On a small family farm in Iowa, I began riding at 8 years old. My first horse was Bucky, a buckskin Welsh pony. He taught me so many things at that age and was my silent strength.
On a ride in the Rocky Mountains, Miss Reba, a blue-eyed paint, got spooked by a mountain lion. She bucked me off and headed back to the ranch. On her way I heard her crash, through a barbwire fence and hit hard. When I got down to the ranch, she had ripped off 1/3 of her left hind hoof at the cornet band and cut up her chest.
We put together our health care team with our veterinarian, farrier, chiro and our own animal health care knowledge to begin rehabilitation. For the first several months we socked, wrapped, fought infection and other issues as they presented themselves, such as fitting a shoe to give her hoof stabilization. When we would ask her to pick up her hind end she was restricted in her movement. This brought me to search for a way to help her in her movements and give her the freedom she had before the accident. She was in rehab for 8 months.
I began my journey with the Masterson Method® to support Reba on her road to recovery. I will never forget the day I was using the techniques on her hind end and she began to kick out – a movement she had not done for some time. Then I saw her playing with others in the herd and moving with more freedom. I saw firsthand how we have an opportunity to help and support them.
Miss Reba’s Hope: “to find freedom of movement through relaxation in the body”