November Newsletter 2019

Hello All,

Fall is always a busy travel season. October was UK travel month. November is usually Australia travel month. To spice things up we’re adding New Zealand and South Africa to this November. We’ll be doing Equitana and a Weekend Seminar in New Zealand for the first time. In total we will be certifying nine new Masterson Method Certified Practitioners (MMCPs) in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa this trip.

Sitting in the terminal in Sydney, AU now waiting for the flight to Auckland, NZ. The international terminal in Sydney is interesting in that it’s a ‘Quiet Terminal’; meaning no announcements over the PA system. You have to keep an eye on the monitors and on your watch. A little strange at first, but once you get used to it it’s kind of peaceful. Who listens to those annoying announcements anyways?

So, just finished a Weekend Seminar at our old home base at the New South Wales Mounted Police troop in Sydney. Wonderful experience, as usual. Here’s the class photo below with one of the troop horses, Baby. Baby’s kind of big, but purty-darned nice.

I had three weeks at home between the UK trip and this trip. One of those was spent at the Equine Affaire horse expo in Springfield, MA. While there I was able to hook up and have some fun with Trafalgar Square Books and Absorbine, both of whom had booths right in our neighborhood. Also ran into Jochen Schleese, who I’ll see again at Equitana in New Zealand next week.

I had excellent help from our Field Work Coordinator, Megan Dushin, and especially from our Advanced Instructor, Samantha Walker who set everything up with Equine Affaire and Trafalgar, and provided tons of able assistants from her student and MMCP family in the northeast. Thanks to everyone there!

We did four presentations with lots of folks watching and were pretty busy at the booth. Equine Affaire usually lines up horses for our demos but I always like to have a few extras, especially when I have expert help from our MMCPs and Instructors. While cruising the barns for some extra horses, I spotted a beautiful Belgian four-horse hitch that was there to promote the Morrisville State College Equine Program in upstate New York. I’m going to make a guess that these guys were about 19 hands at the withers, and I thought that one of them would make a pretty attention-getting demo horse. I stopped to chat with the program manager, Scott Seymour, about using one of them and he thought it was a great idea. I also talked to him about doing some Masterson Method work with his students in the future, which he also thought was a great idea. So stay tuned!

While chatting, it turns out that Scott is acquainted with my buddy Bill Stanton of Bill Stanton Integrated Equine Bodywork. Bill used to work on Scott’s college horses, and Bill and I spent many years working on many hundreds of horses on the hunter-jumper circuit in Wellington, FL, Lexington, KY, Lake Placid, NY and beyond. In a round-about way Bill’s responsible for this newsletter getting to you as he helped me get my start there. Small world.

I also spotted some beautiful Dutch Harness Horses in the barns and stopped to talk about using one of them in a demo. Owner and trainer Richard Yoder of Shady Lawn Stables in Arcola, IL was also game and I used a beautiful mare from his stable. It turns out Richard used to live in Bloomfield, IA about 45 minutes from my home in Fairfield, IA and is acquainted with our MMCP, Simon Bontrager down there. Even smaller Amish world.

I want to end with this exciting photo sequence from a recent course.

Black Friesian Friday Sale!

Don’t miss out on our Black Friday Sale, Friday, November 29 – Monday, December 2, 2019!

Receive 50% off the Deluxe Beyond Horse Massage Combo: Book, DVD and Wall Chart.

Shop Here

Masterson Method Aids in California Fire Relief Efforts Through Brooke USA

The entire state of California is in a state of emergency as a result of wildfires, which have been devastating to humans and equines alike. While many of the fires are currently contained, new ones are breaking out every day. The Masterson Method has donated to Brooke USA to help save animals and equines from the front lines of these fires, and we urge you to do the same! Join us in helping Brooke USA reach their goal in raising $10,000 to save the lives of hundreds of equines. Brooke USA is a non-profit who’s mission “Is to significantly improve the welfare of working horses, donkeys and mules and the people they serve throughout Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Americas and the Caribbean by raising funds and responsibly directing them to the areas of greatest need.”

The equines of California need you today. Click below to be taken to their website and join us in donating to this good cause:

https://www.brookeusa.org/california

Donate Here

Masterson Method Equine Specialist (MMES) Program News

Kids Love Masterson Too!

Linda Allen, MMES and now Certification Fieldwork student in Indianola, Iowa, worked at a summer camp with children from 1st to 5th grade. Many of the children were from immigrant families.

There were several stations with a different activity at each station. With a couple of miniature horses, she worked with the children on grooming, leading and… what else but the Bladder Meridian Technique! They also got to ride during camp. This was the first introduction to horses for many of the kids, and most of them said this was their favorite activity at the camp!

Veterans Create Stillness in the Arena

Liz Williams, MMES, worked with 10 military veterans (7 outpatient, 3 inpatient) who are being treated for PTSD at a therapeutic barn. After introducing The Masterson Method principles and demonstrating levels of touch and the Bladder Meridian Technique, they got started on their horses in the covered arena, working in pairs. Liz went from pair to pair, making only minor adjustments as the horses started to melt. One veteran was holding points around the shoulder, chasing blinks and his horse was in it, so she complimented him and moved on. Every single horse just stood there with no fidgeting for over an hour. At one point the stillness in that arena was so profound Liz invited them to listen to the stillness they’d helped create. The horses were magnificent and the veterans were skillful.

Congratulations Recent Specialists!

Karen Dempsey – Grand Rapids, MI

I have loved horses since I was very little (thank you mom for introducing me to one when I was 4 yrs old)! … In 2002 I went to my first natural horsemanship clinic and it turned my life around…. In 2009 I became a PATH Int’l Certified Therapeutic Riding Instructor, and in 2011 I became certified in equine sports massage therapy and body balancing. I was introduced to The Masterson Method in 2015…. Now that I am MMES certified, my next step is to become certified as a MM practitioner and focus on rehabbing horses used in therapy riding programs. Read more

Alexandra Whittey – Grand Rapids, MI

…In 2012, after 20 plus years in the entertainment industry, Alexandra’s career path changed after she enrolled her son in therapeutic horsemanship lessons at Hearts and Horses Therapeutic Riding Center in Loveland, CO. She is a PATH Intl. Advanced Instructor, Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning and Mentor…. She is proud to be a part of the Masterson Method Equine Specialist team and have the opportunity to support the health and wellness of the equine therapists that serve our communities. Read more

Ruth Bourgeois – Taos, NM

Horses have always been my biggest passion in life…. I did all the things I loved most in my spare time – working with kids and horses, Pony Club, competitive trail riding, raising and training my own horses, and horse rescue. That eventually led me to Taos, New Mexico where I put my life experiences and passion into founding Equine Spirit Sanctuary (ESS), a licensed horse rescue with programs for people. I am a PATH, Intl. accredited therapeutic riding instructor and have spent years putting together an extensive program of equine-assisted activities and therapies…. The Masterson Method is a wonderful addition to all that we do with the horses and people as well. Read more

About MMES

The Masterson Method Equine Specialist specializes in sharing specific light touch Masterson Method techniques with persons served in equine-assisted learning and therapy programs. By doing this bodywork on horses, participants deepen their connection with horses while also gaining self-awareness and self-regulation skills; meanwhile, therapy horses are tended to through simple bodywork and learn a new way of relating to people. It’s a win/win!

Questions? Visit the Masterson Method Equine Specialist Website or contact the Program Coordinator at mmes@mastersonmethod.com.

Ask Jim

Question:

Hi!

I have a pony who isn’t eating well. I have tried many things to alleviate his non-interest in food. We are almost done with his 2nd time on Ulcer Guard but I’m not convinced it will work. He recently had something scare him in his stall at night and he went crazy and trashed everything. Needless to say he wasn’t too keen on going back in. A friend suggested your method. I studied up on it and gave it a try. It was amazing! He yawned and yawned and yawned. Two nights later he walked right into his stall with no assistance. Now I’m wondering if this could help him eat. So I have two questions:

One is, how often do you do it? I read that it is recommended only 2-3 times a week. I’ve been doing it every day for a week and am still getting lots of release. I feel like he has a lot of built up tensions and is in real need to release it. I was planning on continuing every day until the release eases up. Good idea?

The second is, what, if any, techniques should I try for his stomach? I’ve only been going along the Bladder Meridian. Is that enough? Or should I try something different?

Thanks!

And my pony thanks you!!

Answer:

Hi Peggy,

I’m happy the Bladder Meridian is working. It sounds like whatever frightened your pony was pretty bad, and his flight/freeze survival response kicked in and didn’t “un-kick”.

The amazing thing about the Bladder Meridian is that it completely by-passes the survival response in the horse. It brings the horse’s awareness to tension it’s holding in the body in a way that it can’t brace or guard against it. If you stay light enough long enough, then the horse HAS to let go of the tension. It’s the law.

Two-part answer to your first question;

a) You can do a little every day, as long as your pony doesn’t get so relaxed that he starts to fall over. If you’re doing it every day it’s better to do it in smaller doses, say 10 or 15 minutes. Remember, you’re making big changes, and your pony’s nervous system needs time to process the changes between sessions.

b) your pony will tell you when it becomes too much by not giving you any more responses, or if it becomes too much he’ll tell you by pinning his ears. Respect that!

Two parts to the second question too;

a) You can search for responses anywhere on the horse’s body using the same, Search, Response, Stay, Release process. Try it in his lower back area, the flanks, and under the belly and see what he says. If he doesn’t like it, then back off a little or go to another area, then try coming back to where he didn’t like it the second day.

b) Try all of the Hind End Points in the Beyond Horse Massage book or DVD. For that matter, you can do All of the techniques in the Beyond Horse Massage book and DVD, and loosen your ponies whole body up!

I’m glad it’s working. Good idea!

Jim

Masterson Minute: Thoracic Wiggle

New Certified Practitioners

Lindsay Madorin

Laramie, WY

Lindsay has wanted to do more to help the many horses she has been involved with in rehabilitation, training, and recreational settings, but she didn’t know what the missing piece was. When training and working around horses, she often got a sense of needing to give “something more” to each horse in order to help them to develop into the best version of themselves. In late 2016, Lindsay found The Masterson Method. She was instantly drawn to it and began trying techniques on a wide range of horses, each improving positively in their respective ways. Prior to Masterson, she was torn between replicating things the way they’ve always been done and finding a way to allow the horse to participate in their interactions and develop a relationship together.

In the fall of 2017, she was gifted an older mare, Cassie. Cassie had once had a full, working life, but by the time she came to Lindsay, she had a reputation as “the crazy curly” and had numerous physical issues, foundational holes in her previous training, and a resentful attitude. It was then that Lindsay, wanting and needing to help this horse, delved deeper into The Masterson Method. She worked with Cassie’s body, mind, and spirit to rehabilitate her into a trusted mount.

Crediting Cassie’s seal of approval and being pleased with the drastic physical, mental, and behavioral changes noted by others at the barn, Lindsay worked through the rigorous certification process in The Masterson Method and began offering bodywork sessions around Laramie. She is now proudly offering her certified equine bodywork services to the Cowboy State. Her services are suitable for all disciplines and all horses, including performance and pleasure, rodeo and ranch, retired and juveniles, and last but not least, her favorites – the underdogs.

Email: Lindsay@L-MBodywork.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LMbodywork/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lmbodywork/

Phone: 307-287-0307

Deanna Drendel

Quebec, Canada

Deanna first heard the call of the horse some 30 years ago. Drawn as to a magnet by its paradoxical nature – powerful yet vulnerable – and knowing intuitively that her destiny was somehow tied to this creature, she set foot on what turned out to be a long winding road to meet the horse.

While raising children and navigating a demanding four-decade corporate career – half of those years as a self-employed consultant, she took riding lessons on and off, and seized every opportunity to ride in the high desert during vacations to the U.S. Southwest. In 2003, a cousin pointed her in the direction of natural horsemanship. Four years later, a project with a life coach culminated in a rich visual representation – 3 simple circles – of her life past and future. This work had a profound effect on her life choices in relation to horses. She searched for a program that would give focus to her horsemanship and found an answer in the well-structured Parelli program with its levels auditions. An amateur poet, musician and dancer, she discovered Liberty play and loves creating and performing choreographies with horses.

As her lifestyle balance tipped more and more in favor of horses, it became clear that she wanted to use her intuition, patience, and sensitive hands to help horses and be part of their care team. After much research, it was The Masterson Method^® that resonated with this professional communicator because of its amazing results, of course, but especially because the method is all about softness and the bidirectional communication we have with the horse. Deanna certified in 2019 and has found her true vocation.

In addition to supporting the performance objectives of her clientele – dressage, jumpers, endurance, polo, reining, barrel racing, extreme cowboy –, Deanna contributes to the mission of a therapy organization devoted to autistic and other challenged children by keeping the barn’s string of horses comfortable and able to do their job.

Deanna brings to her bodywork a keen interest and understanding of anatomy, teeth, feet, saddle-fit and rider balance. She has completed the theoretical portion of Saddlefit 4 Life’s Certified Equine Ergonomist program, has taken hoof trimming courses, and will soon be certified (2019) in Photonic Red Light Therapy. A firm believer in lifelong learning, there will be more study in her future.

Although she hopes to one day put her vast business and academic experience – strategic planning, fundraising, event organization, writing, translating, and teaching – at the service of the horse community, her real passion is to share The Masterson Method^®with as many horse owners and horses as possible. Deanna serves Quebec (in French and English), Eastern Ontario and the Atlantic provinces.

Home office: 514 337-8202

Cell (Text): 514 942-0121

Email: drendel@videotron.ca

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/deanna.drendel

Weekend Seminar-Workshop Schedule

* if the course you had your heart set on is sold out, please email jo@mastersonmethod.com to be added to the waiting list, or if you’d like to host your own weekend (and earn a free spot) please email tamara@mastersonmethod.com .