Getting a Horse to Work WITH her Massage Therapist

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...]

Equine Massage for the Performance Horse

Another video rental. This one features the work of Jim Masterson. In this video he demonstrates the Masterson Method for Integrated Equine Performance Bodywork which he developed.

Like a lot of people I’ve watched horses getting massage therapy numerous times. I’ve read some books too. Sure, I’d rub on my horses but I had no illusion of thinking anything I did was actually beneficial from a massage point of view. How was I to know what area should be worked on? Or, for how long? No idea!!

Anyway, what I loved about this [more...]