About Rolfing® for Horses
Dean has done his Horse Rolfing® Training and is certified to offer this service.

How Rolfing® can benefit horses

Can animals benefit from Rolfing® the same as people? Read below as Dean talks about this new area:

Rolfers work on the fascia which surrounds all the tissue in the body. Rolfing â has proven to be very
helpful when people are experiencing pain or difficulty moving because of scar tissue, adhesions and
dehydration in the muscle fibres brought about from injuries, surgeries, or muscle compensations.

If we can help a person move better in gravity, some of the same principals can be used in working
with animals. For more information check out this article from the Rolf Institute in Australia about horse .

Sessions last about an hour with horses, and are spaced between one to four weeks apart depending
on the severity of the problems. I intend to work mostly in the Terrace/Kitimat area but could range as
far as Kitwanga with a fee of $80.00 per session with additional charges if required for traveling distances. This service could be tax
deductable, depending on the reason for having the horse(s). Please contact us if you are interested in this service for your horse(s).

“Horse work for the working horse.”

Mike McCaffrey, formerly of Courtenay, B.C. now based in Glacier Washington, is a horseman. Mike has being
around horses since he
was a kid and even had two of his own since Grade 5, which is when I met him. We went riding the trails and
camping up in the hills and to the rodeos together just having great fun. Mike has always been very interested
in all aspects of horses and training but up until 15 years ago things took a new twist. Mike and his wife Melissa
were certified as Licensed Massage Therapists in 1992 and that year he went and worked on a friend’s horse
that was suffering from a sore shoulder.

Equine bodywork was a new field at that time and as he was successful with his friend’s horse, Mike started
to really look into this type of work. He ran into a Rolfer by the name of Michael Reams who had been working on horses for a number
of years and Mike apprenticed under him for 2 years. He also studied with horse Rolfer Jim Pascucci and took clinics with legendary horse
trainers Ray Hunt and Buck Branaman.

Mike has now developed his own brand of horse work called Equine Structural Integration and 3 of us students were lucky enough to
have Mike come to Prince George and teach us the basics in a 1-week training course from April 10th to the 16th. We learned how to do
a quick, full body, warm-up on a horse fresh out of a trailer after a long ride. He showed us all the landmarks and pressure points along
with the contraindication spots to be aware of. Watching Mike work on a horse is like watching an advanced Rolfer work on a person.
The horse/person is put at ease quickly as the practitioner’s hands/fingers melt into the tissue. Everything in the area seems to slow
right down, eyes get heavy, and the ears lose their tenseness. Quite a sight. I fell into this mode quite easily possibly from my own
experience as a Rolfer but I was amazed at the reaction to this work by the animals. Focus is much more sharp, yet easy. A human can
let you know verbally that things are painful and you can ask that they breathe through the pain or to give you movement as you work a
certain area. Animals can’t tell you so body language is of the utmost importance. Where are the ears? Back, droopy, one forward, one
back? Do they stamp, paw the ground? Is the tail held out, swishing with no flies? These things can tell you where the horse is at with
your work. Mike has never been kicked but once and he admits it was because he lost his focus for a moment and went too deep. It
wasn’t a big kick but enough to get his attention! STAY PRESENT. His lesson wasn’t lost on us.

We worked on fillies, mares, geldings and ponies, foals/colts to 35-year-old animals. Belgians, warmbloods, Paints and Quarterhorse/
Arabians. I had a horse that was electrocuted and had the exit holes coming out its forearms. It had almost lost its eye and was burnt
along side the neck. It loved the work. Mike and one of the other students tackled a mare that had fought with a cougar. It needed 125
stitches to sew up its abdomen and it also loved the work. They follow you around like a little puppy dog after you finish.

I’ve been working on horses in the Terrace/Kitimat area for nearly 2 years now. I expect to call Mike now and again and he expects that
and wants us calling him to talk about different problems.

Contact us if you have a horse that could use this service.