Equine Hydrotherapy

Hydrotherapy and Bowen therapy are both common forms of treating muscular skeletal injuries, Bowen is a remedial, hands on therapy applied using very little pressure. The practitioner uses their thumbs and fingers on precise points of the horses body to perform moves which stimulate the muscles and soft tissue, there is no hard force applied to this technique, therefore this technique is non-invasive.

 

So why is hydrotherapy better? Hydrotherapy is better as the horse uses its natural movement to swim, this type of therapy is non-concussive, and therefore the horse does not undergo a lot of pressure however Bowen therapy does not over stress the horse either. The temperature of the water and salts ensure that the condition of the tendons and ligaments are maintained and that the horse is able to continue its career. Bowen therapy mainly focuses on back, neck and shoulder injuries as these areas are most likely to go under the most amount of strain. Whereas hydrotherapy can target all areas including lower limb injuries such as tendons and ligaments .

 

I feel that it takes longer to see the benefits from Bowen therapy whereas you can almost see instantly the horse walking more correctly the moment it leaves the pool. Bowen is hard to watch and understand what is really goin on as there isn't anything to see the horse stands still whilst the practitioner presses the points, however with the pool you can attach go pros to the horses legs and watch the movements under the water. Time wise Bowen is more time consuming as it is recommended that each session is 45 minutes (Horse and Hound, 2011) where as a swimming session may only be 15 minutes and be just as effective.