Is Your Horse 100%?: Resolve Painful Limitations in the Equine Body with Conformation Balancing and Fascia Fitness

by Margret Henkels

Overview

100 percent ability is in your hands! Conformation Balancing is deceptively simple. With patient, conscientious placement of your hands on specific areas of the horse’s body, you can bring about profound change in his physical and mental well-being. The secret? The internet-like web of fascia beneath the skin. Fascia is the connective tissue that “holds everything together”—it wraps around, attaches, and stabilizes muscles and internal organs, communicating with all parts while providing structure and organization. But here’s the thing: Fascia is also a reservoir for emotional trauma and tension. This means that when you help a horse find physical release in a “stuck” area of strain or stiffness, you invite psychological healing as well.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781570767913
Publisher:	Trafalgar Square
Publication date:	03/24/2017
Pages:	224
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 9.70(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Following a Bachelor’s degree in journalism, Margret Henkels was a reporter and sales associate in the newsprint industry, while her visual skills were honed in the art business in Santa Fe, New Mexico. A deep passion for horses, good health, and learning to find her own 100 percent fitness drew Henkels into equine bodywork. She is certified in Matrix Energetics, a Quantum Energy work developed by Dr. Richard Bartlett, and Equine Natural Movement (Heller Work for horses) with Joseph Freeman. Her method of Conformation Balancing was developed through years of work with horses experiencing elusive athletic limits. An avid rider, Henkels includes a rider’s perspective in her bodywork techniques. Her riding experiences have taken her to Ireland with the Willie Leahy Connemara and Coast tours, and at home she explores dressage and trail rides and has foxhunted. Henkels continually researches conformation in relation to her unique approach in order to offer new tools for looking at the horse’s appearance to find athletic imbalances.

Editorial Reviews

This is a book that goes beyond the anatomical importance of the connective tissue system in horses … It addresses the holistic need of the horse to be understood and respected. It gives insight into the way fascial tension affects the behavior and performance of horses and how relief for the fascial system provides horses with much more than alleviation of pain. This book should be in the library of all horse owners.”—Madalyn Ward, DVM

“Equine bodywork expert and author Margaret Henkels's book Is Your Horse 100%? describes how to properly apply pressure at the correct place on a horse that will lengthen and soften connective tissue, or fascia, in the animal and allow for more efficient and comfortable movement. Using Henkels's tried and tested technique to resolve painful limitations in the equine body with conformation balancing and fascia fitness, your horse will be happier and more relaxed.

Is Your Horse 100%? is a fascinating, educational read and the design of the book makes it easy for horse lovers to follow along with Henkels's instruction for working with your animal. The spiral-bound, hard-cover binding lies open flat allowing for horse owners to use both hands on their animal. Complete with color photos and detailed drawings, Is Your Horse 100%? is a necessity for horse owners and trainers alike.” —Cowgirl Magazine

“Some human chronic-pain sufferers find relief through visits to a myofascial-release practitioner, and equine bodyworker Margret Henkels brings the principles to horse owners in her book, Is Your Horse 100%?. Henkels calls her method Conformation Balancing, and like acupressure it's a noninvasive technique of helping the horse's body restore its own equilibrium. If you've ever experienced myofascial release, you know it's not massage in the traditional sense but rather a method of bodywork—sometimes gentle, sometimes with a stronger touch—that can explore areas of pain and stiffness and help the body find release. Clear color photos show how Henkels works her magic.” —US Dressage Federation Connection

“In her book Is Your Horse 100%?, equine bodywork professional Margret Henkels explains in the simplest terms how various placements of your hands on your horse's body can change how he looks and feels, all by altering the fascia.” —HorseNetwork.com

“The elusive properties of fascia allow it to slip through the cracks of science, but it is now a health and fitness frontier. Myofascial work is one of the myriad holistic ways to progress body health and fitness, along with massage, chiropractic, meridian work, acupuncture, and acupressure.” —Retired Racehorse Project

“Get the 411 on fascia from equine bodywork practitioner Margret Henkels with an excerpt from her book Is Your Horse 100%?” —HorseNation.com

“Margret Henkels’ conformation balancing and fascia fitness methods in her book Is Your Horse 100%? offer an affordable, do-no-harm, flexible body work option that the layperson can learn to do safely. Her approach is inherently hopeful—she reminds us ‘the body is not static’ but always changing, for better or worse. With her methods, we can support our horses changes in the direction of fitness and competency. She reminds us that as ‘horse people,’ we are all always communicating with our horses, and she provides simple but brave advice for deepening our intimacy with our equine partners through evolved, deliberate nonverbal communication.” —Karen Brittle, Assistant Professor of Equine Studies, Centenary University, and Director of Therapeutic Riding at Centenary (TRAC); PATH Intl. Certified Advanced Therapeutic Riding Instructor and Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning (ESMHL

From the Publisher