Colic and Marma Therapy

Colic is a term used to describe abdominal pain. Although it can relate to any of the organ in the abdomen, the most common forms of colic are gastrointestinal in nature. Equine Colic represents a medical emergency and it requires the immediate attention of a veterinarian.

Now that being said, complementary therapies can be perform:

• while waiting for the veterinarian to make the horse as comfortable as possible
• after the veterinarian's visit to support the recovery
• as a preventive treatment.

Marma therapy is a specialty of Ayurveda. Marma points are special point of energy throughout the entire body. They are much like acupuncture points of Traditional Chinese medicine. Marma Therapy consists of treating the marma point with massage, direct pressure, touch, essential oils or herbal paste. It addresses the prana or life force in the body.

Marma Therapy is a great complementary treatment when it comes to colic. Working the marma points relative to digestion will:

• help with abdominal discomfort
• relieve pain
• relax the muscle system
• promote bowel movement by assisting the elimination process
• support the digestive organs
• strengthen the mind
• help increase circulation
• build immune system
• assist digestion.

If a horse has a tendency to colic or if it presents a risk of colic, a marma treatment may be perform as a preventive therapy.

** This post was written after I saw a horse who just had an episode of colic in the morning. The vet had already come but I've been asked by the owner to see the horse to support the recovery. I used the marma point to help digestion and belly movement. After a few point (solar plexus, top of head, navel, SI joints, legs) the mare started to release gases and soon enough I could hear bowel noise. One hour and a half later she had bowel movement and her manure looked good. **

Equine Sport Massage Therapy and Ayurveda

Sport Massage is defined as a specialty within the discipline of massage therapy. It may be known in the western practice of massage, but it is interesting to notice that it is also true in Ayurveda.

As a reminder, sport massage was developed for the sport athletes. It emphasizes prevention and healing of injuries to the muscle and tendons. It includes three types of routine: pre-event, post-event and maintenance therapy.

The benefits are several - and it will be subject of a more detailed post - but it mostly increases the performance of the horse, it helps in the elimination of the toxins, it speeds up the recovery time and it prevents from injuries. At a mental level sport massages improve the focus of the horse and help with the event related stress.

Now, although both systems share the same approach and benefits of the practice of sport massage there is a difference in the procedure. Traditional Sport Massage Therapy focuses on the muscles pertinent to particular physical activities. On the other side Ayurvedic Sport Massage Therapy emphasizes the joints and spends longer period on the joints.

In the context of equine massage I have to agree that an extra attention on the joints is not to be neglected as they are under a lot of pressure. Having a practice that addresses both the muscles and the joints is ideal. It has the advantage of approaching the musculoskeletal system in its totality.

Mahanarayan Oil

Mahanarayan oil is an ayurvedic therapeutic herbal oil. The one I am using is a blend of thirty three herbs (all safe for horses) in a base of sesame oil.
It has the qualities of nourishing, strengthening and rejuvenating. Even if the smell of the oil carries also those qualities it is not an aroma oil.

Mahanarayan oil is used to treat conditions as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, cervical or lumbar spondylitis, frozen joints, backache, strains and sprains, musculoskeletal inflammation disorders.

The oil has for effect to:

• strengthen nerves, muscles and ligaments
• soothe sore muscle and aching joints
• relieve muscle and joints stiffness
• reduce inflammation
• enhance blood circulation
• balance the Vata dosha.

In case of arthritis it will act directly on the joint pain and stiffness, the restricted movement and the distortion. The oil will slowly help to restore a normal joint function.

Use of herbal oil with horses

Ayurvedic massages are known to use lots of oil. Unfortunately it is difficult to apply it with horses as it means a very large amount of oil to cover the full body. But it doesn't mean we cannot use some!

I've started to use therapeutic herbal oil in my practice of equine massage. Whenever I feel there is a need because of an injury, a trauma, a condition or just by intuition I will use oil on specific area. Some cases where I used it are:

• sacroiliac joint recovery from injury
• flexor avulsion fracture
• arthritic leg joints (hock and fetlock)
• neck muscle stiffness and pain
• hip trauma (muscle and joint)

I use organic ayurvedic oil, a blend of herbs in a base oil and every time the horses just loved it. I always have them smell it and explain what I will do and ask for permission. As for now they always showed a lot of interest in it; actively smelling the aroma with ears upright, eyes bright. Sometimes they even came to the bottle that I carry in my tool belt, showing it to me.

Whenever I can I warm up the oil and apply it warm on the area to treat. I then use circular stroke alternated with friction to help the absorption process. The oil mixture is absorbed into the bloodstream and takes effect from there.

As I said they are therapeutic oil with healing properties. One that use the most is the Mahanarayan oil but I will write a full post about it (there).

Reiki Study Case: Moxy

Moxy is a rescue horse that I saw for Reiki in California. I didn't have a lot information about her except that she was around nine years old, probably abused and very sensitive to touch, especially around the hind quarters. She would kick when being touched. It appeared clearly that I wouldn't do any hands-on to start! The owner also told me that she was a high energy kind of horse. I was able to confirm that the first time I brought her to the arena. She wouldn't let herself be lead and wanted to go straight to the arena. I did some ground work techniques to bring her back with me to finally being able to move forward without having her leading. Again the owner told me it was "normal" she was always doing that. Once in the arena, as soon as I carefully removed her halter she went into a very energetic canter. I understood a little more the high energy profile that was given to me before.

I decided to give her Reiki treatment in the arena, having her free to move around. I did distant Reiki for thirty minutes every day for four days then every other day for a few more days and once a week for another month. She was very curious and came to me pretty fast. First it was more to check and then she staid for long period of time. She was showing signs of relaxations; licking of the lips, soft chewing, relaxed ears.
Reiki works with symbols and one day I had the intuition to chant them in a very soft way. She was very sensitive to it and I felt that we reached another level of trust and connection. She came closer and slowly put her nose against the palm of my hands with her eyes half closed. She was very calm and relaxed.

After a week Moxy was already a different horse. Her behavior totally changed and she was no more the very high energy horse that I just met. She was very calm from the moment I was greeting her. I never had to remind her that I was leading the walk. She never went into a canter when removing the halter. She was patient and trustful.

I always respected Moxy's limits and pace. There is day when she clearly showed me she wasn't interesting in receiving anything and I listened to that and let her alone. Sometimes she let me have my hands on her head and nose and sometimes she would just turn her back to me to show her hind quarters. I was able to touch the shoulder but not further than that. I knew it would have take time for her to bring her hind leg into my hands. And unfortunately I had to stop the visits. Sometimes the wounds are so deep that it's a long journey for a full recovery. But she did so much progress in just a month. I know she was at a better place already.

Reiki Introduction

What is Reiki

Reiki is a complete energy healing system. It uses a frequency of the universal life energy towards healing. It's gentle, painless, stress-free and non-invasive. The recipient always has the choice to take what he or she needs. It also treats the whole being. The practitioner can either do a hands-on treatment (hands are applied on different area of the body) or distant treatment.

Reiki and Ayurveda

Although Reiki originates from Japan with Dr Usui it has its place in Ayurveda as it is close to pranic healing or ayurvedic energy work. It uses the Qi or Prana, the Life Force in the same way but Reiki is more of a particular frequency of energy compared to pranic healing being more raw.

Energy work is a part of any ayurvedic treatment and Reiki is just a form of it.

Reiki with horses

Horses are highly sensitive to energy. Reiki becomes a great tool when it comes to behavior issues, illnesses or emotional distress. It can be used alone or as a complementary treatment. Either way horses will benefit a lot.

Reiki works well on anxiety, fear, nervousness, stress or agitated horse. It is also used in case of illnesses or injury as a support in the healing process. Reiki will help to restore a balance.

The treatment can be given with the hands touching the horse's body or hands above the area to treat or even from distance (example: a horse in a pasture). The approach being to respect where the horse is, it is better to let the horse determine how the treatment will go. It's not unusual to start a session from distance and see the horse coming slowly closer, sniff the hands of the practitioner to finally place a part of his body against them.

The most important things are to stay open, to respect the animal and to have no expectation or agenda

Horse Examination

The purpose of an examination is to assess the horse condition. For that the examination will determine the horse basic constitution and current issues or imbalances that eventually lead to a specific disorder.

An Ayurvedic examination is based on the following three approaches: observation, touch and questioning. 

There can be variations with more or less depth in each of the procedure but most of the time it will go over this three stages.

Observation

Observation consists at looking at the horse as a whole and also examining specific part of the body. It covers the posture, the physical attitude, the movement but also the coat, the eyes, the tongue. 

Observation of sounds (like the one from the gut) and smells are included as well.

Touch

Touch is another important part of the examination. It provides additional information about the horse that enrich the observations already made.

Touch includes taking the pulse and palpation of particular point of the body. It will show if there is any tender point, lumps, if the tissues are more hard or soft, if the temperature is cold or hot.

The procedure informs at both a physical level and at an energetic level.

Questioning

Questioning includes the medical history of the horse as well as direct questions asked to the owner. It allows the practitioner to gather information about the horse behavior, habits and lifestyle. Questions about food preference, time of rest, response to seasons will be covered.

This three fold examination give the practitioner insights about the horse condition. From there the course of an holistic treatment can be decided.