Nurturing Natural Balance in your Horses and Dogs

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Equine Salt Nebuliser

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.

About EquiK9 Bodywork

Equik9 Bodywork is built on the foundation of a passion for improving the body and mind of every horse I encounter, whether it be a horse that has chronic or acute conditions that cause distress or discomfort to the horse, or if the horse is simply being spoilt with a "pamper session", or a preventative maintenance session.

I have been a horse owner my whole life, with my dad rescuing our first OTTB off the back of the slaughterhouse truck, I was just 4 years old and had been riding at the local club for a few months, also on recently retired OTTB's. These nutty little thoroughbreds became a part of my blood and I continued to take on retired racehorses throughout my teenage and adult life to retrain them for showjumping if suitable or as a general riding horse if they weren't keen on the pressures of competing anymore.

Of course most thoroughbreds come out of racing with a list of issues in their body and mind, their nutrition, environment and type of training leaves one with a horse not for the novice faint-hearted (typically... but there are exceptions to the rule).

I noticed how much faster these special, quirky, horses rebalanced mentally and physically with regular bodywork sessions allowing the horse to come down from his previous life and start enjoying the training and environment of his new life. And once again I was bitten a bug, not the horse bug this time, but by the Bodywork bug. I had already studied Equine Ethology (Horse Behaviour), and now I started delving deep into the world of Bodywork and started learning under Debranne Pattillo (MEEBW) through Equinology Inc. with high pass requirements this organisation ensures every horse under our care will always be in the best hands. I then continued my education by studying Myofascial Release Therapy with Liza Kimble, Equine and Canine Osteopathy through London College of Animal Osteopathy (LCAO), Trigger Point Therapy, and Photobiomodulation to address inflammation and healing on deeper specific areas within the horse as this modality acts similar to Acupuncture without the needles.

EquiK9 Bodywork also offers Nebuilsation / Inhaler Therapy to horses with respiratory conditions, and for horses that need medication that works more effectively and efficiently when inhaled to allow the horse to find relief or heal at a quicker rate.


Does your horse need Bodywork?

Every horse will benefit from Bodywork, because horses are living in a human world that we have designed for them. They are being ridden (which I hate to stir a pot.. but they are not physically designed to do, and yet they so graciously allow us to do and enjoy doing with us in partnership), whether a horse is being ridden incorrectly or with the highest correct standards by a conscious professional rider, the muscles, fascia, tendons, ligaments, and spine, etc. are going to take strain and these need to be addressed if you want to keep your horse sound and happy.
The effects of saddles, standing in the stall, having restricted areas to move in, eating in unnatural ways, playing and fighting in the paddock, hoof issues, teeth issues, travelling in a horse box, stress of competitions, riding on a road, or out on an unfamiliar trail, moving yards, improper nutrition, being born (that birth canal can cause some serious imbalances in foals), giving birth, stallions that cover mares, and mares that are being covered, and of course just general muscle fatigue and lactic acid build up are all re-occurring factors that are happening in a horse's life, that will lead to a horse requiring bodywork on a regular basis in order to keep the horse happy, healthy and prevent more serious compensation patterns or injuries from surfacing.

Most horses today are athletes, human athletes have strict bodywork (physio / osteo / chiro) routines. And for those beloved round little apple bum pasture ornaments... they may require less attention in this regard, but a good 3 or 6 monthly session will keep things working as good as possible so they age well and enjoy life to the fullest.

If I'm honest, every single horse that I work with takes up a space in my heart, so my goal is to leave every horse healthier, more balanced physically and mentally, and more relaxed so the body and mind can work in harmony as homeostasis is re-established and the body can do what it is designed to do... take good care of itself, with a little help from me... and you!

Thank you for trusting your horse's well-being with me.