Bowen therapy is it a load of s***??

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Ambypamby

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Just had bowen done on my boy and he didnt seem any less tense and was more angry and agressive by the time the lady left?

I know i should give it a few days but im really skeptical at the moment,
 
Also a sceptic, my horse had two treatments and both times was a lot more sensitive and sore for a week after - then didnt seem to improve after 2 weeks (how long they said to leave it). So stopped treatment! But I am sure there are a lot of lovers of it on here :)
 
yes its a type of tissue manipulation. I ave a very grumpy horse (has been for years) he hates strangers and tries to bite or kick them. I must stress he is a lamb with me and a few choice people.

the lady seemed to think he may be in mild pain and suggested bowen treatment. All i have noticed is he is much more irritable and wound up after this 'stranger' came and poked and prodded him lol!

he was still just as grumpy this morning. I give up! lol!

Before anyone says i have had his back, teeth and a health assesment by the vet done to see if he is grumpy because of any injury and all came back fine.

he is also fine to ride. jumps like a star and will never put any stops in.
 
I have no experience of it so don't know how it differs from other physio treatments. I have a McTimoney guy to mine and I DO notice a difference though and it is all positive.
 
clarahiron said:
yes its a type of tissue manipulation. I ave a very grumpy horse (has been for years) he hates strangers and tries to bite or kick them. I must stress he is a lamb with me and a few choice people.

the lady seemed to think he may be in mild pain and suggested bowen treatment. All i have noticed is he is much more irritable and wound up after this 'stranger' came and poked and prodded him lol!

he was still just as grumpy this morning. I give up! lol!

Before anyone says i have had his back, teeth and a health assesment by the vet done to see if he is grumpy because of any injury and all came back fine.

he is also fine to ride. jumps like a star and will never put any stops in.
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Maybe he is just a misery! Lol. You can't change their personality after all. If he seems happy in himself (ie in his work) then I wouldn't worry too much - some horses are just grumpy aren't they!
 
Bowen isn't a quick fix, it won't cure everyting or in most cases anything after just 1 session, ideally to start you need 3 at intervals of approx 1 week. The whole Bowen process helps the body heal itself so the regular treatment and breaks are very important as is completing the course.

It's enabled me to start moving my neck after 6 years of immobility and saved my older mare from being retired. Vet and physio were both murmuring about acute neuralgia across neck and verterbrae = probably having to stop ridden work as physio wasn't working. Bowen gave an instant reaction, revealing how much pain she was actually in and after a course of treatment mare was totally recovered.
 
he is grumpy and agressive towards new people he dosent like people invading his space he will try to kick or bite them.

he is happy enough with me, 2 of my friends and also my boyfriend oh and a gem for my farrier.

Maybe its time to accept that its just him. Im really doubtful he is in any pain but maybe im getting my back up as i dont like to hink of him being in any.

After the bowen treatment (he tried to bite/kick her 4 times) he was really upset scraping the floor and pulling more faces at passers by than usual.
 
zandp said:
Bowen isn't a quick fix, it won't cure everyting or in most cases anything after just 1 session, ideally to start you need 3 at intervals of approx 1 week. The whole Bowen process helps the body heal itself so the regular treatment and breaks are very important as is completing the course.

It's enabled me to start moving my neck after 6 years of immobility and saved my older mare from being retired. Vet and physio were both murmuring about acute neuralgia across neck and verterbrae = probably having to stop ridden work as physio wasn't working. Bowen gave an instant reaction, revealing how much pain she was actually in and after a course of treatment mare was totally recovered.
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This is positive. Im just sceptical because it really didnt seem like she was doing anything to him. just seemed like the whole process of her going near him as winding him up more!

she seemed a nice lady and very confident in what she was doing.

its just a lot of money to fork out when im not sure i will see any difference
 
I've had session no.5 on myself and my horse had Bowen for the first time last week. I can't rate it highly enough, having suffered with back pain for years. However after my first treatment I was in a lot of pain and after sessions 2 and 3 I didn't feel great. My therapist says it generally takes 3 sessions to notice a difference, but she says the fact that I'm feeling anything is a reaction and shows that something is happening. I now feel great, I cannot believe the difference, I don't wake up in agony, my back seems so much stronger and I'm not desperate to sit down at the end of the day as I'm in pain. My horse will have regular sessions now. To be honest I have noticed no difference since her first session, but I'm sure I will do in the future. I'd keep at it :)
 
A friend who is qualified in EMRT (from where Bowen comes) has treated a couple of mine with good results. One horse arrived with oedema on her rump, very tight muscles and a raving lunatic that had to be contained in a round pen. She had three sessions and odema disappeared and seemed much more comfortable in herself. I was warned that she might seem worse after the first session, but she was bad anyway, poor girl. She did improve greatly,seemed to relax during the sessions. Can't say how much was down to the EMRT or sorting other issues as well, but she's been an absolute star, lovely relaxed ride and no recurrance of odema.
Certainly didn't do any harm and cost nothing as we did favours for each other.
 
I cant comment on OPs particular therapist but my own experience has been very positive. I have Bowen as does my horse and Im not surprised your horse showed a grumpy reaction afterwards and during. If you ever have the treatment yourself you will find that it can make you feel a bit strange, flu like, spacey, maybe emotional, for a few days. This behaviour may just be your horse expressing that feeling.....or your therapist may have just annoyed him!
 
I have to say i m slightly skeptical- the fact my therapist was measuring my horses magnetic field with metal sticks which miraculously moved in certain way before and after the treatment made me wonder.... but then i am quite scientific! I like things to be "proven"
 
Were you advised your horse might need further treatment? As previously said the patient may need 3 or 4 treatments for a result.
Dianne came to me after she'd left you and after all over body work (farrier picked up that he was bit stiff on off hind) he trotted off really, really freely where before he "shuffled".
Do hope the your boy is feeling better soon.
 
Like everything to do with horses you need to make sure you use someone who is recommended.

Ive been using Bowen on my horses (they are treated by a lady who has over 15 years in both Equine and Human Bowen) for about 2 years now. Before that i went through numerous chiros/physios all of which cost me a fortune and never gave a decent result. My older mare (shes 18 this year) can get stiff quite easily and she has Bowen every 4 months, Bowen is the only thing that has ever made the slightest bit of difference to her. She feels like a 4yr old after being treated and she absolutly loves the treatment.

I also recently went to a lecture on Bowen Therapy which my Bowen lady gave - i put a post in comp riders if any one wants to try and find it. It was totally fascinating.

I am no ''airy fairy'' by any means and was very sceptical going into Bowen but the results i get are fantastic, ive also been treated myself with equally amazing effects that no physio has ever been able to do.

Heres my post in comp riders: http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=438473
 
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I don't think it is down to the technique used so much, as the person working on the horse. Some people have a proper nack and skill and really get a positive change in the horse, others (even though they may well have studied the same techniques) may just not have the skill or approach needed to get such a positive response. Our back lady does mctim and bowen - we notice a big difference in both our mares after a treatment, though we have had other 'back people' in the past who are also mctim and bowen trained and they have been no where near as good!

I would get a recommendation and start from there. Also be prepared that you are unlikely to magically get a new horse after just one treatment, even if there are known trouble spots which have been worked on. Also, some aspects of his behaviour might be down to his personality, not something that can be necessarily improved upon with a body treatment (OH mare is a mardy soul, no treatment on this earth is going to change that!!).

I am a sceptic at heart, but I do have alot of faith in mctim and bowen, we have noticed a really big improvement in both our girls after having a couple of issues worked on, they now see our back lady every 3 months to keep any niggles at bay - she is fab!!
 
First, I will state that I am a fully qualified Human and Equine Bowen therapist. For that reason, I'm deliberately NOT going to go into all of the "Bowen is great" arguments. But of course, my opinion is strongly in favour of Bowen.

Even as a (part-time) Bowen therapist, I would never promise somebody a cure for them or their horse, although there is an extremely good chance of success. I would say that in my own experience, I get positive results from around 75% of my clients. The other 25% I freely admit it doesn't work for - and yet they might be the ones who find that McTimoney works for them - or chiro, osteo etc. etc. No one therapy works 100% of the time for 100% of the clients - if it did, we therapists would all be living in the style of Bill Gates... What Bowen doesn't do is make things worse - it simply can't do that.

A Bowen treatment can sometimes make the client (whether horse or human) tired or achey afterwards. I'll try and explain why - Bowen works with a series of rolling movements over various muscles, tendons and ligaments - all of these muscles etc. are surrounded by fascia - connective tissue - which connects to the Central Nervous System (CNS). There is NO manipulation involved. Instead, via the CNS the brain is alerted to parts of the body where things may not be quite right. Each body has its own original factory settings. Over time, wear and tear, misuse, accident or injury, these factory settings can become altered - thus the body does not work as efficiently as it should. In other words, the factory settings have gone awry. And the body, as it has moved away from its factory settings has developed its own, new habitual stance - which is most often a poor one, leading to pain.

The messages sent by Bowen, alert the brain to the fact that (what has become) the habitual stance isn't right and so the brain starts to work back towards factory settings. The discomfort after a treatment is NOT treatment gone wrong, it's NOT damage - the discomfort/stiffness can be compared to using a totally new piece of equipment in the gym - it's a new way of moving/working and your muscles/body needs to get used to using it.

McNally, just want to make clear that the dowsing rods/magnetic stuff isn't actually Bowen therapy. Although some therapists (and not just of Bowen) do like to dowse as another way of gleaning information. Personally, I don't.

Oh, I wish I was more eloquent, as I know I could explain this so much better!
 
I have used Bowen successfully on my horse, but it needed 3-4 treatments. My problem is that there isn't anyone very local or I would have it more often for me and the horse.
It altered his stance quite dramatically.

I have a physio now to give regular treatments, although it is down to a couple of times a year. When she was coming more regularly she explained that she couldn't do some of the treatment at the beginning, as she had to wait for his body to get used to and move in a different way and just build up from treatment to treatment.

So I guess it is the same for any physical treatment - it isn't going to be a magic one- visit cure.

I have had no end of back people/physios/Bowen - you name it my horse has had it as another poster said, some have been good, others not. When my horse was younger I had real problems in fact I nearly stopped riding him at the age of 6. Yet another chiro walked into the yard and as he approached the horse said "I can't fix all this in one visit.!" Yet all those previous people had been taking money off me for a couple of years and none had got to the bottom of the problem.

A very good explanation about Bowen from Faro, thank you.
 
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