I thought of a few topics to write about for this, the first blog post. I considered writing about some of my favorite muscles (ok, I know that makes me an equine massage therapy nerd), more about the benefits of therapeutic massage, a bit about the history of massage over time…
Hopefully some of those topics will be written about later. Please let me know what you are interested in! But for now I want to write about some of the things that make me chuckle while I’m working…
A beautiful and animated mare brought me much joy last week during her massage. As she settled into her experience she began to release some of the tension in various parts of her body. If you have not witnessed a horse releasing tension you are in for some fun! I’m used to seeing horses do various things, like licking and chewing, yawning, stretching, repetitive blinking, even falling asleep during massage. While it is not unusual to watch them bob their heads, last week it happened so often – as I was working on some tense areas on her hind end – that the owner and I ended up having some releasing laughs of our own! As I got to another tense area I jokingly asked the mare if she liked her massage… of course she nodded her head! Healing can be fun and delightful…
Then her head bob changed and I was very interested. She nodded her head but only bending at the poll, a new release for her. Always amazing… and sometimes quite surprising as I cannot predict what might happen. No massage is ever the same.
As D.K., the person who wrote in the testimonials section of the web site, stated, people can be quite surprised by what horses do when they release. When my beloved first horse, Pocket, began to yawn repeatedly (while I was just beginning to learn massage) I wondered if I had broken something! Now I just grin. But every once in a while, when a horse I am working on does the same thing, I glance back in my memory to that moment with Pocket and my heart swells with joy. For having known him, for having been able to help him, and for this journey that he got me started on…
Hope that humans and horses are well and happy,
Ruta
solsticeequinemassage.com 