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Animal Rolfing |
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What we
generally term "conformation" in animals, horses and dogs, is actually made up of two
components of the body: The nervous system's pre-disposition towards a
particular pattern, and the fascial pattern that was inherited from the
animals parent's
genetic code. We know that both of these
patterns are changeable, we see it in ourselves, in our children and in our
What Rolfing has been able to do for people it is also capable of doing for dogs and horses.
As my practice grew people would ask me to work with their dogs. At first I resisted this and worked only under special circumstances. Now I embrace that my work with dogs has helped them and have set aside time in the week when I will see dogs.
Horses
During the course of my Rolfing Training I worked with my horses to develop means of Rolfing horses. I knew from being a horseman and an engineer that one couldn't simply apply the 10 session protocol for humans to horses. I also knew that the power of Rolfing would be wasted if all one did when working with the horse was "fix-it" work. (That spot work that addresses at local issue but doesn't integrate the body as a whole). What this meant was that I had to analyze Dr. Rolf's methodology and applying some engineering come up with a method for horses. What I came up with was a way of working with the equine body that allows for the same phenomenal results humans derive from Rolfing.
Fascial restrictions can develop through athletic training and overuse, poor posture, injuries and movement habits. Because the fascia has a "plastic" quality, its shape can be changed by the repetitive application of low energy forces. For example, always mounting the horse from the near side can result in chronic torsion in the horse's fascia as well as establishing a repetitive movement pattern in the rider. The pattern becomes evident to the rider when they awkwardly try to do an offside mount or dismount.
Unfortunately, once an undesirable shape or pattern is established it will tend to be reinforced as the body tries to avoid irritation and pain by "favoring" the fascial strain. The results are less flexibility and fewer choices for both horse and rider. These repetitive low energy "injuries", which can even be caused by poorly fitting tack or riding out of balance, result in reduced range of motion (ROM). Flexibility and performance suffer and the ground for an acute injury is prepared.
The benefits of Rolfing for horses is very similar to that for humans. Of course there's a lot less anecdotal evidence from the horses themselves, but what we can infer is that they:
* Move smoother with bigger movement * Movements have more energy, propulsion * Are able to learn new movements easier * Have more energy * Are more focused under saddle * Have more confidence/awareness
Dogs
As my practice
grew people would ask me to work with their dogs. At first I resisted this
and worked only under special circumstances. Now I embrace that my work with
dogs has helped them and have set aside time in the week when I will see
dogs. If you like to see educational videos of working with horses and dogs please go to my other website www.equinesi.com. You can also see sample chapters from my book there. Before you buy it! Sign up for the email newsletter to be informed of the release of my upcoming book as well as the video on working with dogs.
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This website was last updated November, 2007. Please contact webmaster at jpascu@comcast.net with any problems. All Contents copyright 1999 - 2004©. ® the words Rolfing and Rolfer are registered trademarks of the Rolf Institute. Site Map |
Like my work with horses I have adapted the original Rolfing Basic series to
better fit the needs of a quadruped predator. The dog, like the horse,
requires its own special type of work