As a horse owner, you have most likely thought about whether you could support your horse’s well-being yourself or keep the work of the equine bodyworker going post treatment. Lack of time or in-depth interest, often prevents taking a weekend course in therapy techniques. This is where “grooming in the direction of energy flow”, also known as “energetic grooming”, comes in very helpful. This technique is easy to learn, and you can’t really do anything wrong or even harm the horse.
Brings momentum to the Meridian system
Energetic grooming originates from the theory of energy, which is based on traditional Chinese medicine.
Energy flows through channels called meridians. If these meridians are blocked, this can lead to a variety of health problems.
In order to work with the meridians, however, it is necessary to learn and understand at least the basics of this theory.
For acupuncture or acupressure massage, you need to know exactly where the meridians run or where points are located – that is a lot of learning, especially if you only want to support your own horse and not work as a therapist.
Energetic grooming, on the other hand, does not delve any deeper into the education. This basic technique is simply about knowing the direction of energy flow and energising the meridian system as a whole – rather than treating individual meridians or points specifically.
© Adobe Stock / Petra Fischer
What is required for this
Actually, the word “grooming” is not quite correct as you will never get a horse clean that is covered in mud, with this technique. But the technique can easily be incorporated into the grooming routine, which is why it can be integrated wonderfully into everyday stable life. Energetic grooming involves strokes in the direction of energy flow. These can be carried out with a soft brush or simply with the palm of the hand. No pressure is applied.
Everyone can decide for themselves how often to use energetic grooming. The horse cannot get an “overload / overdose” of it. It is not necessarily sensible to rush to the yard after a stressful day at work and try to squeeze in some energetic grooming techniques quickly before having a riding lesson. This technique, like all energetic applications, is most successful when it is carried out consciously and calmly. Sometimes you even drift off into a relaxing meditative state yourself and can observe that the horse feels the same way.
Many owners have found that their horses are more relaxed and easy-going when they have carried out energetic grooming before riding or groundwork. Also post exercise the application can promote relaxation and recuperation. Or simply in between, if you want to do something nice for your horse, you can simply apply some energetic grooming.
How does this ‘energetic grooming’ work?
One principle here is that you should pull the energy and not push it, i.e. always work by pulling towards yourself and, if possible, not pushing away from yourself. You can try this out on yourself by stroking your left forearm with your right hand: if you make a “pulling” movement, it feels much more pleasant than if you “push” the skin in front of you.
The picture already shows the directions in which stroking is to be carried out:
We do the strokes first on one side of the horse’s body and then on the other. We work with calm, flowing movements. Of course, you can always stop in between, you don’t have to stroke the whole horse in one go. The important thing is to always stay in the direction of the energy flow and not sweep back and forth. We “divide” the horse into 2 halves, namely the torso into top/bottom and the legs into inside/outside or back/front. Don’t despair, it all sounds more difficult than it actually is! It all will make sense as soon as you start doing the strokes and with a little practice you will soon no longer need the instructions.
The procedure
We start at the nostrils and stroke over the upper half of the head to the poll, then continue over the upper half of the neck (directly below the mane ridge) and over the back to the croup. We then move down the hindquarters on the outside to the hoof. At the rear hoof, we stroke from the outer corner of the heel bulb backwards to the centre, the pastern groove (see picture of the coronet band). This is only a small section. The rest of the coronet band is brushed around the front of the hoof, back to the pastern groove.
By way of explanation: in the coronet band (the area directly above the hoof) are the start and end points of the meridians. With a little practice, you can feel these as slight indentations. By stroking the coronet band, these start and end points are all gently stimulated.
We are now on the inside of the hind hoof. From there we now go up the inside of the hind leg. Be careful in the area around the udder or sheath, some horses are sensitive here and the hind leg can quickly come flying towards you. Now continue along the belly forwards towards the chest. At first it feels a little strange to stroke against the direction of the coat. Some horses may not like this at first. It often helps to work with a particularly soft brush, like the ones used for the horse’s face, as this does not turn the hair against the direction of growth as much as brushing with your hands.
So, we have arrived at the foreleg. The foreleg (in contrast to the hind leg) is not divided into outside/inside but into back/front. In other words, move the rear half of the foreleg down to the coronet band. The coronet band is stroked inside and outside symmetrically from the rear pastern groove to the centre front. You can see the direction well on the picture “coronet band”, it looks a bit like a little heart. Then we stroke up the front leg at the front, over the shoulder, the lower part of the neck (along windpipe) over the cheek bone and the lower jaw to the nostrils.
Yay, we’ve managed to get round. Because it was so nice, we repeat this at least two more times on one side of the body. And then we have the other side of the horse’s body, which is also stroked three times. Let’s go!
Conclusion
Energetic grooming is easy to use and, with a little practice, can be carried out by any horse owner without much prior knowledge. The horses usually enjoy the application, it’s a nice way to bond and enjoy each other’s company without too much effort.
Sie hat unter anderem diverse Ausbildungen bei Dr. Christina Fritz absolviert.
Sibylle Moser lebt mit ihrem Lebenspartner und ihrer kleinen Pferdeherde in der Nordostschweiz.
Die Behandlungseinsätze hat sie seit 2023 zwar um einiges reduziert, ist jedoch immer noch für das Wohl der Tiere in dieser Region unterwegs.
Ihr zweites Herzensprojekt gehört dem Herstellen von Masshalftern und gestrickten Decken für Ponys.
www.simospferd.ch
www.simospony.ch
🇬🇧 Sibylle Moser has been working as an energetic therapist for horses (and other animals on request) for over 20 years.
She has completed various training courses with Dr Christina Fritz, among others.
Sibylle Moser lives with her partner and her small herd of horses in north-east Switzerland.
Although she has reduced her treatment assignments considerably since 2023, she is still travelling for the welfare of the animals in this region.
Her second favourite project is making made-to-measure halters and knitted blankets for ponies.
www.simospferd.ch
www.simospony.ch
- ‘Energetic grooming’ on the horse - 10. July 2024
