I’ve been practicing Structural Integration with horses for thirty years. In Structural Integration, we measure bodywork success in the freedom of movement in their skeletal structure. To get that healthy skeletal mobility, we locate and release restrictions in the connective tissue system throughout the body.
Most bodyworkers think of the skeleton as the structure that holds the body up. While that’s not wrong, it’s also not entirely correct.
I believe the skeleton is part of the dynamic pairing of bones and myofascia. The bones act as spacers that spread the structure out while the myofascia creates the tension that holds everything in place.
The push-pull relationship between the bones and myofasciaadds bounce and resiliency to the body. Myofascial tension increases structural support because the fluids in the muscle bellies are compressed from all sides. Structural support is shared between the skeleton and the soft tissue network.
Think about the legs of a horse running around a barrel. If that horse has healthy skeletal mobility, the ligaments will securely position and brace the bone ends through the stride. This allows the legs to handle the strain in the best possible way. The ligament system performs these tasks efficiently and elegantly.
When a ligament is chronically held, the movement of the bone ends in that joint are restricted in one direction. The myofascia on the opposite side of the limb will shorten to balance the ligament restriction. The result is a reduction in both resiliency and range of motion in the limb.
To bring a horse into structural balance, a practitioner must find and release ligament restrictions.
I use a variety of methods to gather information about the location, depth, size, and release direction of the holding. Once I understand the imbalance, I introduce a gentle suggestion that encourages release in the appropriate direction. Focusing intention on the holding tells the network what has to move.
The myofascial network combines the two bits of information and then intelligently allows the holding to release.
The method is highly effective. It produces releases throughout the length and breadth of the horse which returns unrestricted movement to the skeletal system.