Today Son of a Lynx had a massage with myofascial release from our equine bodyworker, Jamie Hammond. She is extremely knowledgeable about equine anatomy and also has extensive experience with Standardbreds, which makes her the perfect resource for Lynx!
He was such a gentleman, starting the massage eating his mash and then really settling into it within a few minutes. He's very communicative about what he needed! He had a couple spots of tension that he wanted her to address, so he kind of politely wiggled until her hands were on the right places on his back, haunches, and then neck. About midway through he asked me if he could have a drink of water, gently stretching his nose towards his water bucket. Of course we let him have a beverage, and then we resumed the second half of his massage.
By the end he was SUPER relaxed, with half closed eyes, a droopy lower lip, and deep breathing. He's officially a bodywork junkie now!
It always amazes me how the horse and rider will have tension or tightness in the same places. Lynx had some tightness in his hip flexors, and I've been noticing the same for the last week in my own workouts at the gym. He also had some tightness in the right side of his neck up behind his ear (I'm oversimplifying the anatomy here) and in his lower neck on the left side. I have the same issues in the same locations in my neck, and I see a human massage therapist regularly for maintenance on myself.
For the most part, though, Lynx's body is adapting really well to the new work here. His saddle fits really well and is allowing his topline muscles to work appropriately, and the long walks in the fields and on the hills is doing great things for his haunches. I'm so pleased with how his massage went and the information I got from Jamie on how Lynx's muscles are progressing.
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