I came to horses in my mid-30’s after supporting both my father and a close friend through bouts of cancer– when I looked up and realized, ‘Hey, life could be short!” I inventoried my heart and discovered a horse-sized hole, which I was determined to fill. One lesson a week turned rapidly to two plus a hack, and within the first year, the first rescue horse came home, and potent fuel was poured on the fire of this passion. Within four years, I first managed and then became a partner/owner in a small boarding/training/breeding farm, where I resided, and ultimately went to work as an ambulatory assistant for my equine vet. Very rapidly, life was 24×7 horses.
I saw my first videos of Jim Masterson doing Masterson Method® bodywork and was immediately drawn to the softness and quietude of the approach, which stood out in vivid contrast to so much of the loud, fast, and assertive models of working with horses I’d been shown and encouraged to participate in, but which never felt right to me. Coming into horses as an adult gave me a skeptical eye and the maturity to follow my gut that there was a better way to treat these gentle, sentient prey animals. For me, Jim’s soft, calm, patience generated a space where I, myself, felt comfortable. It was immediately clear that this approach was so much kinder and more effective in its granting of sovereign autonomy to the horse. In addition to the softness, the basic operating mandate to “follow what the horse is telling you” appealed to me as someone who is always curious about what animals are trying to communicate. I was immediately hooked, and for years I followed the resources available online and in texts, dreaming of the day when life would open up an opportunity for me to pursue certification in the Masterson Method®. Once that opening came, I leapt through, witnessing time and time again the powerful effects of the softest of touches and a listening heart.
Reading and following the body language of the horses I’m handling has become the ultimate calling in my life, whether at home on the farm with my own, handling client horses in the equine sports medicine and lameness practice I work for, or with my bodywork clients. I’m here to listen to them, to help them reconnect with, and express, their own needs. This work creates the space wherein they can let go of the tensions that hold them and release their own bodies into their naturally soft, powerful movement, which, in turn, brings them the psychological peace of a regulated nervous system to allow them to express themselves fully in any discipline.
Serving the Finger Lakes, Southern Tier, and Central New York