| Equine |
| A
Bit About The Endocrine System |
| Your
horses endocrine system is a very complex, integrated and not yet fully
understood physiological working system consisting of various glands
situated in and around your horses body. Each individual gland works to
produce and secrete its own hormone into the blood
flow or lymphatic flow, working to regulate internal long term or immediate short term changes inside your
horses body, creating both physical and psychological results |
| A
gland is a body part, body organ or a collective group of cells within a
body part or body organ. There are two forms of glands, exocrine and
endocrine glands. |
| Exocrine
glands dispatch hormones via ducts. |
| Endocrine
glands dispatch hormones through the blood
flow or the lymphatic flow. |
| Most
endocrine glands work under the rulings of the 'pituarity' gland that
inturn works under the rulings of the 'hypothalamus'; and it is the hypothalamus
gland that
unites the workings of the nervous system and endocrine
system, an example being the release of 'adrenalin' which is released in both
hormone form by the endocrine system and in neural transmitter form by the
nervous system |
| By working gently with
a horse experiencing high levels of stress or anxiety, you will encourage
the hypothalamus to release of the feel good hormone – ‘oxytocin’
that will naturally induce a feeling of general well-being, working to balance endocrine
activity proceeding to transfer this balancing effect to the autonomic
nervous system and thus to the entire horse, both physically and
emotionally. Inturn, your horses heart rate is slowed down, respiration lowers and
blood flow is balanced, all of which will proceed to positively
influence the good workings of the digestive and endocrine
systems. |
| As your horse
experiences feelings of well-being his ‘proprioceptive sense’ is heightened.
As he relaxes and switches off from
environmental stimuli together with their own associated triggers of
stress he becomes aware of his own body and emotions proceeding to
release of general muscular tension providing
ideal conditions for continued sports and remedial equine massage therapy. |
| In
addition to this, the
endocrine system influences the workings of other internal systems such as: |
| Digestive
system including metabolism |
| Reproductive
system |
| Cardiovascular
system |
| Kidney
function |
| Liver
function |
| Bone
growth and maintenance |
| Body
tissue growth and
maintenance |
| Relationship Between Equine Massage Therapy
and The Endocrine System |
| Equine
Massage Therapy promotes blood flow to your horses body organs and body
tissues, subsequently
promoting the arrival and efficiency of
vital hormones to their targeted body parts. |
| The
immune system will benefit from ‘lymphocyte’ hormones boosting your horses immunity. |
| When a horse has been
injured, the endocrine system will dispatch hormones referred to as
‘corticosteroids’ directly to the site of injury. These hormones
reduce the sensation of pain down to a more tolerable level. A healthy
endocrine and circularatory system will allow this process to be performed
in its most effective form. |
| However, when
corticosteroids arrive at the site of injury they prevent essential
protective body fluids from gaining an easy access. Mother Nature however
has set up a safety time device that allows both hormones and body fluids
to gain access to the site of injury so that they may both do their jobs
in allocated time slots. If equine massage therapy is applied to an
injured area it can upset this natural balance of healing and consequently
inhibit the healing and recovery process. |
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