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...]
A few weeks ago I wrote about a mare I’ve been working with. I’d only had a handful of sessions with her at that time. We’ve since had a few more sessions together. Each time the mare has improved dramatically. I just love seeing these kinds of transformations. When we first started the mare, Cheyenne, was very distant. Mentally, her thoughts were so back with her buddies. As you may recall, the first time with her in the round pen was spent mainly with her wanting to hang out in one part of [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...]
I was touched by this excellent essay on the topic of Losgelassenheit, which is one of those long German words that needs a paragraph to translate. Well, here are several paragraphs which do a great job of it.
Here’s a quote to entice you to read the rest:
“Losgelassenheit, we were taught, is the most important stage in the training of the horse.
This “state” of deep relaxation allows the horse to perform movements later, without damaging his body, burning his nervous system or lose trust in the rider. It is this stage that prevents the loss of the natural paces, bad [more...]
This video features the work of Peggy Cummings. It has a lot to offer in terms of finding a balanced seat and feel and showing how these factors can really influence the horse’s relaxation and balance. There are concepts that are near and dear to my heart so it was a pleasure to see the same ideas reiterated with different words. There were a few before and after examples in which these changes were demonstrated. This is a good video watch for those who are working on establishing these most fundamental of basics in themselves and in their horse.
There were [more...]
Having been to numerous shows and clinics I am often struck by how willing people are to put up with problems (like tension, resistance, taking off, bucking) with their horse as if there is nothing that can be done about them. I really do think that the reason this happens is because people simply aren’t even aware that things could or should be better. I mean if a person knew it was reasonable to expect the horse to be calm and focused wouldn’t they be doing something about it? Sometimes the horse is young and the [more...]
Charlie is a 7 year old TWH. His owners, Jim and Donna Dehaas, who were relatively new to horses, just happened to find me after an online search for trainers in the area.
One of the problems the Dehaas’ had with Charlie was handling his feet. In fact, he’d already kicked Jim. And after slamming the farrier hard he had to be sedated for shoeing.
It didn’t need to be like that. The Dehaas’ wanted Charlie barefoot so the first order of business was getting the shoes off
Getting the shoes off would be Lauren (Gruber’s) job. But [more...]
