Natural Methods for Equine Health and Performance / Edition 2

by Mary Bromiley

Overview

Natural Methods for Equine Health and Performance, Second Edition, presents an overview of a natural approach to horse care and management for the 21st century. It provides sensible and readable advice on natural horsemanship, contrasting natural and domestic habitats. A range of holistic methods of treatment are covered, including acupuncture, massage, herbalism, homeopathy, and schooling exercises used by the Classical School. Mary Bromiley has an excellent reputation for achieving results using natural methods for muscle re-education. This book will be useful to anyone who owns or routinely works with horses.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781405179294
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	03/16/2009
Edition description:	2nd ed.
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Mary Bromiley is a Chartered and Veterinary Physiotherapist. In 1984 she founded, with her daughters Penny and Rabbit Slattery, the Downs House Equine Rehabilitation Centre, a world first for the treatment and rehabilitation of both horse and rider. She has written six books, and has been published internationally in six languages. She lectures worldwide and for 18 years travelled as therapist to the medal winning New Zealand 3 day event team.

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Table of Contents

Foreword by Monty Roberts vii

Preface viii

Dedication and Acknowledgements ix

Part I The Horse 1

1 What Is Natural Horsemanship? 2

2 Understanding The Horse 5

3 Reading Your Horse 22

4 Diet 30

5 Feeding 39

Part II Therapies 69

6 Homoeopathy 70

7 Bach Flower Remedies 74

8 Past-Age Remedies 76

9 Health Maintenance and Healing 81

10 Acupuncture and Acupressure 84

11 Massage 98

Part III Training/Building The Horse 127

12 Terminology Associated With Muscle Activity 129

13 Anatomical Considerations 134

14 Appendicular Skeleton – The Levers 143

15 Training 154

Part IV Exercise Analysis 169

16 The Classical Training Approach 170

17 Surface Anatomy 171

18 Specific Exercises 173

Part V Overview of Training 187

19 Training Overview 188

20 Faulty Movement 189

21 General Considerations For The Rider 192

Part VI Progressive Muscle Loading 195

22 Gymnastic Apparatus 196

23 Artificial Training Aids Explained 210

24 The Addition of Skills 213

General Summary 217

25 The Fundamentals of Natural Training and Husbandry 218

Appendix I Programme Design 221

Appendix II Athletic Horse Versus Athletic Man 223

Appendix III Natural Health Maintenance in The New-Age Horse 224

Glossary 227

General Bibliography 231

Useful Addresses 233

Index 235

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Jonathan Hale Foreman, DVM, MS, DACVIM (University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine)
Description: This manual on natural horsemanship represents an interesting mixture of the American Monty Roberts' school of natural horsemanship with the decades-long experience of the British author, perhaps the preeminent equine physical therapist in the world. The 25 chapters are organized into sections covering conventional natural horsemanship including feeds, therapies (the author's specialty), anatomy, exercise, training, and progressive loading.
Purpose: The author's purpose is "to give the reader...an overview of the horse with emphasis directed towards recreating an approach which is as natural for the horse as is possible in the twenty-first century." This admirable objective is attained effectively by the author, although some sections are much better and more detailed than others.
Audience: The book is directed at the typical twenty-first century horse owner and rider, not the scientist or researcher. This modern owner is often of the suburban variety; rarer now is the owner who was raised "on the farm with horses in the countryside." The author reminds these potentially-naive readers that "ownership of a horse requires the knowledge and the appreciation of the indisputable fact that centuries of domestication have not changed the natural instincts of the animal. The horse does not have a brain like man, see like man, or learn like man...."
Features: At various points, the book discusses the concepts and sometimes the details of natural horsemanship. The most detailed and least scientific portions deal with old (folklore) and newer (homeopathic) dietary manipulations intended to maximize horse health. The author is at her best when emphasizing what she has for decades clearly known best — the anatomy and physiotherapy combined with the concepts of natural movement championed by several other authors including the recently-deceased Sally Sexton. The 29-page chapter on massage therapy alone is worth the modest purchase price.
Assessment: This excellent book combines the concepts of natural horsemanship with the author's documented expertise in equine physical therapy. The anatomical drawings illustrate brilliantly the underlying skeletal, ligamentous, and muscular movements required for lateral or dorsal-ventral motions in typical riding or dressage movements. The section on progressive muscle loading provides a common-sense approach to training the new horse for the first time or the horse returning to work after a layoff for rest or injury. This section should be mandatory reading for anyone needing advice on how to rehabilitate a horse slowly, carefully, and progressively "in the natural way."

Doody's Review Service

"This excellent book combines the concepts of natural horsemanship with the author's documented expertise in equine physical therapy." (Doody's, September 2009)

"From acupuncture and massage to homeopathy, it's packed with applied alternative medicine that's been tested in the field." (Midwest Book Review, July 2009)

"The ideas that Mary provides on these pages are priceless? Her concepts are of a no nonsense nature and are based on the common sense facts of a natural approach." — From the foreword by Monty Roberts, the Man Who Listens to Horses

From the Publisher