Unwind Their Holdings, Unlock Their Potential: Exploring the Bodywork Modality of Structural Integration

Is Symphony a slow starter under saddle? Does Harrison hang on his left rein? Horses communicate their body issues in a multitude of ways and often these signals indicate something doesn’t feel right.

Structural Integration is a body work modality that can address core body imbalances because it provides access to the deepest layers of your horse’s body through his fascial network, or connective tissue. Connective tissue is found throughout the ENTIRE body including bones, organs, blood vessels, muscles, etc. It is our inner web that encompasses all.

Problems arise however when fascia gets adhered through old injuries, scar tissue, and repetitive movements. To illustrate, imagine a sweater where one loop near the left seam gets snagged. Immediately you can follow how the weave is interrupted or influenced all the way toward, say, the right shoulder of the garment. The fascial network is the same. One “snag” or holding in a ribcage for example, can influence locomotion of the hind legs or how the horse flexes his poll. Structural Integration addresses these interconnections throughout the fascia.

The history of this modality begins with human bodies and the insightful, inquisitive Dr. Ida Rolf. She possessed a keen scientific mind that allowed her to categorize the patterns human bodies took in physical form and to develop a bodywork system (starting in the 1940’s) that neutralized compensation patterns so that our upright bodies could live in more harmony with gravity. In the 1990’s this modality was adapted for equines. Rolf determined that the average human can make the change to exist in harmony with gravity in ten systematic sessions. The typical horse can absorb this work in a five-session series.

Structural Integration is hands-on and often involves slow, steady strokes. Through a series of sessions, the practitioner will unwind restrictive patterns restoring balance. In the initial session, the practitioner will diagram the horse’s holding patterns across his entire body, determine a treatment plan, and then later use those strokes again diagnostically to check progress. The second session focuses on the shoulders and hips while the third unwinds the back and barrel. Sessions four and five of the series circle back around to readdress the whole body and support integration of new fascial freedoms.

How does Structural Integration differ from other bodywork modalities? Massage and myofascial modalities target muscles with goals of relaxation, suppleness and improved response/reaction. You can think of this work as more 2-dimensional, meaning this works the planes of the horse. Whereas Structural Integration is more 3-dimensional and allows work throughout the deep body with an aim of long-term change in the horse’s structure and movement. This in turn opens the door on athletic potential.

Structural Integration in short is an examination of the relationship between fascial holdings. The practitioner’s goal is to “assemble the model” of how the horse organizes his body and then the practitioner sets about unwinding areas that alter alignment and impede fluidity. This process can be both daunting as well as soothing for a horse. After all, who likes to throw back the curtain on their set of challenges for all to see? Not most of us, but when we do, it’s usually well worth it.

Author: Tory Names, Practitioner and Owner of Poised Equine Bodywork, has been an educator since earning her master’s in education degree in 1999. She is a certified Equine Structural Integration Practitioner, Large Animal Massage Practitioner, and SBC CDS member who lives in Ojai, CA. She can be reached at 805-836-4646, poisedequine@gmail.com, or poisedequine.com