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It is my findings that in many cases horses are not approached in the proper manner so as to provide an effective massage for the horse. A great example of this is of the first massage therapist I hired to work on my horse. Her approach was more than just loud; it was an aggressive verbal greeting offering no sense of gentleness for the intimate bodywork in which she was to provide. Her first movement with the horse was an invasive slapping with the side of her hand along his neck, starting from the poll working down to his withers. His 16.2 stance quickly grew to at least a 17.1 with the abruptness of pressure she was using. I observed her work for the 45 minutes she spent with him, surprised and wondering at the same time if there were going to be results. He had been treated routinely and in the same manner as other horses as I later found out by others that had hired her for her services. Did I see much change in him after this? Not really as I had already made up my mind this was not going to work for me; to follow a program such as this to rehab my horse when it required so much more in my mind than what had just been performed on him.
I would conclude that before working on any animal that we are totally in touch with ourselves be it with grounding and yoga exercises or a meditation before we approach a new equine client. They will read us far beyond what we might imagine. And with this knowledge I feel that we need to open ourselves more to the valuable tools out there to help us assist us in our work. This can range from getting educated as far as using some Bach Flower Remedies and Essential Oils to some Homeopathy that is able to in many cases help the horses we work with, rehabilitate or maintain their health more efficiently. With this, one needs to be sure they are qualified in recommending certain remedies as some may contraindicate other medications or herbal remedies the horse may already be on.
How Case Studies Pertain To Massage Therapy And How It Will Affect The Massage Work I Provide
These particular case studies are only some of the few in which I have experienced throughout the years. With the reading of the book “Horse Sense For People” by Monte Roberts, it is only reinforced within myself further the value of honoring our horses with the lessons they have to teach us. If we pay attention enough we will never leave an animal that we have provided our massage services without taking something with us that we have learned. Horses in our lives for the most part I believe just want to co-habitate peacefully with us and are sources of freely running and healthy energy when not imposed with abuse or other types of neglect. True, many of the horses we are being trained to work with such as our athlete and other sport horses may very well have adapted to this kind of body work and life experience but there are many we will cross paths with in our career that are not. These are the horses I am writing of and again if one was to ask of a human being experiencing emotional trauma, the same treatment would be in line for them too as for the horse, as I have described. The best remedy in my opinion would be to put that person with a horse to help guide them through the difficult task of healing as they come from a free source energy once again that will not attempt to manipulate this individual, but to only offer them the truth; their truth.
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