Ingrid De Boelpaep,
canine and equine osteopathy & sportsmassage for horses!

Besides being a qualified/certified animal osteopath, I'm also a trained sports massage therapist. This combined expertise makes me exceptionally fit for treating your horse's and dog's muscle and back problems insightfully and prefessionally.

Who am I

My interest in osteopathy is grown from the problems I had with my own horse. This made me realize that even though horses are big and strong,  they are fragile and can often have backproblems. By means of this knowledge I've started to ride differently, with great importance of riding the horse "straight". I wanted to know more about the anatomy of horses and I wanted to help these animals with their backproblems in a different way. And so I've ended up with osteopathy (since I have a medical background).

To become a certified canine & equine osteopath I've followed a three-years course at ICREO (International College for Research on Equine Osteopathy) in Germany. Only holders of medical or paramedical degree are admitted to the course.  This program has allowed me to acquire profound veterinary anatomical, biomechanical, physiological, neurological and pathological knowledge. It is only on the basis of this knowledge that a horse's or dog's health can be assesses holistically.

I also took a one-year course in sports massage for horses (Jack Meagher method) at Happy Athlete in the Netherlands, a well-known and approved therapy in countries such as the US and the Netherland and I've followed a Masterclass at the Jack Meagher Intsitute Europe. A short course in "The Masterson Method: Integrated Equine Performance Bodywork" has completed my veterinary education. Based on the horse's responses to my touch, I can identify and release tensions in the horse's most important junctions. This method can be seen as a step in between osteopathy and sports massage and therefore can be very well integrated in both treatments.

Becoming a good osteopath takes time and experience and that's why I continue to follow courses, for horses and dogs. Recently I've followed a course at Eqix-Educations for "dry needling" in  dogs.

Finally, I have gained experience in riding horses in a "straight manner", during my training period with Antoine De Bodt (www.hoefkatrol.com).

Experience

SInce I've completed my education in 20100, I have gained extensive experience, in both in osteopathy and JM sports massage. This allows me to adapt my treatment to each horse's or dog's (or cats) specific problems and weaknesses and to treat each animal in the most effective and efficient way possible.

Valuable treatment for backproblems

It gives me great satisfaction to see an animal relaxing during my treatment, relieved from its pain. Each follow-up inquiry informing me that my patients appear pain-free further strengthens my conviction that osteopathy and veterinary massage constitute a very valuable treatment for any an animal suffering from muscle and junction pains. Other problems can also be helped with osteopathy. You can read more about it in the chapters "equine osteopathy" and "canine osteopathy".

Do you have questions? Or would you like to make an appointment?
Please contact me through my contactpage.