The Vital Horse & Hound

11/01/2024

Purchase Two or More 1 Hour Massages for 20% off your purchase 🤩 Offer good until Nov 30, 2024, but sessions do not expire!

10/16/2024

The prizes get better every year! 🤩

09/26/2024

"Which part of your horse’s body do you think needs the most attention? 🤔🐾 - Back - Legs - Neck - Shoulder - Other? Comment below and let’s talk about how massage can help!

Side note: Pay no mind to the horse's feet unless you're in need of a visual of a clubbed hoof... We all know AI is terrible with extremities 🤪

09/17/2024

Anyone else actually shake their "tail" at their doggos?? 😆🤷‍♀️👨‍

09/15/2024

Myth: some people think that massages are only for pets with clear injuries. Truth: Regular massages can actually help prevent injuries and keep our furry pals feeling their best, even when they look perfectly fine! 🐾💖

09/12/2024

Which part of your dog’s body do you think needs the most attention? 🤔🐾 - Back - Legs - Neck - Shoulders - Other? Comment below and let’s talk about how massage can help!

09/05/2024

Very interesting visual comparison of the anatomy of the lower leg of the horse to the human foot 🤓 Link to the article as well as a picture of the same area in a dog’s hind leg in the comments.

03/08/2024

Competition season is upon us! I’ve got a few openings, if you’ve been waiting to get your dog or horse on the massage schedule, reach out!

01/11/2024

Hello friends! It’s me, Lil. I’ve got some new friends here & it's been a while since I’ve introduced myself. So if you didn’t already know…

I massage dogs & horses (and kitties if they let me 😉 ) I am very much a tactile creature that is drawn to textures & things that ground & feed the soul. Animals, gardening, painting (I make it a point to use my hands vs just brushes often), and just being outside are a few of my favorite ways to cultivate that side of myself.

My focus in my work is to add movement quality as well as a bit of tranquility to my clients’ lives. I believe that most bodywork does not need to be done with intense pressure. Relaxation and optimal results are still to be had without leaving muscles sore after a massage. In fact, it has been my experience that I am able to get further relaxation and better results by guiding animals in the art of relaxation. Another key in creating a relaxed space is being observant. Learning to read the room and the signals your animals are communicating is vital in the process in learning how to best help them. I’d love to teach you how!

12/08/2023

Pillows to be provided as needed 😴

11/11/2023

Sometimes you just need to follow your own advice and all you have on hand is for the horses 😆 🤷🏻‍♀️

11/02/2023

Picked up our raffle win from Aunt Kerry's Pet Stop Trunk or Treat last weekend 🙌🏽

The raffle proceeds were split between All 4 Cats and R.A.C.E - local nonprofit rescues ✨🐶🐱💛

10/14/2023

Here is Bianca’s Burger Tour from her bucket list list so far:
Cook Out ✔️
McDonald’s ✔️
Hwy 55
Five Guys
Checkers
PT’s
Wendy’s
Burger King

What am I missing (that won’t break the bank…)?

09/22/2023

One of the services I have yet to get up on my website is Myofascial Decompression (Cupping) massages.

I’ve seen excellent results with horses that have extremely tense fascia causing them to have restrictions and discomfort in their movement.

Typically after one session, approximately 90 min, clients feel like a new horse that can actually move well in their own skin.

It’s also well received by extra sensitive types due to the different nature of the modality - lifting away to create pain relief vs pushing towards the body adding additional pressure on an area.

The one downside is they do require a bit of a hose off after their session because to get that really great glide of the cups against the body I use ultrasound gel! (Gel is water soluble, and often comes off easily afterwards.)

What can I say… nothing is perfect 🤷🏻‍♀️ except for maybe your horse 😉

If you’re interested in this modality, I’ve got some spots open over the next month.

Dm or text me to see if a Cupping Massage is the right fit for your horse’s program.

09/21/2023

A few reviews from some of my amazing clients. If you are a client - past, present, or future! - I appreciate your patronage 🫶 It’s my pleasure to be a part of your fur-babies’ program.

08/20/2023

I often find horses that are fed on hay nets consistently hung high like this to struggle with jaw, neck and poll tightness (most obviously).

A couple of things to consider:
- varying feeding heights so horses are not forced into repetitive patterns of eating.
- varying sizes of the hay nets (small holes vs larger ones)
- enough room to rock back away from the hay net so they can chew at a relaxed, comfortable height
- in varying the feeding height, also varying locations so sometimes the hay net is not against a solid surface. One barn I was at hung hay nets outside but from trees. The horses loved it!

Studies like these are designed to find answers yes, but to also find what are the next questions we need to be asking. There are loads of additional questions that come from the analysis of this information.

What new or unanswered questions come up for you after reading the article?

Horses are often forced to engage in unnatural feeding positions depending on the height hay nets are hung. An Italian study examined the effects based on specific feeding postures: ground, low hay net, high hay net.

08/18/2023

Clients and fellow animal owners say this to me all the time: “I don’t even take care of myself this well!”

All. The. Time.

I’m here to tell you that gold standard care of your animals is amazing, it’s what I’m here to help with. But make sure you’re taking care of yourself at least as well! It matters! They care. Consider it part of your care for them 😘

Here’s a sweaty pic of me after doing the things that made my heart happy today before I got to “work”. 😜

08/05/2023

Finally got around to starting a FB group for Senior Dogs. It was requested more times that I’d like to admit to in the last year. Better late than never!

Currently envision it to be a supportive community of dog owners that love the gold standard of care for their senior dogs, want to continue to gather tips to better their dog’s quality of life & lend an ear to each other when the 💩 hits the fan.

Keep your eyes peeled! I’ll be inviting people over the next week or so.

Old lady hound dawg pic for attention 😉

07/28/2023

I recently recorded a couple of meditations for my clients. They are intended to be used as part of a program that I’m building to teach people to massage their animals, but the Heart-Centered Meditation especially is sooo good. If you like to meditate, drop your favorite emoji in the comments 👇🏽 and I’ll pm you the link to the recording.

Since you’re part of my friend-fam, no signing up for my email list or anything like that (unless you’re into that sort of thing…) Just the link to the goodness! 😉

07/26/2023

What are some of the ways your dog or horse lets you know when they need some bodywork?

07/25/2023

I wish I could remember what this horse said that was so funny 😆

07/09/2023

Some incredible images of an ECVM horse (malformation of lower cervical (neck) vertebrae). This poor creature was completely lacking the nerve attachments on the left side of C6.

Reading this wondering “How could he walk let alone work with a rider?”

The only answer I have is the body and the heart of a horse are amazing and things allowing for some sort of work around that served this boy for 7 years.

Grateful his humans listened and looked into the things. Now he gets to help the rest of us know better and do better.

04/12/2023

Secondary reinforcers are things we “discover” we like (a certain touch, a favorite game or place) vs things we are instinctively inclined towards (food, water, etc.)

Touch can be a hugely valuable secondary reinforcer, I’ve even used massage as a primary reinforcer for animals that were over threshold and couldn’t bring themselves to take a treat. It is very individual specific and sometimes takes a bit of time to figure out but 💯 worth the effort!

We will soon be releasing a new course about taking your positive reinforcement training to the next level and this video is an example of some of the things...

03/23/2023

Many years ago, I was walking my Rottie mix, Rocky, and a little girl about 10 or 11 y/o saw him and just made a beeline for him. When she got to him she put her hand under his chin and stuck her face in his (where her adults were I still question to this day!!)…

And he licked her from chin to forehead.

Even though I knew he was the bestest, sweetest boy I was still a pretty amazed at just how sweet he was. That approach is often so threatening to dogs, even with the best intentions on the humans part.

Keep in mind that, when the dog reacts unfavorably, it is treated as the dog’s fault.

Read the room.

Respectfully invite the dog into your space, don’t invade theirs.

And don’t pull that mess with hedgehogs either. Apparently they also mean business 💪👊

03/15/2023