Amiable Sporthorse

10/06/2024

Looking to add 2 more clients to my Sunday afternoon schedule. Contact me for more info.

08/18/2024

I have a couple of lesson spots available. Reach out if you would like to connect and I can answer your questions.

07/29/2024

Just added one more week 🤩 Reserve your space today! This summer group will be 4 days, Monday-Thursday, August 5-8, 3:30-6pm. $350

05/05/2024

Mind growing!!!!
This past week I participated in Module 1 of Equine Hanna Somatics training. I had no idea that this week would change my life forever! I never knew that this method would release the pain I have experienced in my body for over 20 years. Excited to continue on this journey!

Chronic recurring muscle tension - where does it come from and why does it keep coming back? It's all in the BRAIN!

Regardless of the original cause, when muscle tension has been present for a while, it becomes habituated - this means the baseline tension levels of the affected muscles increases to match what the brain has adapted to as the ‘new normal.’ This new normal baseline (aka resting muscle tone) is maintained by the brain stem continuously, except when it is temporarily over-ridden by excitement (food/friends/fear), inhibited by focused effort (training/performance), or disrupted by peripheral nervous system stimulation and reflexes (bodywork/chiro/manual therapies).

Drugs don’t affect this brain stem mediated muscle tension either, but can somewhat ease the resulting aches and pains it causes - temporarily - because once the inhibition or voluntary effort comes to an end, the unconscious tension pattern always reasserts itself - until it is changed. This can and often does go on for years, and is the basic neuroscience-based explanation for why stubborn habits, posture and muscle tension keep coming back…

Of course it’s possible that in the current situation, a horse is experiencing acute stress or pain that is causing a worried expression and to bracing or compensation in the body, but SO OFTEN I hear from horse owners that they have tried everything to make sure the horse has been treated and trained correctly, and has their basci needs met with friends, forage and freedom to move, but the lameness, stiffness, soreness and crookedness JUST KEEPS COMING BACK. This suggests to me that most horses with posture, movement or soundness issues (statistically 80% are clinically unsound) are still experiencing old tension patterns that may have started as useful compensations for injuries or traumas in the past, but are still showing up in the body!

The good news is that chronic unconscious muscle tension like this is easily reversed once it’s identified and you understand that it is the result of impulses coming from the brain, NOT from trauma or tension being ‘held’ or stored in the body or muscles themselves, as most people mistakenly believe. (This is not my opinion btw, this is basic neuroscience and neuromuscular physiology available in almost any decent textbook on these subjects, but for some reason is still regarded as ‘new’ in the medical, veterinary, equine training and bodywork industries).

To correct the chronic tension, we need to cause a specific part of the equine brain to re-adjust the baseline tension levels it has learned to maintain as the ‘current neutral.’ Unfortunately, most therapies, bodywork or training methods available to us today are either interacting only with the peripheral nervous system and spinal cord, or are relying on inhibition by the conscious parts of the brain, rather than activating the unconscious parts of the brain that actually control muscle tension and relaxation LEVELS (not just in the moment).

Luckily, there is a way to access those parts of the brain! We can do it by using a natural reflex called Pandiculation - a reflex that is already embedded in the horses nervous system programming, and is designed to do exactly this - to bring awareness of the tension to the right parts of the brain, and then reset them back to the original resting length! This is what we teach bodyworkers and horse owners to do with Equine Hanna Somatics®, which is not bodywork per se (although it can look like it from the outside) but is a movement-based training method in which the horse participates voluntarily (this is the KEY to accessing the right part of the horses brain to affect resting muscle tone). You can learn to DIY the basics from our intro instructional video, or find an EHS practitioner to work with you and your horse here: www.equinehannasomatics.org

04/26/2024

This makes my heart so happy. 🥰 Seeing the horses out in a big pasture relaxing with each other…being horses. These three were caught taking a mid morning nap together. I’m so grateful that we have a place where our horses can live out in pasture instead of stalls and have the opportunity to interact with one another.

02/14/2024

❤️❤️❤️

01/08/2024

NEW OFFERING! Starting in February, I will be offering a small group class. This class is perfect for kids that want to learn about and spend time around horses. The focus of this group is to learn horse care and building a partnership with horses from the ground. We will work our way up to doing some riding as well. Contact me if you would like to reserve a spot! 

01/03/2024

Yes! These are the kinds of partnerships I want to form with my horses. 🫶🏼

Listen to me. I’m trying to tell you something. You’re hard to speak to. Everything I say you respond with

“No, but”

Instead of

“Yes, and”

Everything I say, almost everything I say, when I didn’t say what you wanted to hear, you make me wrong. So which is it? Do you want me? Or do you want to extract the image of yourself from me?

I can only speak with my body. And body speak means that I need to move. When I need to say something difficult, I will move in difficult ways. If you correct me for these moving ways, you prevent me from saying the most important things to do.

If I am stuck on speaking awkward and difficult things, then help me change how I speak with my body. But do it slowly. Because if you strip me of my language without giving me new ways to speak with my body, I become mute.

Some people want me mute. Mute and obedient. So that I can be a perfect mirror. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all? You ask this of me. And the only correct answer is the one you tell me to say.

Are you listening? Can I speak with you? Can I share with you the list of unanswered questions I have about my life in your care?

Are you emotionally brave enough to hear the hard things? Are you tactful enough to see my gifts when I offer them, and not exploit them?

You have my attention. I am listening.

01/03/2024

Happy New Year! I just finished redesigning my website…new layout, new photos and updated information. Still need to adjust a few things, but it feels renewed and I’m ready to offer magic to my clients. 😉 Check it out! 🫶🏼

Amiable Sporthorse

12/11/2023

NEW! December 29th from 10:30am-12pm. Bring your 3-6 year olds to the barn for some horse fun and holiday treats. Space is limited. Reserve your spot today!

11/23/2023

I am so blessed and grateful for all of the horses that I get to learn from. I am grateful for all of my wonderful students and clients. Thank you for giving me the opportunity and honor to work with you. It gives me abundant joy to guide horses and humans on this journey of life. 🙏🏼❤️🐴

***not my photo***

10/17/2023

Haha!

The unofficial clip guide...

I think this might be part 1 of a few! 🤣

©️Emily Cole Illustrations

10/05/2023

Dante- so much character! 😜 This big boy is staying with us while his owner recovers from a non horse related injury. ❤️

10/03/2023

Maggie has been with me for almost a year. We struggled to get her feet comfortable until this last Spring. Look how much her top line has changed from all of her stretch work! Top pictures are from last year and bottom pictures are from today. Notice how much more filled in her muscle is around her withers and behind her shoulder. Much less drastic drop. I’m excited to continue to watch her develop! ❤️🦄

10/02/2023

Harmony Horse Club is starting again. Perfect for kids that want to spend lots of time with horses! Come learn compassionate horse care and riding with us. ❤️🐴🦄

05/22/2023

My amazing friend is offering some seminars. The first one is this Saturday. I highly recommend attending! Alex’s work has changed my life and I am sure that it will change yours too.

04/29/2023

Here is my Art2Ride yearly submission for the Associate Trainer program. In this video, I compare my client’s horse “Kai’s” progress from 2020 and 2022. In 2020, we found out that Kai had Kissing Spine. Art2Ride foundational training along with other treatments have helped transform this gelding. Kai taught me many things over the years but most importantly he taught me patience. It is wonderful to see in this video the progress that Kai has made and how much stronger and more fluid he is moving. I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to work with and learn from this amazing horse.

This video shows two clips of Amy Savage Flores riding Kai a 17 hand, OTTB. The first ride is from 2020, right before we got X-rays confirming our suspicion ...

04/27/2023

Part 2. Saddling Tasha- One week ago, she would kick out, swish her tail, pin her ears and bite. We have addressed several issues for Tasha including saddle fit, herbal hormone support, treated ulcers, and given her chiropractic and massage. We added in Equiox to help with any hormonal pain she gets when she is cycling. My amazing friend/trainer Alex Clerc came out to give me some pointers, as well. She felt that the grumpiness while saddling was now a behavioral pattern. When she stepped in one time redirecting Tasha’s grumpiness, Tasha was able to relax and let go of it! She didn’t even get grumpy again. Amazing! It just took one time. This helped us know that she is not in pain anymore. Making progress! 😍 We have created a space for Tasha to be able to relax and work through her old patterns and create new ones

04/27/2023

Saddling Tasha- One week ago, she would kick out, swish her tail, pin her ears and bite. We have addressed several issues for Tasha including saddle fit, herbal hormone support, treated ulcers, and given her chiropractic and massage. We added in Equiox to help with any hormonal pain she gets when she is cycling. My amazing friend/trainer Alex Clerc came out to give me some pointers, as well. She felt that the grumpiness while saddling was now a behavioral pattern. When she stepped in one time redirecting Tasha’s grumpiness, Tasha was able to relax and let go of it! She didn’t even get grumpy again. Amazing! It just took one time. This helped us know that she is not in pain anymore. Making progress! 😍 We have created a space for Tasha to be able to relax and work through her old patterns and create new ones

03/17/2023

My amazing friend and business partner is offering a new Equine Mindfulness Group! Check it out and come join!

03/09/2023

This amazing woman changed my life and career with horses. Never stop learning! We can all make a difference. Excited to learn about her new course! Stay tuned!

02/27/2023

I have a couple of rare private lesson spots available. Contact me for more info. ❤️🐴

01/29/2023

Summer Fun! Reserve a spot today for your kid to join us for Harmony Horse Weeks. We will learn compassionate horse care and riding and play some fun games.