I worked on a QH mare over the weekend that belonged to Pilates instructor whose been looking to “lease” her out….This mare is a hoot and then some. She’s very animated and has made it quite clear that she is really connected to this woman and doesn’t want to be leased to anyone.
She hadn’t had any body work done on her other than myofascial work sometime in her past so I went very slowly with her. At first she was a bit apprehensive. When she realized what I was doing was making her feel really good, she relaxed and began to zone out. By the time I’d released both of her hind legs along with the sacral release, she responded (mind you in perfect slow motion) by doing a “Downward Dog” stretch and then moved into an “Upward Dog” stretch”……As she did this she gave out a huge sigh in between the two movements, (not unlike what a person would do if making these move) and finished by staying completely stretched out front and rear to the point that we both thought she’d be unable to right herself.
She stayed in that position for what seemed to be at least 2 minutes. Meanwhile as we both stood there in disbelief…thrilled with her willingness to help further her release, we watched the muscles beneath her skin in the sacral area begin to vibrate and were able to see her entire sacrum open up and literally expand in front of our eyes! It was truly amazing! At first we were so shocked, neither of us could speak….we just stood there staring at her in disbelief! Finally the mare uprighted herself and for the first time since the owner has owned her (2 years) the horse stood perfectly square and was no longer “Downhill”.
I laughed and jokingly said to the owner that I think her horse is saying that “If I can do Pilates/Yoga moves you should keep me as a back up instructor!” I think this really opened her eyes to the connection that they really have with each other. It’s moments like this that make the bodywork that Jim has taught me so incredibly rewarding!
Naturally we didn’t have a video camera with us and didn’t get this on camera. However, I am going to be working on one of the owner’s other horses next week, a Polish Arab (who reminds me of “Pegasus”) and is very ungrounded. I will ask the owner if she’d write a testimonial for your newsletter on what she experienced with her mare if you’d like to have it for an upcoming newsletter. It was so…….oooooo cool!
Can’t wait to add some more incredible tools to my “Tool Box” at the Terra Haute Phase I course! See you soon.