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Equine Shiatsu

HISTORY OF THE HORSE, PROBLEMS AND HOW SHIATSU HELPS

History

It is estimated that the first horse to have come alive was about 50 million years ago. 5000 years ago the first relationships between horses and humans came into being. This only slightly impacted the natural habits of horses: moving from place to place and finding food.

500 years ago, however, humans started to breed horses, which meant that the horses lost their freedom to move around. Horses became a tool to forward the interest of humans. 50 years ago the role of horses changed again. Now no longer used as an assistant in the labour force, horses were used in the realm of sports and entertainment. This coincided with the rise of industrial food production and nutrition.

As a result, whereas before horses were free to roam around collectively in their herds, they were brought into a life situation that essentially locks them into lonely isolation in boxes. Their movement, previously consisting in approximately 16 hours per day to merely an hour a day (or even less). In addition, rather than being free to search for varied nutrition, they are forced to to consume power meals that are often not good for them.

Problems

All of this constitutes the basis of the current problems that horses are experiencing: psychological problems caused by boredom, stress, lack of social contact with peers; physical problems caused by improper nutrition, lack of or wrong movements…

Given the fact that it is not realistic to go back in time to the situation we had 500 years ago where the horses were free and much better off, we need to find new solutions to improve the health of our horses.

SHIATSU HELPS

Shiatsu can help in many different ways. by balancing the ki (energy) in the meridians, we can help our horses with:

  • improving their immune system
  • becoming more flexible, releasing muscle tensions, attaining greater flexibility in their joints
  • improving their respiration, blood circulation, digestion and lymphatic drainage
  • to harmonize their nervous system

Due to the relaxing effect of Shiatsu, a nervous horse will calm down.

By treating certain meridians, a depressed lethargic horse can regain vitality and will enjoy life again

An Equine Shiatsu treatment can be used in different ways. On the one hand to support the treatment by a veterinary, in order to speed up the healing process. On the other hand, it can be used preventively or accompanying a stressful period.

Symptoms that remain after the examination and treatment of the classical veterinarian medicine can be diminished or could even disappear by using Shiatsu: for horses that are often afraid, that bite, that prance without any obvious reasons, for horses who do not want to be touched at the head, ears, or tail.. as well as for small problem that only the rider will notice.

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