The author, Heather Davis, with Cheyenne
By Heather Davis
I am a certified equine “massage” therapist, applying principles of touch to encourage horses to release old neuromuscular strain patterns and relearn how to exist without previously held pain and resistance. Much of my work is informed by the work of Ida Rolf (known as “Rolfing” or Structural Integration), osteopathy, shiatsu, and myofascial release. Many horses, when asked to “let go” of old tension and memory stored within the body’s vastly intelligent network of innervated structural soft tissue, will take some time to relax into the willingness to release. [more...]
I’m often asking people to ask themselves, where is your horse, mentally? Is he here with you or is he mentally back at the barn or with his buddies in the pasture? There are a number of things we can look at which give us clues as to what the horse is thinking about. Let’s say you are longing. The obvious things are eyes and ears of course. We can also look at the head and neck. A kink in the neck and or tension are also give aways that the horse [more...]
I’ve been working with a new horse recently. It has been so interesting because it has given me a chance to really think about what I click for in the beginning, especially when the horse isn’t “with me”. I wanted to write it down while it was still fresh.
This mare is 10 years old, and pretty set in her ways of bracing and leaving when she is uncertain.
The first session I spent just getting to know her in the stall and turning her on to c/t. She got it pretty quick.
Next session in the round pen she [more...]
