THE HISTORY
The Equine Touch Foundation Inc
Vibromuscular Harmonization Technique
Inspired in part by the legend of Tom Bowen.
Tom Bowen was born on April 18th, 1916 in Brunswick, Victoria, Australia. Tom developed a love for sports very early in life. A keen cricketer and swimmer, he ran a boys club at the local Salvation Army hall. He left school at an early age and worked in a variety of jobs as a cement worker, milkman, a general hand in woolen mills, a carpenter and dock worker before setting himself up as an 'osteopath' in 1961. Tom Bowen suffered from diabetes and lost a leg quite early in his osteopathic career and would treat either wearing prosthesis or from a wheelchair, which made his client turn-over of 13,000 a year even moreremarkable.
It is not known exactly how Tom 'discovered' or developed his technique. What is known however is that his gift and interests led him to work as a self-taught masseur with football clubs and around this time he came under the influence of two legendary Australian bodyworkers and bone manipulators Ernie Saunders and Bill Mitchell who, from all reports and historical research, appeared to have had a similar style or approach.
There are many people out there today who claim that they were taught by Tom Bowen, though in reality only five or six men can truthfully claim to have this honor. One of Tom's close friends and associates, Dr Kevin Ryan a qualified osteopath and lecturer, who worked with Tom for the last three years of his life, maintains that Tom continued to advance, develop and evolve his osteopathic technique right up to his death in 1982. Dr Ryan who continued Tom's clinic for some years after he died further went on to say that even then, Tom's work was not finished and it would be up to others to continue where he left off. Today all over the world there are dedicated body workers doing just that, having been inspired by the legacy of this amazing man.
Jock Ruddock became a bodyworker due to circumstance, much like Tom Bowen. His interest in bodywork was sparked in 1966 after noting a scoliosis in his youngest daughter. As a professional wrestler and martial artist he began to study the work of other wrestlers who had picked up methods of manipulating backs, necks and limbs as a result of injuries obtained in the ring or in the dojo. With his practical knowledge of how a body worked and the ‘gentle touch’ which all aikido practitioners and professional wrestlers are trained to use, he developed his own methods of addressing imbalance in the body from a purely physical paradigm.
As his experience grew so did his reputation and soon he found people just dropping in to have their neck cracked or their back popped. Young wrestlers who trained under him in New Zealand would immediately be treated and their spontaneous injuries addressed. Fellow police officers and other sportsmen were always willing to have a creak or a stiffness dissipated at Jock's hands.
Jock continued as a part time self-taught chiropractor, helping people free of charge until 1990 when one night shortly after manipulating the neck of a friend the subject began screaming in pain and continued throughout the night. Although the friend in the morning was 100% recovered, the pain gone and full movement restored, a lesson had been learned. Skeletal manipulation was dangerous, and Jock stopped.
In 1995 Jock retired from the ring and his eclectic pathway in life led him back from the South Pacific to Scotland, where a famous spiritualist, Margaret Faulkner told him he would be led to the world of healing. A few months later he attended the Hypnotherapist Course at the National Society of Professional Hypnotherapy under Scotland's leading Hypnotherapist, Vicky Watson. While on that course a student injured his back. All the others tried to help him with various Reiki and spiritual healing methods with no success until Jock checked his back located a subluxation and spasm, performed a toggle manipulation which was accompanied by a loud pop an immediate dissipation of pain and full recovery of movement. Encouraged by what could be described as a pre-ordained return to bodywork Jock took a course in Bowen qualifying under Oswald Rentsch in order that he could start working with humans once again.
In 1996/7 as a result of numerous requests from other Bowen practitioners he began to teach and develop Bowen in a whole new direction, filling in the gaps and achieving results that were far above anyone's expectations. Using the distorted muscle recoil as a spring with which to power a vibration through the soft tissue as a foundation, he pioneered and developed VHT. At first it was officially accepted as a more advanced form of Bowen by the Institute of Complementary Medicine, The British Complementary Medicine Association and the Bowen Therapists European Register.
In July 2002 The Equine Touch Foundation made the decision to remove itself from the mainstream of Complementary & Alternative Medicine in the UK and to stand alone developing, presenting and teaching VHT and The Equine Touch as their own disciplines to the world.
The Equine Touch Foundation curriculum for humans, horses and dogs is now taught in 23 different countries throughout the world and research into the disciplines is an ongoing factor as well as the development of an instructor training program in all systems as presented by the Foundation.
