Bodywork realigning your horse's physical structure for more power,
efficiency, grace and speed, making a happier horse.
Why does a horse need bodywork? 
Injuries, chronic stress, aging and normal living can cause connective tissue to thicken into adhesions as tissue repairs itself. These adhesions become glue-like, reducing flexibility, preventing muscles from lengthening for easy movement. The horse is held in old compensation patterns. Circulation of blood to the tissue is constricted; muscles and body tissue become less healthy.

Equine Natural Movement bodywork brings your horse’s muscles, bones and connective tissue back into balance and alignment. Even one session often creates lasting results in flexibility, comfort and balance for the horse.
Structural Integration can help
This fine-tuned functional rebalancing of the body can create significant and fairly permanent changes in the horse’s structure. In sessions, the practitioner's hands work the layers of muscle and tissue, going deeper as the horse’s tissue permits. In a series of sessions, the hands work deeply into the horse’s structure to organize muscle and joint relationships more smoothly and efficiently. The practitioner applies stretching and/or pressure to the area and waits for change. The change occurs when the fibrous tissue lengthens and returns to normal elasticity.
Full body restructuring occurs in five sessions. Over the sessions, the horse becomes more comfortable in his body; old holding patterns release and movement becomes fluid. Power that was inaccessible is regained. The horse feels better and emotionally balanced. The horse becomes the athlete he or she was born to be. Even one session can create lasting results for the horse.
The Equine Natural Movement Series
The Equine Natural Movement Series was created in the early 90s by Joseph Freeman as an extension of his Structural Integration practice with humans. Freeman’s equine work was consistently effective in moving fourth place horses into blue ribbons, that he teaches this work for horses.
Results from Equine Natural Movement Series:
• Realigns compensation patterns and injury patterns
• Improves performance and self carriage; strides lengthen.
• Releases constrictions throughout the body; breathing improves beyond performance plateaus.
• Horses feel more vibrant, engaged and responsive; attitudes improve.
• Allows the horse to participate in his healing process.
• Brings out more power, increases efficiency, creates fluidity.
• Improves precision; horses go beyond performance plateaus.
• Horses feel more vibrant, engaged and responsive; attitudes improve.
Five Reasons Your Horse Will Benefit from Equine Natural Movement Sessions
1. Just like people, horses have a life. They experience twists, pulls, accidents, athletic stress and social rough behavior from other horses. As athletes, we expect the best from our horses. Like us, they have issues that compromise their abilities to perform for us. They slip, knock their heads and experience injuries. Or, like the best of us, they simply need to have their top abilities working to win in competitions and events.
2.  Your horse is at a performance plateau. The training has brought great results, so have your lessons. Still, you aren’t placing quite where you want to place in competitions … and you are both soooo close. Or, you’re winning and want to keep it up!
3. The horse is older, but still going well. Extending his/her capabilities is the goal.
4. The horse is being marketed for sale and there are some changes in overall capacity to improve for both a better price and better home for the  horse. Or, you just got a new horse. Wouldn’t it be great to give him/her a session for this wonderful new beginning as a team?
5. The horse is your dear friend; you know that having him/her move at his best is well worth the investment. Making him/her happier, more graceful and agile justifies all, even if he/she doesn’t have injuries or issues that you notice.

More benefits from this work include helping the horse to have soma emotional recall and release. Connective tissue is known to have memory, and the energy from a traumatic event often enters the body of the horse and becomes stuck in the tissue. It can stay walled off in the body and become what is sometimes referred to as an energy “cyst.” These can often be released through ENM session work.

“Our 19 year old mare, Buttercup, had over-extended herself running under saddle in March. She came up quite lame with swelling in her left foreleg. I decided to contact Margaret Henkels and have her perform massage therapy. When she came, Buttercup, who is aloof, was very receptive to her, putting her head against Margaret, which I knew was the mare’s way of saying “this is someone that can help me.”

Margaret performed her treatment, we gave Cup two days off, and when my daughter got on her, she walked off without any stiffness and was sound the rest of the week. Margaret did a follow-up treatment the next week and after two days off, Buttercup was free moving in her shoulder and has been sound throughout the show season. I'm glad I spent my money for Margaret’s therapy. It was much less than whatever a vet may have done and it has been long lasting and was totally natural.”  Sheila K.

Margaret Henkels, Equine Natural Movement Practitioner
Santa Fe, New Mexico
 505-501-2290

Free Evaluations Available; Barn Demos and horse club presentations.
Barn or multiple horse packages available.