium of the pelvis is wider and the sacroiliac joint is set further back. Generally it’s the hind end that has broken down in discomfort early that they end up being put down. This week I dissected two young horses with this issue, a 5 year old purebred QH who had a sacralised lumbar and already broken down, inflammation in the sacroiliac joint, broken down cartilage, bruising of the lumbo sacral junction and all hind joints full of inflammation in the synovial lining.
The other was a 2 year old gypsy cobxTB who never recovered from a viral infection and had compromised lungs. Her owner reported weird hind end action and very stiff movement. She already at her young age had serious joint issues by way of inflammation in the joints and break down of cartilage. She had a sacralised lumbar limiting her range of hind end motion adding to her problems. Both of these horses had a depressed feeling about them, I do not recommend paddock mates for dysfunctional horses. It’s my personal preference to release them from their faulty meat suits.

There are serious issues creeping into bloodlines that most people are not aware of their implications.

So much more research is needed to get a handle on breeding practises and optional conformation of skeletal form. Every variation has an impact on form and function. A good skeleton is the foundation of which great horses are developed on.

The photo below shows the normal anatomy in the top picture and a sacralised lumbar in dissection below it.

17/07/2024

Hi lovely people .
I am going to be un- available to treat your horses for a time after my back surgery on Aug 2nd
I hope to be able to get back to work by mid to late September all going well.

Happy to try to get to you between now and August ( Wellington/ Manawatu ) and if anyone needs a horse or dog treated while I am recovering , please get in touch anyway and I will see if my wonderful colleague Lynley Morony can step in 🙂

See you all in Spring when I should be feeling more springy too 🤸😁

04/07/2024

02/05/2024

10/04/2024

It's always wonderful to hear back from clients about how well their horses are feeling and going post treatments.
I really ought to share them more frequently on here for your interest in how this gentle yet very dynamic body work helps horses ( or any animal or human )
Here is a recent text :

" Hey Toni we took pepper for her first ride after her session with you and she was so forward moving and picking her feet up super nicely! Also the white patches on her back have started to fade already 😁 thank you so much for helping her feel better! Really impressed with her improvement already 😁"

28/03/2024

09/03/2024

Good releasing during her final treatment for this awesome games pony at HOY after she had finished on 2nd place with her team and exceptional rider Frida Peltzer

28/02/2024

Good info on splints.

https://www.facebook.com/share/GZt8QDwLQ4EZw2J1/?mibextid=oFDknk

A common cause of behavioural issues in horses occurs when their splint bone (the long narrow bones that grow about 2/3 of the way down either side of the horses cannon bone) is damaged from a fracture, break or strain to the ligament attaching the splint to the cannon bone 🦴

Damage to the splint bone or attached ligament can happen from general concussion, a kick, a knock or strain from conformation faults. When this happens, a small bony protrusion can start to show as the site of injury. This is the bodies way of healing the area.

A splints healing process takes about 6-8 weeks of complete rest if the bone has been damaged, and about 3 months of complete rest if the ligament has been damaged. An X-ray can help diagnosis the affected area.

BEHAVIOURAL ISSUES:
Splints commonly cause the following issues:
◼️If the horse has damaged a hind splint bone they will start to rush and may get hot to ride.
◼️If a horse has damaged a front splint bone they will often begin stopping at jumps, most commonly doubles and triples because of the extra concussion required to navigate these obstacles. These horses will often jump great at home (especially if they are on a soft sand surface) but will often start randomly stopping at shows (more the case if the ground is hard or jarring to the site of injury).

NOTEWORTHY ITEMS
◽️Horses can occasionally be lame from a splint, but many injuries do not result in lameness.
◽️Splints take about three weeks to show up. So if your horses behaviour starts to change, reduce their workload and keep an eye out for any soft areas of swelling beginning to form beneath their knee or hock on either side of their cannon bone.
◽️Some splints are old and have finished the ossification (fusing) process. This means the splint has healed and the horse is good to be worked again.
◽️Sometimes the body will demineralise old splints and they can shrink or disappear completely over time.
◽️If the splint is new, the point of the protrusion is usually soft and squishy. If you pick up the horses leg, and gently palpitate the point of the injury and the horse pulls off the pressure then it is likely the splint is new and the horse needs immediate rest time.
◽️Many splints happen when a young horse is ridden or jumped on hard ground. This is because the ligament attaching the splint to the cannon bone hasn’t begun the fusing process yet, which usually happens as the horse matures. My rule of thumb is that if you can hear the horses hoof beats echoing as they trot, the ground is way too hard and they shouldn’t be ridden out of a walk, let alone be asked to jump or compete.

📸 The photo below shows a double splint, where the horse has had two seperate injuries to its splint bone.

23/02/2024

Exciting for many who are getting ready to ride at HOY 😁
It's a busy time with horses in full training so its really important to keep their bodies supple , comfortable and in balance for optimum performance.

Equine Muscle Release Therapy can be used every day if needed leading up to and during a competition.
I am happy to try and get to your horse as often as needed between now and HOY.
I plan to be at the show for the later part of the week to help in the background.
If not me, then Lynley Moroney will be there working for the whole show & Sonya Glennie for a time too.
Look out for us in the green and gold polo shirts & caps :)
Best of luck to you all 🤩

30/01/2024

For those interested here is a photo I took of a horse who had been caught up in a xc fence causing injury to the lower back legs.
He was at this time a couple weeks into recovery.
With vets taking care of his lower legs, my focus was on how much strain he will have put on soft tissue through his pelvic girdle and hips whilst struggling to get free from his entrapment.

The Bowen Technique in its purity triggers messages to the brain through nerve pathways to do as it needs for release and healing. The body is a powerful healing machine and will do what's right.

For Koda, even though I simply targeted his pelvic girdle and hip flexors, his body decided to go to work on shifting the unwanted build-up of the likes of extra lactic acid produced from inflammation & immune responses, adrenal overload from the stress of his accident and pain, and residue from the drugs being digested.

The photo shows his lymphatic vessels all being pumped up to remove the excess from cells and bloodsteam. Lymph vessels are close to the skins surface so when flow is stimulated you can easily see the lines.
Good boy Koda for releasing so well..his body was like.. yay..thankyou !
A few weeks later I gave him a full treatmemt and he was a different horse back with a sleek shiny coat, happy in himself and way softer through hips and HQ.

This work is enormously helpful in many ways for the recovery process of injury.
I am so grateful to be a Practitioner of EMRT ( the original Bowen for Horses ) 😊

30/01/2024

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=772229371376380&id=100057679718709&mibextid=UyTHkb

The example below of a recent client shows how wonderfully and how quickly the muscles over this horses whole hind end have released with EMRT
Pic 1( pre treatment ) you can see how tightly the muscles and associated fascia membrane are pulling on his pelvis, through his hip flexors, down his hamstrings and across his lumber.
Pic 2 (2 x treatments later) showing how much this tension has released out letting the muscle relax to allow for better posture and movement.
Pic 3 a couple months on and staying supple and loose through those muscle groups supporting his lumber, pelvis and hind legs. Much freer horse :)

Open the link above to read about how EMRT ( the original Bowen 4 horses) works through the Fascia