Healing horses

“Basically, that’s where my knowledge of horses comes from!” she says. “Later on I started my career as a veterinarian in Queensland, Australia. I spent two wonderful years there with my husband. Australia was a dream come true! One of my favourite countries of all time. All the wildlife and landscape there was all I ever dreamt about! But even though it was so lovely it was too far from the family in Mallorca, so I continued my studies and finished my degree in the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. After that I returned home to the island and I in that time became a mum to two wonderful kids, happiest days of my life!”

The business in Mallorca is doing well. There are far too few veterinarians focused on horses. Mallorca, now has close to 30,000 horses, with a sharp increase in the last ten years, and Amanda has travelled across the island every afternoon to cure sick horses. She has spent 10 years working as an equine veterinarian for her parents’ stud farm and other clients, and soon after receiving treatments herself she began to know about the craniosacral therapy and its benefits on humans. “I thought it was an amazing and balanced the type of therapy. My passion towards the therapy grew and I was encouraged by a Swedish family friend to start the formation as an Equine Craniosacral therapist myself. This woman told me: ‘You are incredibly sensitive, and you should try to do this!’ I took her word for it and after two years of an intensive course, I became an Equine Craniosacral Therapist, and a year after that, I studied to become a human Craniosacral therapist in Madrid.”

Craniosacral therapy works with the central nervous system, particularly with the flow of the cerebrospinal fluid of the spinal cord. Like the circulatory and respiratory system, the nervous system also has a rhythm. It is accomplished with a light touch, we notice and appreciate the rhythm in the fluid, which we stimulate to find health and the physiological state of the body through what is called a “stillness”. It is only appreciated when you experience the therapy, and very often seen very clearly in horses as they show signs of relaxation and release through yawning or shutting eyelids, licking, and stretching. Craniosacral therapy is beneficial for treating anxiety and trauma, stress, physical trauma, stereotypic behaviours, saddle twitching, head shaking, fear, headache, pain and inflammation, amongst other things. The aim is to find the cause without resorting to chemical treatments, which for many years have been given on a routine basis.

“A lot of the experience with horses I have today is due to my mother, although the experience I have in healing and preventative medicine is due to my own path and experience.” I asked Amanda what’s the best thing that has happened to you? “Most of all, becoming a mother to two amazing kids. We really love spending time together and I enjoy visiting Sweden every year with them, particularly Gothenburg. This way we all keep the connection to our roots.”