EPR DRUM JOURNAL July 2010

Ortho-Bionomy News

Ortho-Bionomy Lecture and Demonstration

In late May I attended an Equine Ortho-Bionomy presentation by Ortho-Bionomy practitioner, Susan Smith. Susan is an endurance rider, a local Santa Fe horse woman who has been specialising in the use of Ortho-Bionomy for the horse and rider. She was asked to speak on her Ortho-Bionomy work with horses at the May meeting of the Northern New Mexican Horseman’s Association. She began with an introduction to the concepts of Ortho-Bionomy and highlighted the underlying principle of moving the body towards ease and away from pain and discomfort to initiate self corrective responses. Susan discussed the mechanisms Ortho-Bionomy uses to work with the nervous system, which was amply illustrated in the practical demonstrations. Susan worked a young horse which had a serious neurological condition affecting his gait. The horse was clearly ataxic, the condition was compounded by his nervousness in the public arena. Susan worked gently along areas of his spine, gaining his attention and confidence, facilitating improved coordination and freedom of movement in all four legs. She worked with several horses presenting a variety of leg, hoof, back, shoulder and pelvic problems. Each horse demonstrated clear improvements in mobility, balance and comfort. An excellent demonstration of the applications of Equine Ortho-Bionomy. – Zarna Carter