Equine Rolfing Equus Spirit

Riders of all disciplines are discovering the secret to keeping their horses emotionally sound lies in physical balance.

I was visiting a friend on the peninsula of Washington State one weekend, seeking respite from the crush of humanity I constantly experience in Seattle. A woman called me regarding her beloved Appaloosa gelding, Jeep, who had developed a touchy back. His owner rescued him as a seven-year-old stud. Jeep had been starved and neglected; she lovingly nursed him back to health, but had become concerned of late about his sensitivity. Even grooming seemed intolerable as he shied away from the pressure of soft brushes, and Jeep wouldn’t stand still for the farrier. I agreed to stop and work with him on my way home.

..... Upon my arrival, I was greeted by a menagerie of dogs (each with his own rescue history), goats, and even a miniature horse. Jeep’s owner held him on a lead rope as I gently palpated his back and spine. The spirited gelding danced sideways as I contacted tight, sore tissue around his sacrum and hips. The session was spent literally just opening up the skin around his ribs and spine. Jeep could barely tolerate the weight of my hand in some areas. The level of pain in his body made it clear that Jeep’s behavioral issues around grooming and shoeing were not just a case of bad manners, but rather a response to extreme discomfort. After the work, we turned him out in his paddock. He stood in place and bucked, kicking both hind feet out behind him, over and over, before taking off at a full gallop. His owner commented that she hadn’t seen him feeling that good in years! “Even my husband noticed a difference!” she told me four weeks later at our next appointment. After three sessions, Jeep’s back was sound enough to carry a rider and hit the trails.

Rolfing® Structural Integration - a therapy that makes lasting changes to structure, conformation and movement through direct manipulation of the myofascial network - has long been used by human athletes, from baseball stars to flying trapeze artists, to keep their bodies sound and performing their best. I have adapted the same principles applied to people and used them on horses. Rolfing® is not your standard massage, dealing more with changing the body’s relationship to the ground. To do so, a Rolfer uses fingers, soft fists, elbows, and forearms to gently manipulate connective tissue, also called fascia. The myofascial network is pervasive down to the cellular level in the body. Each muscle, bone, tendon, ligament and organ is wrapped with this formative tissue, and fascia is what shapes our bodies. Manipulation in one small area can effect changes throughout the structure because of this interweaving.

I am frequently asked how Rolfing® can make changes to the alignment of the skeletal structure. Consider this: if you were to put a human (or horse, for that matter) skeleton together with no glue or wires and try to stand it on the ground, what would happen? It would fall down in a heap. That’s why bones are wired together and hung from a hook (think back to the dusty skeleton lurking in the corner of your high school biology classroom). Bones are spacers in the body; they give tendons something to attach to and act as levers for muscles to pull on, creating locomotion. Rolfers lengthen the tissue pulling on the bones and the skeleton adjusts in response.

Studies at UCLA and the University of Maryland have documented the positive physical and emotional benefits of Rolfing®, also demonstrating its favorable effects on neurological functioning. It is well known that emotional and psychological patterns are often mirrored in the physical body. It has even been postulated that memory lies not just in the brain but in every cell. Thus, horses who have suffered trauma from illness, injury, stress, or abuse frequently show significant shifts in attitude and willingness after receiving a Rolfing® session or series because the work helps them to let go of old, fear-based patterns. One rider told me that a fellow competitor at a show commented on her horse’s new lease on life. Previously cranky and difficult, he performed gracefully, winning the high point award for all-around.

I don’t always have the advantage of a full history before commencing work. For example, rescue horses often come with limited information regarding their past. These horses are sometimes the ones that respond dramatically to Rolfing® sessions because of the high level of trauma stored in their systems. While working with an off-the-track thoroughbred gelding, I hit on a trauma “hot spot.” As I released the fascia around his lumbar spine and ribs, I noticed him shift from a relaxed, open state to acting guarded and jumpy. Carefully, I moved along his ribs until I found one that was significantly twisted. Gently coaxing it back into place, I felt a small shift. Simultaneously, the horse pulled back sharply, breaking his ties. As soon as he was free, he settled. I walked him for a few moments to allow him to process the release and then returned to the area where I’d been working. The gelding was no longer touchy around his ribs. I don’t know what this gelding’s particular traumatic experience was, perhaps fear of a riding crop or a memory of painfully slamming into the starting gate at the beginning of a race. We’ll never know for certain, but his sudden and dramatic reaction allowed him to process his fear so it will cease haunting him.

Horses are our friends and partners in life. They take us on some wild rides, be it up a mountain or into a World Show competition. They greet us at the barn, learning the sounds of our car engines and voices and recognizing the rustle of a treat bag being opened. They teach us, learn with us, and play with us, and just like us, they experience pain, physical and emotional. Perhaps, as we explore the body-mind connection in our equine friends, they will reveal new lessons in dealing with our own trauma.

I am proud to be a graduate of The Rolf Institute for Structural Integration in Boulder, CO, the sole certifying body for Rolfers in the United States. To my practice, I bring over fifteen years of horse experience encompassing many aspects of equine connection. Currently, I am a volunteer for People Helping Horses, a non-profit rescue organization dedicated to equine rehabilitation. I now reside in beautiful Western Washington with my two cats, Ellie and Rose, and my Quarter Horse mare, Belle. I treat clients of the human variety at my Rolfing clinic in North Seattle and travel to many areas of Washington and California to work with horses.

For additional information about Rolfing® and its myriad benefits, visit www.functionalbalance.com or call (206) 407-4932.