AUGUST 2019 THE RIDER /43


How does Equi-bow unlock the power of your horse’s nervous system?


Equi-Bow practitioners


will often talk about work- ing with the horse’s nervous system to reset dysfunc- tional feedback loops, which helps the horse restore bal- ance in his body. That all sounds great, for sure. But what does it mean? And how does the Equi-Bow technique access a horse’s nervous system? Let’s begin with some


basics about the nervous system. The nervous system is essentially the body’s electrical communication system. It’s in charge of telling the body things like when it’s hungry, fatigued or under stress. It tells the body when something feels good or is causing pain. It also di- rects the body on when and how to use muscles. For ex- ample, the body must fire muscles quickly and without deliberation when being chased by a mountain lion. But in the case of scratching an itchy ear with your hoof, the muscles must fire slowly and thoughtfully. So how does the nerv-


ous system use electricity to warn of danger or carefully scratch an ear? The body is electrically neutral with the same amount of positive and negative energy residing within it. Each neuron


within the system holds ei- ther a positive or negative charge. These neurons are able to communicate with the nervous system by changing their polarization from positive to negative or vice versa. That change in polarization is how informa- tion is shared within the sys- tem. When a positive neuron shifts into a negative state it sends a message about its specific area of the nervous system. Once the message is sent, it returns to its original positive polarization. When neurons aren’t


busy communicating they are considered resting. Rest- ing neurons are like batteries full of energy just waiting to be used. However, their po- tential may never be seen if their energy reserves are never accessed. The Equi- Bow technique sends mes- sages to the nervous system through resting neurons by utilizing a powerful tool called piezoelectricity. Piezoelectricity literally


means “pressure electric- ity”. When practitioners make “moves” they are de- forming the soft tissue, which creates a piezoelectric charge and fires resting neu- rons into action. Thorough knowledge


of


HORSE TRADER


anatomy allows practition-


ers to isolate specific areas of the body they want the nervous system to commu- nicate with. How does all this apply


in the real world? Let’s say you take your non-eques- trian friend out on a trail ride. She used to ride as a kid, but it’s been many years since she’s sat on a horse. You know that when she dismounts she’s going to have that wobbly “I haven’t ridden in eons” walk, and she’s likely going be sore tomorrow. That’s because she’s recruiting muscles she doesn’t use on a daily basis. She will sud- denly become very aware of the “new” muscles she didn’t know (or had forgot- ten) she has. The neurons that communicate with the nervous system on behalf of those muscles jump into ac- tion and start sending mes- sages about how to fire that muscle. They will likely also bring up the fact that those muscles are weak, which is where that feeling of sore- ness comes from. This process works the


equine


same way for horses. The body can get stuck in old postural patterns for many different reasons (injury, un- balanced feet,


ill-fitting tack, etc.). When Equi-Bow SUPPLEMENTS


practitioners communicate with the nervous system they are offering it an oppor- tunity to re-examine what it perceives as “normal” or “efficient”. The nervous sys- tem sometimes discovers there is new information available and the body can shift and return to a more balanced state. This is why horses are often observed changing their posture dur- ing a bodywork session. It’s important to keep in


mind that just as your friend was sore after her trail ride, a horse can become sore after working in a more bal- anced physical state. Mus- cles can become fatigued quickly if they haven’t been


in use, so we must be careful when helping horses re-train to move in a more biome- chanically correct way. If you want to know


more about how Equi-Bow can work with your horse’s nervous system to restore balance and correct biome- chanical functionality, con- tact a certified practitioner. Search the directory of Cer- tified Equi-Bow Practition- ers in your area on the Equi-Bow website


at


www.equi-bowcanada.com Angela


CEBP/CETP/CEMT info@elevationequine.com www.elevationequine.com


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