Equine Therapy approach
Julia offers Equine bodywork through a blend of myofascial release, cranial-sacral techniques, proprioceptive tools, and stress-point release. The emphasis lies on utilizing a variety of tools, so that your horses can be supported with an approach that is best suited for them. She believes in an all-around approach, including evaluation of the horse's diet, living environment, exercise program, and hoof condition. These are all aspects that are interconnected and equally important when maintaining or bringing your horse into balance.
In Julia’s work as an Equine therapist, she focuses on engaging the parts within the horse that are in the greatest need to be seen. Engagement often starts with the horse’s nervous system. If the nervous system is unregulated, the organism is in a state of brace and often survival - body and mind are disconnected. With that disconnect, the body is not readily available to soften and drop patterns of compensation or tension. Only if the horse feels safe, can the body become available and only then can long-lasting changes occur - supporting a more balanced equine partner.
Skilled in recognizing and identifying layers of brace and overwhelm, as well as non-consent within a horse, Julia believes that it is absolutely necessary to bring awareness to these layers. Horses are incredibly talented in masking compensation or concern, a skill that serves them well as the prey animal that they are. To earn trust and consent as a therapist, the horse must believe in her ability to see the puzzle pieces of the picture.
Julia treats her work with horses much like her approach to life. Self reflection and openness to new insight are important to her. She has a strong desire to see what happens, before what happens happens. She understands the body’s potential to find equilibrium and its inherent ability to heal itself. The modality that enables her to support her philosophy and start addressing the root of dysfunction is Osteopathy. One of the pillars of Osteopathy, cranial-sacral therapy, provides Julia with various opportunities to work with a horse’s nervous system.
She has completed Level 1 & 2 in Cranial-Sacral Therapy through EQTherapeutics.
Learn more about the horse’s nervous system and Julia’s approach to work with it here.
Read more about cranial-sacral therapy.
Future endeavours
Julia is well aware that our bodies (horse and human) not only store tension, but also emotion. The body keeps the score summarizes it perfectly. Emotional layers and therefore their expression can be deeply hidden. They often are hidden beyond the mind. The body however, remembers. Julia believes that equine therapy does not stop with manual treatment, but movement of the body needs to be utilized in order to integrate a different emotional state. Both avenues combined can have a profound effect on releasing trauma patterns, uncovering deep seated emotional and physical tension and contribute to letting horses (and humans) find their potential. Julia's goal is to offer manual therapy combined with tensegrity balancing and somatic experiences for horses. Through her vision and research she was successful in finding a high quality program and has enrolled into an 8 months course for trauma-sensitive bodywork in Germany at Visionary Osteopathy for Horses - Germany, starting September 2024.
