Nurturing Natural Balance in Horses and Dogs

What Our Clients Say

About Me

I grew up amidst the beauty of many different parts of South Africa and Swaziland, always surrounded by horses, dogs, and many other animals I called family... including cats, a rat called "Brain" who hopped after me like a loving dog when I went for walks on the beach, squirrels, a chameleon, and a mole.

The horse blood runs deep in my father's side of the family, so naturally it was our dad that gave us our first 17hh (173cm) Off The Track Thoroughbred (OTTB). After riding lessons back in the 80's my dad, sister and I in our sky blue Toyota bakkie (pick up truck) intersected Kaizer's bumpy journey doomed to the slaughterhouse. We paid R200 (+/- €10 in today's money) for Kaizer, R100 more than the butcher would pay the previous owner, this beautiful bright bay gentle giant gelding (to my small 4 year old self) was now ours.

The Thoroughbred bug had bitten, and every horse I had after Kaizer, apart from my cheeky pony Mr Bojangles, was an OTTB.

As I got older and wiser I realised that the horses that were coming to me had a lot of mental and physical imbalances from the track with a whole host of compensation patterns in play, generally making them sour to humans and work, making it sometimes near impossible to train or ride them without risking major injury to myself.

And thus my Bodywork journey began.

I had previously studied Horse Behaviour, and spent some time learning and practising the fundamentals of T-Touch, but I felt driven to do this full-time and help as many horses as I could with the beauty of Bodywork, so I after extensive research to find the most credible and trusted education provider amongst Equine Health Professionals, I enrolled in the Equinolgy Equine Bodyworker (EEBW) course and was honoured to be instructed by the Master of Bodywork herself, Debranne Pattillo (MEEBW, BSc.(h.c.). She flew to South Africa to teach us the theory and more importantly the practical knowledge to ensure Equinology's extremely high standards during our externship and for our coursework and case studies submission were met. I deepened my knowledge further with a certificate in Equine Fascia Trauma Release Therapy with Liza Kimble, Equine Craniosacral Therapy, and Canine Myofunctional Therapy through Holistic Animal Studies, as well as Equine Kinesio Taping with Solange Mikail, Trigger Point Therapy, and Advanced Photonic Torch Therapy (Red Light at 660nm).

Thanks to the magnificent horses that I've been blessed to call my partners and the incredible dogs in my life... I found that Bodywork connects and balances the body and mind, and allows an animal to emerge into his best self as the physical and mental merge through the essence of the spirit. There is nothing more heart-opening than watching a horse or dog become who he truly is without pain and discomfort, fear, anxiety, confusion, and insecurity. These beautiful animals need to feel safe, and Bodywork is an incredible tool to bring a horse to his true self.

Now, living on a beautiful island in the Mediterranean with my family, and connecting with the beautiful horses in this region, I find Bodywork offers each horse exactly what they need, and it allows me to meet them where they are and guide their body and mind back to its natural balance. Some horses are open souls and allow the work to take shape from the first session, while others need a number of sessions before they release their compensations, their worries, and their pains, and some require ongoing sessions due to longstanding factors. But each has a story to tell, and to me there is no better story than the one the horse's body and soul energy tells me.

Every horse I have the privilege of working with, teaches me something more about their kind, and something more about myself, and humankind too.
I am passionate about leaving every horse I meet, better than he / she was before I encountered them, it is a favour I return because most of the good in me, and in my life has been a gift I received from them over the years.