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Fear and the Trigger Stacking Unwind

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Both horses and riders can carry a lot of fear that blocks the joy they could be having together. Traumatic experiences can set everyone back and rightfully so. We all go into protective mode when something bad happens. Sometimes we lose confidence, in our bodies, in the world around us, and in our horses.

When I was teaching a lot of liberty work clinics, many of the people who attended had either been bullied into being pushy with their horses by trainers, or they had gotten hurt by horses. When either of those or both of those things happen, a natural reaction is to draw into oneself and find something else to do; perhaps some other way to be with horses that’s not so stressful, or put them in the pasture and leave them, saying that horses don’t need to be ridden, they’re totally happy having minimal interaction with humans. That’s all fine and true to some extent, but there is so much that is not being addressed here. It may allow the person to remain in their comfort zone or create an even narrower one, in order to accommodate their fears. And the fact they can provide a pasture and freedom is huge and wonderful! But it doesn’t develop the relationship with the horse, and it doesn’t develop the part of themselves that can really listen to the horse. Bottom line – it is all fear-based, as is bullying types of training.

While working with horses, I must be conscious of so much around me, like on every plane and in every dimension. Even with all that consciousness, something may enter my zone or my horse’s zone and upset the apple cart.

We all know that – you have your horse “de-sensitized” to large trucks, bicycles, etc. but what about that odd machine that comes down the railroad tracks that makes a strange noise? Or the new silent electric bikes that make some noise that bothers some horses? The horse may be fine with some stimuli but really worried about others.

If you stay in the arena, you may not need to experience any of these things. But horses react to things happening in or around arenas too.

A cumulative event that happens to horses and humans is trigger stacking. One bad accident occurs, or one trainer mistreats the horse, but then another insult occurs. The frightened horse falls into a ditch on the trail. The frightened horse is forced to do something he’s terrified of, and it goes on like this, until he has a build up of tension under the hood so he becomes reactive to many more things than what started it. Horses who have endured repeated trauma may freeze, shut down or explode, the same responses that humans experience when they are the victims of repeated trauma. They may do a combination of these things. Horses may seem “bomb-proof” to some people because they’re shut down, but if you take them out of whatever ”comfort zone” they have, they may explode. This is because they are living in their sympathetic nervous system, their “flight/fright/freeze” mode. We want to embody treatment and exercises that bring the horse into the parasympathetic nervous system, the “rest and relaxation” mode.

I work with a gelding who has had some rough handling in his early years, and then spent years with relatively no training, rand highly reactive to noise, vibration, sudden movements: you name it. A lot had to change for him, which it did, in the form of a wonderful, quiet new owner and some slow, considerate training. We’re still working to defuse those stressful responses because, while he has worked through a lot, he was a victim of trigger stacking in his early years.

Bodywork – Bodywork was not always something this boy could tolerate, so it was done from a distance until I could get close, and until he got his special person. Fortunately, she was studying to become a bodyworker, which helped him immensely.

Liberty exercise and ground exercise – These activities have helped this horse’s state of mind immensely, before riding and even now, while he is a riding horse. A horse started with a frayed sense of worth needs this quiet building to bring him back to himself, to feel proud of himself. Horses can be happy with this form of interaction and so can people, because there is such rich communication available.

Riding – If the horse in question is able to be ridden, the process may be slow, but it should always be rewarding for the horse and human. Not pushing, rushing, or otherwise expecting something he isn’t able to give yet. At the same time, it’s still essential in all the work to create boundaries; no pulling or stepping on you, etc.

As there is so much cruel, hurried training or lack of training in the world of horses, more horses are coming to us with more trauma. A common method of training and part of some de-sensitizing, especially for non-compliant individuals, is to flood the horse’s space with scary objects, behaviors, sudden movements, which can completely overload the nervous system. Horses who twitch a lot or shy at a lot of things may have had this beginning. These horses need to be restarted in a quiet way, without the flooding or harsh treatment, and slow introduction to new things. It’s helpful to see what the new start exposes in terms of behaviors and fears.

Nearly every horse I work with currently has some level of trauma, or has worked through a lump of it. My rescue mare came to me some years ago carrying a lot of trauma, that was lodged in various cells in her body. She was enjoying her groundwork training and the people who were kind to her at the time, but there was an emotional sludge stuck here and there.

Once I could work with her each day, we could unravel it more effectively. I have worked with other horses who have had worse emotional sludge, and depending upon the facility of the owners, bodyworkers and trainers, they have been able to release it. I use a combination of bodywork and ground exercises to bring this about. Trauma is always part of the body, but the healing takes place only when we are able to stop reacting to it. I say reacting, because we will always respond, but it doesn’t have to be reaction. For most, it’s a series of gentle shifts, for some, it takes a lifetime. While we worked, the various triggers emerged and subsided and were no longer something she had to fixate on. As she goes through life, she will not be reactive unless provoked, she will remain calm and curious in her surroundings – as long as she has proper support.

And what does that support look like? Perhaps the most important thing that must be nurtured is mutual trust. When the horse sees her person as someone she can trust, then the nervous system can move from the high anxiety sympathetic nervous system  into what we call the parasympathetic mode.

How do we develop this trust?

One way is to always be a protector to your horse. When you have your horse’s back, then your horse will have yours. He knows he can trust you.

I believe horses know what we’re saying, perhaps not the words themselves, but the intention behind them. Some people have horses all their lives and never know how to build trust with them, as long as they can ride and get where they want to go. I consider that to be a major disconnect, a disservice to the animal, and a joy the owner is missing out on.

For those who are starting out with horses, the problem is often the same, as so many riding establishments have a disconnected view. Students learn the disconnect and feel guilty for having sensitive feelings about horses, for becoming fearful because they can’t feel safe, for not having the opportunity to develop trust as well as necessary boundaries.

I assess how well horse and human are doing with this by

  • Checking in with dimensions – our front/back, side/side, up/down dimensions.
  • How well does the horse recover from a scary event, i.e., a plastic tarp blowing, a fall, trailer accident? How well does the person recover, i.e., continue to recount the scary incident, unable to move forward, etc.? Some things take longer than others to recover from.
  • How well does the horse embrace gentle work, i.e. bodywork, groundwork?

So we come full circle to the fear that began this article – a fear that has every right to be there, but that doesn’t have to stay and burrow down and remain the basis for the way people interact with horses. Like everything good in life, it takes the time it takes to build the trust, unplug the trigger stacking and subsequent reactions, and move everybody involved to authentic, thoughtful responses and safety.

Getting a Horse

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I entitled this “Getting a Horse” because horses come to us through different channels, not always through purchase or adoption. Whatever avenue they come through, getting a horse should be a thoughtful endeavor. There is no right way to do this, though It might be helpful to have a few guidelines, even if they get flung to the winds!

There are many checklists on what to look for when looking for a new horse, and they usually cite very sensible considerations. But many people have an emotional draw to a particular horse that doesn’t have much to do with common sense, but more to do with a sixth sense.

For years, I bought horses that could do what I was doing, endurance riding, though the first one was chosen because I just fell in love with her. I knew her and had been riding her for a year. Then we got into endurance riding. Even though she wasn’t the most desirable candidate for that sport (she tripped) she completed almost 800 competition miles with me. I went looking for endurance prospects after that, and I fell in love with them too. Which means, it’s possible to fall in love with a horse that can partner with you in what you enjoy doing.

There are plenty of stories of horses overcoming physical and mental challenges in sports or as pleasure horses. I hear people say, I bought this horse because she was a palomino, I fell in love with this horse right away, I felt sorry for this horse, I thought I could give this horse a better life. Or, I just lost my horse and I’m looking for one different from him or just like him. And then sometimes a horse just saunters into your life and that’s it – an unexpected foal, a neighbor can’t take their horse with them….

All of these are valid reasons as long as you are willing to put in the time and energy on your passion.

And, as the new owner, you need to be prepared for what may come down the road. If you want a horse just to love, and you don’t mind that the horse is on and off lame, or you’re a bodyworker or other therapist and you feel you can make a difference, then that will probably be a good match.

If you want to do a fast or challenging sport, then this wouldn’t be the best horse for you.

The more clear you are about what you’re looking for, the more successful you will be. When I hear, I don’t care what age or what the horse looks like, or what breed, it’s more difficult to make a good choice. Will you ultimately get frustrated if your horse can’t do what you dream of doing?

Eventually they all will grow old and not be able to join you on your wild adventures, but maybe you want them to start out in the adventure category, even if it’s just for a simple ride out from the barn.

Shelters are full of horses that are adopted into what they think are forever homes, only to be returned because they don’t measure up.  Many shelters have a good sense of who is going to be a good owner for their horses. Yet, new owners have high expectations and not all know how to give the animal the time it takes to adjust, and to get to know their new horse. Some horses just go with the flow and fit in easily. And others need time to adjust. They may not like something about their life.

Some horses have been rescued from some unimaginable neglect or cruelty. They don’t necessarily know how to behave around other horses or can be afraid of strangers.  For you the new owner, it’s like taking on a foster child. Some horses fit in and are eternally grateful. A big part of their healing can come from a new home with all they need, and the space to figure out where they are, the other horses and animals in their yard, the different sights and smells.

For many people, the objective of getting the rescue is they are very affordable, the vetting and assessment has already been done, and hopefully, someone has determined the riding level needed for that horse. Because these organizations rely largely on volunteers whom they train from the ground up, plus paid vets and farriers, the horses can have good contact with humans. There are many success stories with these organizations, which is wonderful, but there are many horses returned because they don’t fit the new owners’ vision or fit in with existing pasture mates.

Horses coming from auctions or kill pens can present other problems that are not in their descriptions.

My checklist includes some other considerations:

  • Have someone knowledgeable check their conformation. Conformation is important because it doesn’t make sense to expect a horse to achieve certain goals with bad conformation, although some horses have been known to overcome poor conformation. Still, the body doesn’t lie. Weak pasterns or hindquarters, or a swayback can be painful for a horse and make riding unpleasant for them.
  • Have a farrier, preferably your own, check the horse’s feet.
  • Have your vet check your horse’s teeth, to identify age as well as condition.
  • If you work with a horse trainer or bodyworker, their opinions could  be helpful.
  • Check to see how your horse rolls – does he or she get up and down easily?
  • Get a lameness exam.
  • Feel along the spine to see if the horse has any soreness, or get a bodyworker to assess that and the entire body that way.
  • Note the horse’s demeanor – is he or she curious or shut down? A number of horses are shut down and come from all walks of life – high performance, low performance, rescues, horses who have been alone for a long time.
  • Find out the horse’s social habits and preferences – does this horse get along with other horses, does he eat all the food when in a group, is he particularly studdy with mares, etc.?
  • Size – is the horse the right size for your body and physical capabilities?
  • Do you have the necessary riding and/or horsemanship skills for the horse?
  • Observe coat, posture, facial expression, eyes, demeanor, leg straightness and stance.
  • How does the horse make you feel?
  • Do you already know the horse?
  • How does the horse connect with you?
  • Do you feel you are making this decision with a clear heart?

This last one is perhaps most important, because you need the life force for some of the things that may come up in your new journey.

Once you’ve checked out all these things or those that are pertinent, in addition to the usual health checkups, take stock of your own capabilities and expectations. Are these problems I can solve or do they feel like I’m on overwhelm?

What kind of outside help can I get, or do I need, to support this horse and myself?

It’s much easier to make a good decision before you bring your new horse home. Years ago, someone I knew bought a coon-footed horse with possible ringbone from a reputable breeder. It was immediately obvious to me that the horse would have problems with soundness throughout its life, even though at the onset, he was sound. The new owner was madly in love with this horse and kept him throughout his life, spent thousands of dollars which seem irrelevant when you want to make your horse well, and nursed him through one disappointing veterinary catastrophe after another.

This horse was fortunate to end up with such an owner, as many people would send the horse on to an uncertain future.

Because horses aren’t cheap to keep, this can often end someone’s aspiration of going on to do great things in a particular sport. Or it can be life changing in other ways: send the owner off in an exploration of how to help their horse get better and learn a lot in the process.

Another example is a rescue mare who is beautifully built and very pretty, but has so much pain in her body she doesn’t enjoy riding. She has been adopted out a few times and comes back because she charges at her handler in the round pen and won’t stand for mounting. This mare could have an ulcer, musculoskeletal or other physical problems making her really unhappy. Can this pain be reduced to a manageable level so her behavioral problems can diminish and she can enjoy life?

There is a flow to all of this and if you get into the flow and recognize what your heart’s desire is and what you want to and can do, then it will probably work out okay. There are more people these days who want a horse to care for, to provide something special for, than ever before. There are those with good skills who realize they can help a certain horse flourish, so they take on that horse, rather than go buy one that already has training.

The journey you embark on will have its own qualities and shape you and your new horse!  In every horse, there is a gem waiting to be burnished. Some horses from the worst beginnings can become your best life partners, and make you forever glad you took the chance on them.

No Pain – Lots of Gain!

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We hear a lot about fear-based horse training. We don’t hear much about how bodywork can raise a horse’s fear threshold if done without regard to his/her feelings.

It’s very common for horses to be afraid of bodywork, especially if they have received fear-based training or a number of unpleasant veterinary procedures. Of course, veterinary procedures and surgeries are often non-negotiable. When I have a procedure personally, I can only imagine what that feels like to the horse who doesn’t understand why it’s being done to him or her.

The number of horses who have huge built in resistance is astronomical, and also some of those horses have shut down emotionally to be able to tolerate what has been done to them. Just look at the overflowing horse shelters. A huge number of these horses have arrived at the shelter abused, malnourished and neglected. Many come in afraid of the farrier, the vet, being caught, needles, lifting their hooves, being ridden – the list is endless. They may be in a lot of pain as well. They have an elaborate network of resistances holding them together, yet they are fragile, reactive or shut down, stuck in their flight/fright/freeze mode. In order to receive basic veterinary and farrier care, some may need to be sedated.

The inquiry phase of bodywork.

If you come to one of those horses with intrusive bodywork techniques, and that horse isn’t happy to see you, don’t take it personally. I see many of these horses who are overly cautious about what I might do to them. How do I work with them, relax them? First of all, I work on being as unthreatening as I possibly can be. And I don’t mean acting like I’m unthreatening, I mean really being unthreatening. I check in with myself – where are my resistances? Where might a horse pick up something that makes them nervous? I make sure I’m centered, that I’m not distracted, that I am just being. I have had a lot of practice doing this, but I think it’s practice worth investing in. Just be, chat with the horse a little. Lay your hand in front of the withers and talk softly. You may need to touch sore spots just to get information, but that part can wait until the horse is more relaxed.

As horse people, we can make countless decisions for our horses. One decision we can make is to hire only people who will treat our horse kindly. Of course, we need to have vets doing things that are unpleasant, as those procedures are designed to save lives. Vets are fundamentally kind, in my opinion. They are not the subject of this article.

If your horse is continually miserable or reactive during a visit from any practitioner, it may be worthwhile to re-evaluate that professional relationship.

If it takes me half a session to get a horse relaxed enough to accept and absorb the work I’m doing, I want to look at the whole picture. Is the horse in a lot of pain? What is the horse’s trauma history? Who else works with this horse and how?

Some horses have received so much abuse that they need a lot of work emotionally and psychically. They may be in their forever home, but their trauma is very deep rooted and challenging to change. Hopefully, owners will invest in this rehabilitative process. Some horses may be enduring ongoing veterinary treatments that are stressing them out.

I worked consistently with a horse who would get better after the session but the next week, would be angry and upset again. I learned later that she was being abused by a trainer in the time in between. It is similar  to when a child is being continually abused in the home, and gets better with various programs offered at school. But the child can’t move forward in development and remains in a holding pattern because the parental abuse brings the child right back to the origin of the problem, reinforcing it as other positive influences are trying to heal it. This is the agony of all child protective services as well.

I cannot move forward with the healing work if the animal is going to go back into the abusive situation.

Sometimes I find that the owner isn’t aware of what other professionals are doing with their horses.

Finding the right professionals requires moving out of our comfort zone sometimes, where we are not expecting pain to be part of the healing process unless it is a veterinary procedure. Humans are accustomed to expecting pain – even exercise programs are designed around the “no pain – no gain” principle. When bodybuilders come for a human bodywork session, very often they want to push against me with brute force when I ask for an isometric exercise. I will then ask them to just “think it.” This can be a new concept to those who are accustomed to leaving the gym like limp noodles.

There is a time and place for everything. The work at the gym is exercise. I break it down this way – bodywork, stretching and then exercise. The bodywork should prepare or rehabilitate the body without expecting anything of it and allow it to self-correct. The stretching keeps muscles and fascia supple so the body doesn’t seize up when it gets to the exercise part. The exercise keeps the body moving, encourages circulation and therefore nourishes the blood supply and all the organs, soft tissue and structure. It’s best to have all three, but if the body is injured and can’t exercise, then the other two must be employed before we can expect more from the body. We must give the body the right information to set it on its path for healing.

If the bodywork is too vigorous and sets the individual back, then it will take days to recover from it. Many people don’t know if the bodywork their animal is receiving is doing any good, but they keep paying for it because others at the barn are using the same person. It’s a routine, sort of like getting the teeth floated, vaccinations or using the same trainer. In their minds, if they continue to do it, they are doing a good thing for their horse. Or there is peer pressure and they may be afraid to change. Important information about healthy options needs to be made available.

Bodywork that causes beings to go into recoil and not want to engage is not allowing the body to find its own self-corrective response. Why is this important? Because when we engage the self-corrective response, ask the body which way it likes to go, what’s its preference, it comes forward and there is life and change in its response. Otherwise, the body is not a participant. It’s plain and simple. The body is being “done to” rather than engaged with.

A lot of people think of bodywork as a “spa” treatment only, unaware of the vast therapeutic benefits of a good session. A session should encompass mental and spirit well-being as well as deep musculoskeletal, fascia and visceral. I say “spirit” well-being instead of spiritual because I don’t mean it to be a religious experience, I mean that we are working with the very unique, individual spirit of the animal, on a level it can absorb and embrace.

Fortunately, awareness of animals’ voices is increasing. There are fewer people thumping on horses without regard to how they are receiving therapeutic work and more people eager to take the time to really be with the horse for however short time they have to make a difference. Without burning bridges, it’s up to us to build a team of worthwhile professionals who reflect the goals we have for our equines.

What changes should you look for in your horse during or after a bodywork session?

Certified Equine Body Balance Practitioner Kelly Reed works intuitively and gently to achieve full relaxation and engagement.

• In most cases, the horse should have better flexibility after the session, the tissue moving under the skin fluidly, topline relaxed.
• The limbs and joints should move better, and in cases of lameness, the horse should stride better if not be free of signs of lameness. These are individual cases.
• The horse should have improved respiration.
• Any horse should have a softer or brighter look in his/her eye and be less worried, if he/she was a worried one before. The horse should be more engaged.
• A horse who is immobile due to stall rest or laminitis will have some tissue changes and perhaps improvement in small movement.
• Organic changes will also result in relaxation, dropping of tension, better overall movement; in some cases, better digestion, greater energy.

Onto the Mesa

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As my horse and I travel up the rise of the one track trail onto the mesa it feels and looks different somehow. Not just the weather has kept me away for a few months. Injuries, new horse training. All that went before falls away as we get to experience the lightness of steps and rhythm of the shift in terrain.

At last, we have some beautiful weather. The breeze carries scents of new growth, perhaps some old loamy plant material enriching the earth. We hear and feel the slight tremble of small animals emerging from the land, ready to run in the sun, aware of us as we have been gone for many months.

In our part of the world, we have had a difficult winter. Footing has been terrible for long stretches and the cold reached into the bones and leached every desire to even buckle the girth. There were fewer days to ride or do any groundwork with horses.

The horses and I became restless. My horse had an injury, a pull to the hamstrings from whacking the points of his hips while charging through a half open gate.

There was a vet visit and a lot of bodywork in the beginning, then less as time went on. My vet told me that most horses would recover from that injury in six to nine months, but mine would probably recover in two-three months. It took a little more than one month.

What did I do? We took walks and did bodywork.

I had surgery last year, and certainly the surgery went well, and everything has visibly and deeply healed. But what has happened during the healing process? Different things have popped up – one of the first things was, my organs felt they had been reorganized. My joints would take turns complaining. Next, I no longer could get on my horse from the ground but need a mounting block. That will change, but for now that’s my reality. My surgeon was remarkably sensitive to my report and is happy that I’m healing faster than he expected.

What I find is my expectations can get in the way of my healing. My impatience with not being one hundred percent isn’t helpful. If I remain attentive I’m much better able to address the changes my body is making. If we think about our own bodies and how we might feel if we were the horse, when the horse is going through something, we might be able to have more patience with their process.

I found it hardest to deal with not being able to get into the saddle, or walk far. I can get remarkably out of touch with my own body. Many horse people are this way. This was a time for me to become extremely attentive. Every time is this time, but when something isn’t quite right, I become acutely aware of the need.

But back to the mesa, letting all those thoughts fall behind. In the saddle, I feel as though I’m home. We have at last achieved a place where we can comfortably ride out, the footing is good, the sun is out, there is no need to bring back the recent past as it is gone, let it go on the light breeze and keep eyes up on that magical horizon.

I feel when I am riding this horse that we have known each other forever, before we ever met in person, before I ever slipped on his back. There is something amoebic about it, like a James Michener novel, a “knowing” from the beginning of time. It took no time at all to come together as person and horse, horse and rider. He was already trained but highly nervous in his response to life. A horse that made me feel good because it was apparent that it was all about the relationship and the relationship was easy from the beginning. We were what each other wanted and needed.  It wasn’t one of those “relationship-building” challenges we hear so much about.

And now as we take in the beautiful spring light and easy whisper of the grasses, it feels like we have passed through a winter of quiet as well as some turmoil together, to come out of it to this. The ride is the reward for the bleakness of winter, but also the creativity discovered in winter, finding new ways to work with pain and mobility, and revisiting old ones.

Reaching a stopping point, there is nothing like sitting on a horse who is letting out a big sigh, maybe a sneeze. It reverberates through his body, and my body rises and expands with that breath, and we can exhale together. Yes, at last, we are sitting here, viewing the landscape, in love with everything again.

 

A Message for the New Year

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Jazzie and Red together.

In October we lost my mare Jazzie, who was just shy of her 19th birthday. It has been emotionally tough to live without her huge presence in our lives. She is irreplaceable, and yet I draw some comfort knowing she is watching over us and will continue to be a powerful influence.

I adopted a young grade Arabian mare, whom I named Red (or she named herself), four years old. She came from a wonderful rehab and rescue center in Santa Fe, which provided a loving respite from previous traumatic  experiences.

Red isn’t a replacement, she is her own horse. She is young and curious about everything, and especially her interactions with humans and her training. She loves her training. What I’m seeing in her is that everything is an adventure. While her first years were fraught with uncertainty, fear and mistreatment, when she didn’t want anyone to catch or touch her, she has now landed somewhere where everyone listens to her and she wants to listen.

The loss of Jazzie and the introduction of Red are changing my teaching. I relied so heavily on Jazzie’s intelligence in terms of teaching; her sixth sense as far as knowing what a student needed to know, or even what was needed in a teaching video. Now I seek to find out what innate intelligence is available in the new herd. I come into awareness of their changing relationships, and how they relied on each other for certain strengths and roles. They have reorganized since Jazzie’s passing. They make it work.

The new configuration.

This experience with Red is also showing me the interface between training and bodywork. I can see that when Red doesn’t respond to something I want her to do, it has been when she has felt unable to do it. She has either frozen in place or felt her body imbalance stick her somewhere that makes it impossible to turn or lower her head, or turn to the right.

It has been a learning process for me, asking questions, where is she stuck, where is the brace in her body? And then going in and softening, loosening, however that looks. Some days have been all about that, softening, finding the connection in the body so it could ease its defensive posture. How many defensive postures could a young mare hold?

Red has come to the place where she can position her body where she wants me to work. This is something I love to see in horses I work with, as it demonstrates a recognition of what I can offer and their connection to it, at the same time, recognizing that they can use the stimulus given and self-correct.

Primarily with everything we’re doing, it takes the time it takes. If the resistance isn’t removed then there is nowhere to go, there is no pushing through it to the other side. If there is no physical resistance there may sometimes be emotional resistance because an avoidance habit was formed in the past or she was taught something that wasn’t useful. I need to manage my energy so as not fall into Red’s stuff, ask in the right way, to remind her of what she is capable of.

This is not a horse that you would put the traditional “30 days” on and then think all was good to go. Probably that doesn’t work for 99% of the horses out there, but given economics and the way people perceive training and horses, it’s a norm, though not a very sustainable one.

I’m seeing more bridges between bodywork and training. We work with the nervous system in each of these practices, if we do it right. Where the horse is excitable (flight/fright), we calm it. Where it is too sluggish (rest/relaxation), we enliven it.  With good work on the nervous system, a horse can usually self-regulate and not immediately go into high alert and react over everything.

I have been fortunate enough to have a few “horses of a lifetime,” not just one. Each one has different gifts and teaches me something new. When they feel comfortable in their home, they feel heard and seen, then they will show their gifts. Many horses go through life without showing their true gifts to people, because there are many people who won’t see the gifts even if hit in the face with them. Horses don’t “throw pearls before swine,” as the saying goes. Some of mine have been horses of a lifetime in spite of me and my agendas at the time. I listen better now. I’m not so driven.

What is the purpose of this message, you might ask? Is it about the new horse, mourning the loss of a deceased horse, training or bodywork?

It’s about everything. It’s about the changes that we make to accommodate the new, while mourning the loss of the old. It’s about the evolution of body and training, and how training is absorbed and perceived by each individual being.

I’m reminded of how Jazzie would raised her leg and made sure a student was holding it correctly and compressing into the perfect place that would initiate change for her. I will remember how she positioned herself so that the student or I would get the hint of where to work next. And her incredible intuition with bodywork in the saddle comes to me each time I climb in the saddle, creating a valuable change for both horse and rider.

Jazzie was very good at what she did; she was patient and impatient simultaneously, and perhaps so because on some level, she knew she didn’t have a long time on this earth. Humans needed to get it right quickly. Such a well-adjusted, sensible mare was valuable for those who were less well-adjusted and sensible and pure joy for everyone else.

I work with performance horses, race horses, horses in training, geriatric horses, injured horses, traumatized horses, pregnant mares and newborn foals, horses who are getting ready to pass from this world and those passed.  I work with the people who love them. They are all on different paths, at their own tempos.

With the dawning of the new year, I feel a shift in the work I do. I may work with deepening the links between people and horses, or bodywork as a more integral support for training. Very often what isn’t working for a horse isn’t working for the people either.

My wish is that you will deepen your experience in 2023, either on your own, in practice, with or without horses, or in classes. Whatever moves you. This quiet, cold time of winter (and not for those in the southern hemisphere, of course!) is open to introspection and weaving together a new beginning, not a replacement for what was, but a lengthening of “being” into the coming months.

Meditation for a New Year

alternative therapies, animal communication, bodywork, chakras, dogs, energy work, Equine Body Balance, equines, exercise, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horses, Ortho-Bionomy, sacred spaces, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , ,

As I have received so many Happy New Year messages from so many, I feel compelled to write one too. There is an eagerness, a hopefulness that this year will be better than the last. New year’s resolutions are made and discarded at the first temptation to do otherwise. Perhaps because they put more expectations on us.

“Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come,

Whispering ‘it will be happier’.” Alfred Lord Tennyson

So maybe we talk about something else – how it’s possible to reach out to people and animals across the planet, not just in our backyard? That while in some parts of the world you might be snowed in or otherwise unable to go minister to somebody who needs it, you can send a message. Not just ‘I’m thinking of you, hearts and prayers,’ but a message from my heart to yours.  They may live five thousand miles away. Or if the body is not responding well at all, how about just sitting with the person or animal, being with them? If you can’t sit still for whatever reason, do something.

One morning recently I could not take care of someone’s animal physically, and so I decided to make bread. I decided then to make the bread in honor of that animal, and lo and behold the animal got up and started moving. In a way, taking the pressure off, just doing stuff, may have made a difference.

The message sent does not carry any baggage; it’s not a pushing or moving of energy, it’s  just an inquiry, or a sitting with a situation, not influencing a particular outcome.

With one animal I worked with at distance over the holidays, at first she couldn’t bear my making contact. I said in that case, I’ll just be over here, and sit with you but not too close. After that, she began to inch closer and began to share herself. It was completely her decision.

How do we work without expectation to embody a sense of well-being in ourselves and others?

A way to begin this may be as follows:

Hold a meditation for the new year. I strongly suggest getting comfortable, with a cup of your favorite tea or coffee.

Begin with the body, your body and include your animal bodies. Begin with the space between the big and next toe and just hold it and see what you feel. Do you feel a connection to another part of you? Does it hold a memory? If so, just remember that but move on to another part – the lower leg, the knee, the hips, the buttocks. Some of these areas may hold a memory of pain, a surgery, a fall. If you feel you’re getting plugged up there for some reason, or the body doesn’t want you there, leave it and move on up the body. If you’re working with an animal at the same time, the animal may have areas it feels at the same time as you, or different ones that pull at you, areas it wants to avoid or becomes sad with upon contact.

So acknowledge those sensitive areas and move on. Move on to the midsection, remember you pass through various chakras at the same time, where different energies are held. You don’t have to identify those now, you can simply know that you have a root chakra, sacral, solar plexus, heart, throat, third eye and crown. At any one of those places along the midline and the band surrounding it laterally on both sides (heart will include shoulders, for example), you may hold energies of either good or bad things. Just the recognition may bring a certain peace. If it doesn’t, move on to a new location.

You can hold your hands upturned at your sides and feel warmth grow in your hands. These are the hands that can touch or simply hold energy for others, and for yourself.

Moving up through the heart area – what do you feel? During this colder season, sometimes the chest area becomes compressed, warding off cold, and the heart becomes squashed in there. It needs room to feel everything it can feel.

Then move further up to the throat, the third eye above your eyebrows, and crown at the center of the top of your head.

Check now and see what parts of you feel lit up, alive. Which are they? Connect one of them to an area that doesn’t feel so alive or is in pain or emotional turmoil, and see what happens.

Sometimes just gently cupping the face area can relax the tension collected by frowns, tense jaws, concentration, worries. Once recognized, you may move to a place of seeing differently, quietly, letting peace drape around you like a soft blanket.

To come out of the meditation when ready, retrace your journey from head to feet, slowly, checking in with each area. See how it feels. Is there still tension or disturbance there or has it gone? Is a painful place less troubled? Does another area call you? Check with your animals as you retrace the journey with them.

In this small meditation, your body and/or your animal’s body gets to have a voice. It is given space to move and decide, or not.

This is what I want for my new year – to enter a realm of possibility for healing without a list of expectations.

 

A Healing Journey is an Historic Journey

alternative therapies, animal communication, bodywork, energy work, Equine Body Balance, equines, exercise, healing, herd behavior, horsemanship, horses, Ortho-Bionomy, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , ,

A healing journey is specific, non-specific, historic, full of layers and wondrous avenues of enlightenment. The layers that developed first – en utero, at birth – will be deepest in the body, and the last ones to heal. Perhaps we can go farther back than that – generations that will heal last, if at all in this lifetime. The healing journey is one of seeking to unravel those layers in the body’s time, as it has a time of its own. Seeking self-correction.

With minor injuries  the person or animal may not need veterinary or therapeutic care at all, it will deal with it on its own. If one needs to see a bodyworker, then one or two sessions will suffice at getting the body back on track.

When I talk about injury, that injury could be internal or external, it could be musculoskeletal, visceral, neurological, circulatory, emotional, psychological, psychic…

Rehab is a process. Perhaps the person doesn’t want to get started because he or she has developed a system of compensation that holds together pretty well. This new wrinkle in health is an annoyance, something to be flicked away like a fly.

The body is constantly making adaptations. Every time the body gets injured or diseased it launches a response to compensate so that it can keep on trucking.

When the injury is repetitive, and comes from a major event or series of major events, then the symptoms are going to remain or morph. The horse whose hind end keeps dropping out from under him in work, for example, will require regular maintenance. The person who has had a traumatic shoulder injury may need support after physical therapy has ended. Bodies with a number of compensations and lacking vitality are of course going to have more trouble and possibly be more prone to re-injury, so the added support will be paramount in their healing.

Unfortunately for all concerned, the longer the injury exists and the larger in magnitude it is, including repetitive injury, it will create a linked compensation pattern throughout the entire body.

Horses demonstrate to us repetitive stress in so many ways. They are subjected to repetitive activities – training, carrying people with unaddressed repetitive stress and compensatory patterns, saddles, bridles, other tack, trailering, abuse, repetitive behaviors.

Fascia is a huge component to the musculo-skeletal system as it adapts and compensates for injury.  Ortho-Bionomy can address fascial challenges, not just what is called “myofascial” work. Fascia envelops every bodily structure, not just skeleton and muscles. Soft tissue – fascia, muscle, tendons and ligaments will change quickly when injured but can take much longer to recover. The bones, the organs protected by bones and other tissues are also connected and need help.

Untouched, repetitive stress patterns deepen in the tissues and muscles will reduce in size as well as increase in size. You can see this in horses very clearly in the gluteal muscles – where one part of the gluteal structure will be flaccid and another will be rock hard. Or, in the hamstrings, where the hamstrings are rigid and restricting the hocks and stifles while the gluteals will be flaccid, almost unresponsive. At this point the joints, ligaments and tendons are being pulled unevenly by muscles. All this can cause pain in hocks, stifles, ligaments, and create spinal and hoof problems.

Without care, the bones will begin to compensate for the pulls and slacks in the whole system. It is a tensegrity system, where tension in one area creates slack in another, and everything is off balance. The bones may develop arthritic changes as a result – all the way through the horse – jaw, poll, neck, spine, hocks – though the original insult may have begun somewhere in the hindquarter. Once degeneration occurs in the bone then the opportunity to rehabilitate is lessened.

This gives us an idea of rehabilitation – it isn’t an overnight process in these cases. It needs to take place slowly, addressing each layer as an individual, peeling them back as the body is able to address them.

Supporting exercises can be huge for the body that has been stuck in one posture for what seems like forever.  The exercise will be gentle, appropriate to the body’s ability to respond and use the movement to its advantage. Most likely the recipe will not include belly lifts, tail pulls or for humans, crunches or push-ups. Ground poles, conscious walking exercise, straight lines in some cases, a little hill work maybe, also looking at what’s available in the horse’s environment to help him or her recover. For humans, light stretching and body awareness.

My primary vision is to “meet the body where it is,” where that is in space and time, and address what it is willing and able  to show at any given time. This way, the body is able to take the new stimulus and create wondrous avenues of enlightenment – from the place we’re working to include somewhere else in the body.

We move away from the looking at what’s wrong – it’s this or it’s that, because while surely it is those things, the compensation is coming from a lot of places and the body wants to be addressed as a whole. Not only will it show its compensation, it will show its strengths – where it can move and where it is light and receptive.

For me, this is where I begin – the most receptive, enlightened part of the being.

 

Finding Gratitude

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Nearly everyone I speak to is looking forward to 2020 being over with. Whatever our belief systems are, this has been a tough year for everyone. Many know people ill with Covid or who have passed on. Many have lost jobs and income as a result of it. The continual shuttering and re-opening of an economy is taking its toll.

With each new onslaught, it becomes more difficult to rally. Overall, while most of us take great care with our families, friends and co-workers, we stand by and watch carelessness run rampant on a global scale on a daily basis. To me, it means we become more careful, and more conscientious, and provide excellence wherever we can, continuing on what we started. Health care workers and those providing food are tirelessly putting their lives on the line for the rest of us, so we can stay home and remain safe. It makes sense to support them in every way we can.

This year, as a result of all this, Thanksgiving has shifted its tone. It is the tone of watchfulness and fear, coupled with the deep disappointment of not being able to hold our traditional family gatherings the way we always have done. How can we still enjoy ourselves?

Several grocery stores have shut down just before Thanksgiving here, so that puts additional strain on the ones that can remain open. While I might have cooked certain things for Thanksgiving dinner, now I will improvise. And other than the Zoom and FaceTime calls, Thanksgiving will pass like any other day for us, as we just stay home, hunkered down with whatever food we have purchased for those who live in the household only. Maybe watch “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.” No running out to buy last minute whipped cream or nuts.

I think about what we are going through this year as an opportunity to express gratitude. America is not my native country, but I have lived here most of my life.  I love it here, I love wide open spaces and the ability, particularly here in New Mexico, to have places to go where there aren’t people if you need to get away from it all. Now getting away from it all takes on a new meaning.

The current situation, while separating us, can also serve to bring us together, recognizing the plight of others, recognizing how much community means to us.

If I see someone I know while riding my horse, it’s exciting. We are muffled behind masks and yet there is that sense of community that prevails, of sharing, getting to see each other even from afar.

I have put together a list – sort of like the song “My Favorite Things” – a “raindrops on roses” list of things I’m grateful for. If I do this every day, gratitude becomes more attainable, not so deeply buried under other concerns.

  1. The sharing of thoughts and feelings over the phone, movies and recipes! The phone has become more important!
  2. New or renewed interests: art, vegetable gardening
  3. The availability of new knowledge and great students (via Zoom!)
  4. Family and friends
  5. Working outdoors – even when it’s cold!
  6. Meditation
  7. Animals of all kinds
  8. Natural beauty
  9. Sense of calm
  10. Riding

Can we still have adventures? Yes, we can. When we can return to normal activities, will we remember?

Stanley George and Violet Hunt, my grandparents

My family grew up in wartime London. My mother never forgot rationing, being without food, needing warm clothes and shoes. Experience like that shapes you, makes you careful about what you spend your money on, makes you take care of things and people more than perhaps you did before. When I would puzzle over why she would save things, use up scraps, she would tell me what it was like for her as a teenager. She didn’t have the freedom to be wasteful or careless.

This is nothing in comparison, and there were those far less fortunate then as now. Our current situation is a lesson in caring, gratitude for what we have, and conservation. For those who are impatient or tired of it all, it won’t last forever. Nothing ever does. Can we have adventures? Of course we can. Each morning, we awaken to a new adventure. And gratitude for what we have helps us grow our resilience, which we sorely need right now.

I would love to hear others’ gratitude lists. In the meantime, have a Happy Thanksgiving, whatever that turns out to be.

Science Proves Gratitude is Key to Well Being

While I haven’t limited my grateful list to topics of six words, this New York Times article asks readers to:

Tell Us What You’re Grateful For, in Six Words

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Riding Through the Senses with Ortho-Bionomy

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I was sitting on my mare Jazzie the other day and thinking about how to present the vast amount of material there is for the Mounted Body Balance™ – In the Saddle classes. Many people ask, well why would I do that if I’m taking a riding lesson? I get a massage regularly, why would I do this?

Well, a riding lesson focuses on you in the saddle, in the most efficient posture to get your horse to do what you would like her to do. It may involve some horse management skills. A good lesson will also work on you psychologically – what you’re bringing to the relationship that may or may not be helpful. A massage is great, but it doesn’t ask you to engage with each part of your body and address how it relates to the animal’s body when you’re in the saddle. Further, it allows you to fall asleep, which is not advisable while in the saddle!

Mounted Body Balance™ is an integrated, wholistic, non-force approach of horse and rider that puts us in touch with our senses. When riding we are connecting spine to spine with the horse. Our spine meets the horse’s at one critical point, where our sit bones and tailbone meet the thoracics of the horse. In bodywork for both horse and rider, we are looking at what is available in each body, and working with enhancing that availability for greater comfort and ease. We can also use that strength that we find in one body to help the other body in that same or another area that may not be as available.

For example, when my neck is tight, perhaps instead of directly working with neck rotations on me,  I can look at my mare’s neck and see if she has any fill or hardness there. Then I can ask my mare to do side bends and release her neck while I’m on her back. As it turns out, this movement can release the tension in my own neck.

Jazzie has tension along her thoracics. While thinking about my upcoming class, I sat in the saddle with the awareness that I am sitting on her mid-thoracics, and I did an technique we call in Ortho-Bionomy©, “disc-fluffing.” (See illustrations in the article). Drop your head forward and pull shoulders forward and cross your arms across your chest. Then press down on and rock your shoulders in this position. This released my thoracic spine.  After we did this exercise on me, Jazzie moved forward more boldly. I noticed the flow of her spine underneath me and the rhythm of her ribcage was more forward as well.

In the saddle, I can reach for the parts of the horse that are accessible. I can work with her sacrum by reaching behind me and feel its preferred position. My touch is always gentle. I can touch my own sternum and reach down and touch hers as well, and ask the question, are our sternums balanced? With a bigger horse, you may have to dismount to access certain parts of the body effectively.

All of us – horse and human – hold tension in our bodies and we also have areas that just don’t speak. We have places that don’t work as well as others. My right leg can get funky in the hip socket, for example. I could sit up there and worry about what a terrible rider I am and I shouldn’t ride because I’m not always symmetrical and blah blah blah, but if I focus on all the dysfunction, then I am missing what my body can do, and how it can support the areas that aren’t working quite so well. My horse has stuff going on in her hips also. I focus on the healing available in her body. And guess what? Even though she has that stuff, she is a beautiful mover. I sit on her, and I feel each part of me and her, and focus on the parts that work really well while holding an awareness of what I’d like to have shift.

When I do that, she comes up to meet me, and she will travel beautifully to support my not-so-perfect-body in a way that works for both of us, without restrictive compensation. It helps my body feel better too.

When the horse knows he or she can influence your body for the greater good, he or she will seek that.

With Ortho-Bionomy© for both horse and rider, we can learn what is holding up the bus. Riding instructors have wonderful ways of encouraging the horse forward, ways for riders’ to hold their legs so that the legs are not being counterproductive for the horse, or to sit correctly so as not to impede the horse’s movement – all of that has to do with the anatomy and the relationship of the two bodies working in sync, or not.

We are often trying to solve certain problems: spooky horse, horse not moving forward, going too fast, short-strided, unbalanced, throwing its head, bucking, anxiety. These problems can be addressed through this form of bodywork.

Many riders hold tension in their upper thoracics while riding. In fact, more experienced riders often have more tension in that region. How does this translate to the horse?  If the horse is dealing with tension in the lumbar but has great strength in his own thoracics, we can work with the horse’s thoracics to help the rider’s. When he can loosen up in that region and flow better – ribs as well – so can his rider.

The horse with lumbar trouble often won’t move forward freely. If we open up the spine, and check the rider’s engagement with the spine, then the horse can move forward more easily. We may also need to check saddle fit with both thoracic and lumbar pain, for both horse and rider.

Certainly, work can be done on some of these issues independently of the horse/rider relationship, and I do that in many cases where a person may need individual table work ahead of a horse/rider session, or the horse needs to receive an entire session on his own. If someone has major back trouble, I’m going to work on that, and same with the horse. But once the bodies are free of great inhibition, we can bring them together and see where they can strengthen and enhance each other, and bring space into the relationship that may have been restricted before.

Simple and very regular preparatory techniques that people do to prepare to ride are great ways of beginning this work. While grooming your horse you can feel along the spine for any irregularities. If you don’t know anatomy, it’s helpful to get a simple equine anatomy book – and a human one while you’re at it! Learn where the bones are. Everything else is related to or attached to the bones in some way, so it’s a great place to start.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While this may seem elementary, walk your horse out to check his or her gait. Then check your tack when you tack up. While I was endurance riding, the care of the horse was a high priority. I would trot out my horse the morning of the ride before tacking up to make sure he was going well. I would check all my tack before leaving for the ride and the night before the ride. These are good habits to get into even if you’re just going out for a short ride.

After that I may do a little bit of bodywork on areas I see are not working so well on my horse, and stretch out myself.  You can apply your own exercises, such as qi gong, yoga, Feldenkrais, etc. and in Ortho-Bionomy© we have a lot of self-care exercises for people and ones you can do for your horse. Some of them I have adapted to use in the saddle as well.

This work evolves, so that after awhile you may find you no longer have that trouble with your right knee, for example, and the horse is no longer stiff while crossing over behind to the left, but some other issue has shown itself and so you’ll  need to adapt your program to those changes.

I teach this to people so that they can begin to sense the changes themselves. I can show you how to do many things, but then it’s up to you to figure out when to use them and when you may need to try something else. Figuring this out is a lifelong process, although sometimes we’re lucky enough to have some quick fixes. At the same time, you get better at recognizing areas of strength and how to palpate tissue. This approach can be integrated into your riding lessons, performance or trail riding activity and your more sedentary horse work.

Much thought has been given over centuries to how to ride efficiently and so as to bring out the best in the horse and rider.  With the Mounted Body Balance™ approach, an older horse can move better than he or she ever has and so can her rider.  Life isn’t static so we can’t guarantee that any of us are not going to have some physical challenges, but there is a lot we can solve and make more comfortable with this type of work. A horse may be able to help you with your body issues without impairing his/her own stride or balance. Of course, aging will limit what you can do but why not try to do what you love comfortably for as long as you can? As a physical therapist friend of mine says, “I’m here to help you be able to do what you love for longer.”

I take her words to heart. When we travel down the trail, I can feel Jazzie’s rhythmic strides, I can feel where my body may not be quite right and make the adjustments and I can feel her shift to accommodate or make that easier for me. Our senses are alive as our bodies connect, as we trot along a well-known path, with deepening knowledge of ourselves – together.

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Contact me for private sessions. info@susansmithsantafe.com or through the website.

 

 

Healing Herds, Movement and Community

animal communication, barefoot hooves, bodywork, chakras, energy work, Equine Body Balance, equines, exercise, fear, geriatric horses, healing, herd behavior, herd dynamics, horse training, horsemanship, horses, Horses at Liberty Foundation Training, liberty rein, Liberty training, Ortho-Bionomy, rescue horses, riding, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , ,

The two horses rub each other’s necks, ferreting out the itchy or sore spots in each other. How do they know to do this? Is their mutual grooming actually bodywork?

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