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Support Zach to Practice & Teach Equine Therapies

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Dear Friends,


I have been given the wonderful opportunity to expand my practice as a manual therapist and study the art and science of working with horses. For two weeks in October, I plan to travel to New Zealand to study with the developer of the curriculum for Equine CranioSacral Therapy, Dr. Sandra Howlett, who is, without question, a master in her field. I am overjoyed at the prospect of expanding my practice in such a unique way and I have put together this campaign to help make this opportunity possible. Rather than simply asking for funding and support in this endeavor, I am offering therapy sessions for horses as well as workshops and classes on these techniques in exchange for any support you are able to give. If you are a “horse person” or simply just fascinated by this work and would like to learn more, please refer to the links below this description, which include a few resources to see what exactly will be studied and the way it can influence the world. 


I first want to share why I’ve chosen to set up a GoFundMe to support this work. I fully believe that setting up a system of exchange in order to further one’s studies is the most effective way to both learn and integrate new material. By humbly requesting the support of the people around you - with the promise of sharing what you learn once your studies are complete - you generate momentum into whatever field of work you’re studying to practice in. Not only does this empower you to study what you feel will give something of value to the world - it sets up an immediate basis of people to serve. Back in 2016, I brought together friends and family members and set up a similar campaign to raise funding for me to participate in a monthlong Yoga Teacher Training in India. The offering I proposed then was to teach private lessons, workshops and classes in anything I learned during my time overseas in exchange for support in making that dream come true. By pulling together such a supportive group of friends and family members, the training was fully funded, which then catapulted me into my career as a practitioner in the field of holistic wellness for the next three years. The momentum generated through that has stayed with me and still influences my work today. I applied what I gathered through that training to then work full time for a year as the Campus Resiliency Coordinator for a large university in North Carolina, teach in various yoga studios around the Southeastern United States, and establish a strong track record as an effective workshop facilitator - sharing tips and techniques for stress management and how to improve one’s quality of life through mindful breathing and movement exercises. Out of my travels with this work, I was introduced to CranioSacral Therapy, which is a form of Osteopathic Manual Therapy that addresses deeply held tension in the various systems of the body and leads to the resolution of old patterns, thus leading to long-term health. This work quickly became the focus of my career and played a huge role in my life’s development over the next couple of years. 


Discovering a therapeutic modality that was so gentle, yet so effective at resolving deeply stored tensions and traumas in the body fueled a desire within me to go back to school to become a licensed manual therapist. I spent the next two years studying somewhat intensively with the Upledger Institute, traveling for various workshops in Osteopathic Manual Therapy around the United States. These trainings led to qualifications in various forms of manual therapy. Among these, CranioSacral Therapy and Total Body Balancing (studying directly with Dr. Kerry D’Ambrogio) led to my ability to deliver therapeutic sessions helping clients with a wide variety of concerns, from rehabilitating from injuries, to assisting with the healing process after recent surgeries, and even clearing long-held trauma that was stored in the nervous system due to years of chronic tension and stress in the various tissues of the body. This work often led to tremendously significant results and I quickly developed a practice that made me somewhat of a standout as a manual therapist. Here is a link to a few client testimonials so you can see how this work deeply influences people.

https://www.Zach-Evans.com/testimonials

Pulling together my experiences studying in India and my new trainings in integrative manual therapy, I was able to help people in a way that was uniquely integrative - merging the stress-relieving relaxation and healing methods of the East with rigorously researched, physically-oriented techniques of the West. In order to further develop my understanding of anatomy and physiology and to gain licensure in my field, I enrolled in a nine-month long, 660-hour training in Therapeutic Massage at Isothermal Community College. Over the majority of that next year, I learned a great deal of ways to approach manual therapies from my instructor, Jane Cannon, and even had the opportunity to serve as a guest teacher, sharing the techniques I had picked up through my work in the years prior to studying at Isothermal. This was a wonderful experience and I will be forever grateful to Isothermal Community College for empowering me to become a Licensed Massage and Bodywork Therapist because of this comprehensive training. 


My work has progressed since graduating from Isothermal and I’ve shared sessions and workshops in the United States, Sweden, Portugal, Dubai (and other parts of the UAE), Bali, Indonesia and Malaysia. It is my full intention to learn as much as I can in these formative years and to refine my abilities as a teacher so I can then return to the United States (and the other places in which I have built community around the world) to share these techniques. It is my goal to teach and train up-and-coming manual therapists and those who are already established practitioners in their various fields. Expanding into working with horses opens up an entirely new realm of possibility as a practitioner and instructor and will allow me to serve the world in a unique way - incorporating even more meaningful and impactful elements into how I work with people and animals. 


Here’s where you come in: I could not do ANY of this without the community of people who have driven me to deepen my practice of manual therapy throughout the years. Whether you're a client, instructor, or just a good friend - I have learned a great deal from you that is translated through the way I practice and teach this work. I am humbly asking for any support you are able to give as I step into working with horses. The amount I have set for the campaign, $3300, will allow me to study nearly the entire curriculum, which is four courses altogether. There is advanced coursework beyond that, which I will hopefully be able to fund after building a practice with the studies we’re funding here :) Any reasonable contribution that you feel to be equivalent to a session or lesson will be exchanged for work with horses and teaching students how to practice the techniques I will learn in these studies.

A donation on your end can be exchanged for two things:
A) A 1:1 session with your horse (or the horse(s) of a friend)
B) Either a private or public lesson on how to practice techniques derived from these therapies 

I will be returning to North Carolina from October 28-November 10th and I am in the works of setting up a workshop at Isothermal Community College to hopefully share an introduction to this work with the communities of Columbus, Tryon, more of Western NC and Upstate South Carolina. I am hoping to make the event at Isothermal free and open to the public and would love to have you join for the workshop. If you or anyone you know of would like a session with your horses during this time period, please reach out and we will make it happen! 


Thank you SO much for helping to fuel this dream. Please know that we are creating something meaningful together - I could not do this without the community of people who are committed to helping this work get out into the world. While I am the one who’s physically in the classroom, studying the work firsthand, it is all of us who are helping to bring these therapies to horses and horse communities around the world. If you have any questions at all or would simply like to know more about the work, please feel free to reach out to me through this website. 



With tremendous gratitude,
Zach Evans



RESOURCES FOR HORSE PEOPLE - and others fascinated by the work :)

First, here's what the work can treat:

- Head shaking
- Cribbing
- Back and joint problems
- Head injuries and traumas
- Postoperative recovery
- Bucking
- Colic
- Lameness
- Headaches
- Feeling flat in work 
- Head shyness and spookiness
- Stumbling and tripping
- Respiratory problems
- Following a pullback
- Difficulty with transitions


This list is taken from this page, which is a nice comprehensive overview of the work (huge thank you to April Love):
https://www.holistichorseworks.com/craniosacral-energy-work/


This article shares one of the best overviews of the work I've found:
https://holistichorse.com/equine-therapy/finding-balance-with-craniosacral-therapy/


Here is a link to the curriculum I'll be studying with the Dr. Howlett at the Upledger Institute:
http://shop.iahe.com/Workshops/Equine

Peer-reviewed, rigorously tested work on Equine CranioSacral Therapy performed in Poland:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/315880416_Adapting_craniosacral_therapy_to_treat_horses

Video showing the resolution of a severe head shaking issue: https://www.equinecraniosacral.com/video-headshaking-successful-treatment.html

Link to various articles shared by renowned equine therapist, Maureen Rogers. Thank you Maureen!:
https://www.equinecraniosacral.com/articles.html

Organizer

Zachary Hammer Evans
Organizer
Asheville, NC

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