EMRT/bowen/equine sports massage?

[clairefeekerry1]

anyone have any experiances of any of the above? esp the EMRT. this in paricular was mentioned to me by a remedial saddler fitter. my horse does have regular physio but as we have had/having lots of issues i thought i might treat him to one of the above. can anyone reccomend and practioners that would come out to oxfordshire? on the EMRT side the name sue connolly has been mentioned to me.
thanks

 

[Natch]

Never heard of EMRT What is it?

I've done a course in equine sports massage. What would you like to know?

 

[clairefeekerry1]

Never heard of EMRT What is it?

I've done a course in equine sports massage. What would you like to know?

i've never heard of it either!! it stands for equine muscle release therepy. apparently its a higher form of bowen?

re the sports massage how does it differ from physio? my horse has had alot of physio and he feels good to her but to me he still has sore muscles or areas, picked up by the remedial saddler. would sports massage help this?

thank you!

 

[Natch]

Eck, I don't know if I can answer this very accurately but I'll have a go! A physio is a heck of a lot more qualified than an equine massage therapist, and I think their general purpose is to identify problematic muscles and to rehab them using exercises, manipulation and whatever else cool stuff they have (like ultrasound, laser etc). A (good) equine sports massage therapist will identify areas of tightness and knots, and work on those areas but also the whole horse. Massage stimulates blood flow to the muscles, tries to improve muscle by removing knots and stretching fibres in the right direction, encourage lymph drainage of toxins, helps to release tension. Stretching is also done by both with a view to improving range of movement.

I would imagine most physios will either also offer, or simply include in their regime, equine sports massage, and I would say your horse would probably benefit from it yes. You could have a chat with your physio to see if they think it will benefit your horse, and of course you should always employ any physical therapist with your vet's permission.

PS I assume the remedial saddler didn't attend soon after the physio, and that's not the reason your horse was sore?

PPS I wonder if EMRT is similar to myofascial release, or perhaps to point holding? If the former, sports massage often includes this anyway, and sports massage should definately work on releasing tension, and toxin build up in muscles. My only query would be if your horse is sore, would they be able to tolerate massage? If not, ultraound or laser therapy from your physio may be more beneficial. And just because I am a fluffy bunny hugger ( ) I think Reiki would also help this horse, because a reiki therapist can help a horse to relax and let go of tension, as well helping to heal the muscles without having to touch the horse.

Hope that helps

 

[JessandCharlie]

Search it on here, Bowen4Horses may be able to help you, could try sending her a PM.

As far as I'm aware, EMRT is a form of Bowen, but it's a much, much shorter course to qualify. To be a Bowen therapist you have to study to do humans first, then horses and it takes around two years training to qualify, whereas EMRT (I think) is a few weeks/months.

Hope that helps and is about right, I'm not 100%, but I'm fairly sure it is

J&C

 

[Bowen4Horses]

i've never heard of it either!! it stands for equine muscle release therepy. apparently its a higher form of bowen?

re the sports massage how does it differ from physio? my horse has had alot of physio and he feels good to her but to me he still has sore muscles or areas, picked up by the remedial saddler. would sports massage help this?

thank you!

EMRT isn't a 'higher' form of Bowen... it is based on Bowen in a sense, but the Bowen peeps of the world would cry if they heard it described as 'higher' as Bowen takes much longer to train in, and a lot more in depth work.... but that doesn't mean EMRT won't work for your horse.

Bowen and EMRT (and equine touch) are all similar. All based on bowen (therefore i personally think bowen is the best, it's the most 'pure' therapy out of the 3... but i would say that!)

Bowen isn't massage. it's an holistic therapy and treats the whole body. It can help with areas of sore muscles, and uneveness etc, - but instead of 'massaging' the sore area, it looks at why that area is sore. for example a sore, tight shoulder can indicate a problem in on the opposite rear side... so bowen would work to release the shoulder tension but also address any muscular issue behind.

Hope that makes sense? it's early on a sunday morning, so apologies if it's a bit garbled...

 

[Ramiro]

yes sport massage really helpful for this my freind have had the same muscle problem and sport massge really help him but it will take some time to recover completely.......

 

[emmaln]

Hi, sorry don't know how to do a quote thingy but I noticed that bowen4horses said that ESMT would only massage the sore area, this should definitely not the case, I am an ESMT and it is fundamental to treat the whole horse and in fact if an area is particularly sore we might just sweat that area and treat everywhere else as muscles work in synergy so what one does affects another.

ESMT is the therapeutic application of hands on massage techniques for the purpose of increasing circulation, relaxing muscle spasms, relieving tension, enhancing muscle tone and increasing range of movement. ESMT can also aid lymphatic drainage thereby promoting faster healing.

As I said before an ESMT will always treat the whole horse as like us if a horse experiences pain in one area they will compensate using another causing unevenness and imbalance.

 

[Cluny]

Yes I absolutely swear by EMRT, I bought a horse with many issues due to very violent abuse in his previous home which consequently meant that he was permanently on flight mode and was pretty terrifying to handle and ride. After he bronced in the stable whilst being fitted for a saddle my fitter put me in touch with a fantastic EMRT practitioner called Julian Gaze. We never looked back and to watch him work with my horse was incredible. You literally could see the tension and pain flow out of my horse even to the point where Solsti did a very long and low bow and stretch through his body!

I did try Equine Touch but it didn't seem to touch him. Solsti loved being treated by Julian so much that he used to GP into a 'Bowen Trance' when Julian used to drive into the yard!!!!!