Schwartz Gets a Massage

Bit of Honey Training has several nicknames.  One is Kamp Kim for the horses who are coming to learn different skills.  Another is Kim's Fat Kamp for the really overweight horses who come to get fit for the upcoming riding season.  Some horses arrive with behavioral issues such as bucking or other problems, and their owners often tell the horses that they are going to Boot Kamp.  However, once the horses get here and everyone realizes that we address WHY certain behaviors occur, they realize this is less boot camp and more of a spa.  I address all the components of a horse's life, including diet and nutrition, social and psychological needs, tack fitting, and use a variety of modalities to help make the horses comfortable doing their jobs.  One of these modalities is massage, and our massage therapist came out this weekend to work on both Schwartz and Monty.

I often find some body soreness on horses who come from the track because they are under great stress physically and mentally when in race training.  For a variety of reasons, sometimes the horses have a hard time loosening up and relaxing into their new lifestyles.  Their bodies will hold tension and stress, and sometimes a massage or two is just what they need to really let go of those old muscle holding patterns.  So the order of the day for Schwartz and Monty was massage.

I was unsure of how Schwartz in particular would respond to the massage.  He wants to be a laid back fellow but he is a worrier, and I didn't know how he would respond to being touched all over by a new person.  My massage therapist is Amy Kuehl.  She holds a level 3 RMSAAM massage certification, and is certified to do kinesiotaping on horses, which I especially like for my rehabilitation cases and sports injuries.  She combines her knowledge of equine anatomy with her education regarding techniques to tailor individual massages and tapings that will be most beneficial to each individual horse.  As an added bonus she has experience in a variety of riding disciplines and understands the varying demands placed on horses in different sports.  Her facebook page, Connective Touch Equine Massage, can be viewed here:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Connective-Touch-Equine-Massage-LLC/739530479396970

It turned out that Schwartz really liked his massage.  A week ago he was incredibly body sore and reactive when the veterinarian did an evaluation and then a first acupuncture treatment.  He definitely responded well to the acupuncture, and was much less reactive to the similar assessment that Amy did on him this weekend.  To ensure we made his first massage a positive experience, Amy just worked lightly on him to stimulate circulation and familiarize him with the idea, but also attending to specific sore spots on him to relax his body.  Schwartz really loved Amy and ate up the massage.

While doing lots of deep breathing, Schwartz settled into the massage by grazing.  His normal go-to would be ten fervent minutes of grazing and then to stop eating and start worrying.  However, he grazed throughout the entire fifty minute massage!  When she was done he seemed itchy.  While still on the halter and lead rope he marched himself over to my big round bales and rubbed his whole body up against them, even wiggling up underneath the overhanging section to scratch his back and haunches on the hay.

I love seeing his personality come out and the shy introvert begin to abate.  I know this horse has opinions and preferences, but he is a sensitive soul and doesn't want to make waves.  I think the other horses have been working on him, too, telling him that it's ok to have opinions here.  I tell them that their opinions matter, particularly with tack, if they don't like it they just have to tell me and I'll change it.  With the cantankerous horses I tell them that their opinions matter, but it doesn't always change what we're doing (like loading into a trailer!)  I definitely want to know about a horse's preferences for grooming tools, tack, and especially potential future owners.  I've had several horses come through Bit of Honey who were for sale, and very clearly chose their new humans.  Today Schwartz said he's on his way to becoming a body work junkie.