I just completed the Equine Massage Course. I learned so much and was very glad that we could immediately put into practice the touch and movements which Jim taught us. Jim was very patient with us and encouraging, I appreciated his calm confidence and for his open attitude for questions, repeat demonstrations and dividing himself amongst all us students. I am very thankful for an incredible weekend. I can’t wait to start implementing these wonderful techniques of touch and patience. I do not own my own horse but definitely have plans in which to utilize what I have learned.
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I just wanted to say how much I enjoyed and learned from our course last week in Devon. You really demonstrated and explained things so that it was simple to follow and apply and the way you handle and treat horse very much fits in with what I am learning through Natural Horsemanship.

This guy is GOOD!!! I spent the weekend with him and learned so much!! He does simple things to release huge amounts of stress. Horses love him. It the same sort of thing I get from my great manual therapists, not massage as in rubbing on muscles.

He is funny and not ego based, and is easy to learn from. I am going to get certified in his Method. I highly recommend a weekend with him….you will get some tools that are powerful. You would get gobs of info from just the 2 days. I personally am going to do the full program, but I don’t have a bodywork practice to add this to. Jim’s method will form the basis of my hands-on practice. My goal is to to do a combo of hands on and shamanism for horses here in AZ a day or two a week. I have been browsing teachers and programs, mostly with disappointment. But this guy is GOOD!
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Thanks so much for putting on that wonderful workshop in Indianola, IA. I knew from the moment I read about your work (about a year ago) that it would be enormously beneficial to my horses and I was wanting to do a workshop from the moment I heard about it. It was so dramatic to see the changes in Denny! Hopefully with consistent Masterson Method work, he can change some of his neural pathways from anxiety!!! to calm confidence.

In some ways I found him easier to work on than the other horses because he was so responsive. Some of the quarter horses were more stoic, maybe, not wimpy like thoroughbreds can be… and some of their responses were probably not noticed by me. On the other hand, Denny was a challenge because he was so responsive one had to be extra sensitive. (Always a good thing to learn!)

I hated to leave when the workshop was finished. Such a bunch of lovely people!! But I knew it was going to be dark by the time I got Denny home and the horses always take precedence.

By the way, I find you, Jim to be a wonderful teacher. Besides being clear and concise and helping people find the correct amount of pressure for various techniques, you are fun and humble and natural in your presentations. Wendy was a little worried prior to the workshop – she said: “we’re just regular people…” I guess she was intimidated by the fact that you work on some of the top horses in the nation, I don’t know. I told her not to worry that you would probably be a regular person too! And Yvonne was very pleased to find how nice you were to be around. She said: “who would’ve thought we’d be sitting around chatting and having a beer with him!” It is lovely to be around people who are natural and honest. No wonder the horses like you so well and respond so immediately to everything you do!
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I just attended the Mequon, WI weekend seminar taught by Stefanie Reinhold and have been working on my own horses at home (all 4). I think I’m hooked! I just registered for the 3-day seminar in North Carolina in October. Also enrolled in the Eqinology on line anatomy course. If you recall, I had the black mare in the clniic who was very reactive and we did the saddle fit check on her. I did more investigating and, just as I suspected, the tree is too wide. Fortunately, my saddle fitter is a personal friend and if he can’t make enough tree adjustment in my saddle, he has a used one that seems to fit her very well. So many pieces to this puzzle

Anyway, again want to thank you for such a great clinic. I think what I am learning will be one of the most important things I can do for my horse’s welfare.

And as an update, I did meet with my saddle fitter, George Gullickson, and we refit my mare with a different saddle, narrower tree. (Because the tree of my saddle was too wide, my horse was experiencing extreme pressure points in the withers area from the saddle sitting too low there.) She has gone from tail-swishing and trying to reach back and bite my leg when I mounted her to standing quietly and walking off contently with the different saddle. I believe this is another example of the importance of listening to your horse – they will tell you.) Not to mention that the front leg extension at the walk probably increased by about 15% in stride length.
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It is an excellent introduction to the Masterson Method, and Coralie Hughes is an incredibly effective instructor. I had high expectations for the seminar and those expectations were not met; they were exceeded

The workshop is extraordinarily valuable. It has proved insights that gentleness and relaxation can see excellent results. This course is highly recommended – and it’s fun!

I have just returned home after attending a 2 day seminar-workshop of Jim Masterson’ Integrated Equine Performance Bodywork. I had accidentally stumbled across this website very recently and had a light-bulb moment, thinking this could just possibly enhance my communication with my horses. I was particularly taken with the approach that it is the horse that communicates responses to what the practitioner offers through the lightest of touches – rather than imposing a blistering massage at full throttle, irrespective of what the horse may or may not be feeling!! I’ll be honest, I am an enthusiastic amateur with only a few years experience under my belt, so I didn’t want to take on a course that I would have to go to university to qualify to do the first phase, I wanted to test the waters as such before committing! So I blithely ordered the DVD to give myself half a chance of understanding what it was all about prior to enrolling on the seminar. I found Jim’s easy and fluid approach conducive to learning. He instils confidence to get going and use the techniques. I was astonished at the immediacy of the results on the equines, horses don’t lie! It takes as long as it does, the horse decides when he is ready to relinquish the tensions that can and do manifest themselves in all sorts of hidden ways, and I genuinely believe that this is a non stressful way to alleviate any discomfort that is or has been previously experienced and held in the body. Jim’s powers of observation on horses subtle reactions are a really invaluable new vocabulary for me and I certainly feel confident upon my return home to continue with the Masterson Method on my own with my three hunter-jumper-dressage horses. It also is a very pleasurable way of communicating via touch with your beloved horse, both parties gain from the experience and I am sure that it cements a greater bond of understanding and trusting connection between two species. I have already decided that I would like to learn more in greater depth and know that I will be returning to do the next phase. I just wish that I had known about this so much earlier. I thoroughly enjoyed how we were taught, the pleasant, non-competitive atmosphere throughout the course, the availability of help whether directly from Jim or any one of his trained assistants, I never felt for a moment that I couldn’t do what I was shown. I thought when I read the website initially, how brilliant that someone out there is aware of what the horse feels and can translate the various reactions to touch stimuli, thereby enabling and enhancing an ongoing communication with great benefits to overall equine good health both physically and mentally……….this introduction course greatly exceeded what I had hoped I would learn and gain from it. You cover a lot of ground quickly and easily on this seminar and out of all the courses and modalities advertised and available to us, I would really advocate going on this one. You certainly get exceptional value for your pennies! Bravo Jim and thank you.
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I’m 14 years old and took Jim’s class. It is just so easy to understand and I would take the same class over again because you learn so much, as it’s almost too much to grasp in a weekend. Jim and his assistants are the best thanks!

I wanted to pass on my heartfelt thanks to the Masterson Method organization for the marvelous weekend clinic we just had in Dade City, FL. You must hear this all the time – but it was “simply the best”.

Although I came to the table (or I guess I should say “stable”) with minimal equestrian knowledge, I was welcomed and made to feel like a valued member of the learning process throughout the weekend. I felt very fortunate, especially at this VERY early stage in my learning, to have had the opportunity to meet and learn from the founder (although I’m sure, with the comprehensive certification you have, any of your certified instructors are impressive), as well as the added bonus of meeting and working with Lee, Sue and Yvonne. Jim’s quietly assured manner and openness, allowed me to feel at least a tiny bit confident in applying the methods, and the immediate responses from the horses were encouraging as well. It was really nice having so many helpers available, so you could either have a turn with one of them supervising, or at least always being at an arm’s reach away when we needed help. Dr. Peggy’s barn was such a warm and welcoming spot as well. Her horses provided both stability and a challenge.

Please pass along my thanks, Nancy, to Jim for allowing the program to be available to interested novices. Although I have a pretty lengthy background of human massage therapy (even including a former training clinic in Equissage), I am an admitted newcomer to the equestrian world. Had the prerequisites been too demanding, I would have lost heart about entering the field. Sort of like the old dilemma “How are you supposed to gain any experience, when ‘prior experience’ is required to get a job?” As it is now, I came home from my weekend Masterson Method course with renewed interest and inspiration to learn further.
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