Quantum Bodyworks

11/06/2024

After some rest and digest, I am proud to announce that last week I successfully completed The Masterson Method, Integrated Equine Performance Bodywork Certification Completion Course and can officially say that I am a Masterson Method Certified Practitioner. It’s been an awesome journey these past two years and have learned so much about the horse and myself too.

I would like to take this time to give my deepest appreciation and gratitude to the horses, their humans, and the instructors/coaches that have helped me throughout this journey, that has only just begun! 🖤💫🦄

First I attended one of Fran Cilella’s MM Weekend Seminar and I was hooked, also shout out to her assistants too!

Then I attended the Advanced 5 Day course with Coralie Hughes, which was an amazing experience. Her assistants, Heather and Cheryl were also amazing.

My mentors Elizabeth Appleyard and Lori Hoppe were so knowledgeable and helped guide my deeper understanding of this work, Thank you both!

My Block 1 coach Cheryl Fell was super supportive and full of information! Thank you for coaching me.

My Block 2&3 coach Alice Long was also supportive and helped me find some confidence in my work, Thank you for that!

During field work I got to learn from some of the best teachers yet, my case study horses, my warmest thank yous to them and their humans;

Block 1:
Cup of Joe & Skyler H.
Phil & Pauliina S.
Loften & Lauren H.
Bugsy & Anna F.
Taylor & Elizabeth K.

Block2:
Panda & Amy C.
Roxy & Kimberly W.
Snuggs & Roberta S.
Namastee & Meredith K.
Carson & Anna F.

Block 3:
Joey & Heather Q.
Royal Beauty & Meredith K.
River & Lauren F.
Loften & Lauren H.
Sapporo & Monica L.
Rippa & Hannah T.

And finally buy certainly not least, Thank you to my Certification Instructor Sandy Vreeburg and her wonderful assistants, Carla Ball, Khrystynna Hunsinger, and Sabine Maas.

Also, a huge congratulations to the ladies that also earned their MMCP title; Lauren, Laura, Mylissa, Allison, and Tori. 🦄🖤💫

04/06/2024

If the length of time you’ve been doing something closes your mind to new truths, then you are a master of nothing.

When someone leads with “I’ve been doing ______ for X amount of years” as if that alone offers superior credibility, it’s a big red flag for me.

We hear it a lot in this industry.

It’s typically used in a defensive way disguised as condescension.

It’s often proclaimed by people who say they only care about the science, as if science itself isn’t constantly changing.

It’s, at its core, a trauma response, I think.

It’s in the same vein as “I went through ____ and I turned out fine.”
“Fine”. As if fine is synonymous with optimal, thriving or supremely functional.

It’s the “good enough” of credibility to me, especially when it’s said as a means to justify ineptitude.

We must be discerning of what we’re being told is the truth, of course.
And it takes time to gain experience.

But we have to be careful of mistaking time for knowledge.

I’d rather be a rookie who’s always hunting for deeper understanding than limiting myself because I’ve been doing something inefficiently or incorrectly for a longer period of time and assume that I’m somehow insurmountable.

21/04/2024

If you have difficult questions about dressage, then you're going to love this conversation with my friend and colleague Academic Art of Riding - Bettina Biolik.

As we build up towards the 2024 Paris Olympics, now more than ever before, the world is looking at horse sport with a discerning eye. Bettina is a member of the Bent Branderup Knighthood of Academic Art of Riding, which reimagines dressage according to ancient texts, traditions and styles. They train dressage, not the way it looks now on T.V., but how they believe it should have always looked.

Like many of you, I have many questions about Dressage in general. Concerns about how the horse feels, whether they co-sign this focus. (Of course they can). Bettina, and her even keel, balanced and even Buddhist principals, created a space where I felt safe to ask her some harder questions about dressage. She took it in stride and answered perfectly.

A listener has written and said...

"Your podcast with Bettina Biolik is my favourite so far!! Thank you both! You asked the best questions and her responses were also amazing. Such a heartfelt conversation"

This episode is now published everywhere, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, YouTube, everywhere.

19/04/2024

This is a 52kg tumour we pulled out of a young TB(7)

He had a relatively fresh set of shoes on, let that sink in……
They are not built to show pain, they soldier on. His stomach was full but his kidneys appeared to be in renal failure and full of pus, his heart was scarred on the internal lining yet he died chewing hay as he was euthanised. The internal necrosis was horrifying, dying from the inside out and he kept eating hay.

We had a woman attending the dissection who weighed 52kgs. This was only the main mass, the tumors were everywhere. It was wonderful to have academics on this dissection and the first one to add to the conversations. I’m glad this horse didn’t take his secrets to the grave but moving forward a collaborative effort is needed to improve welfare for horses.

To watch the video

https://www.patreon.com/posts/52kg-tumour-from-102668261?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Therese from Equi-ed, your a hero for getting this underway in Ireland. Your awesome team of supportive people around you made this week run smoothly.

Collaboration not competition.

28/03/2024

Recently, I’ve had quite a few people mention and/or inquire if The Masterson Method is “massage”. Though traditional equine massage is an excellent modality to help horses feel better, Masterson Method is not massage. As Jim Masterson refers to it as “Beyond Horse Massage”. And it is!

With traditional massage we manually manipulate the soft tissues with our hands (better tool than anything on the market) to release tension in the superficial and some deep muscles of the horse’s body. The horse can be munching on hay, not paying attention to the therapist but we can still continue to massage. Many horses just love it and some may be quite sensitive but the benefits are the same. During massage, the horse may constantly switch from the sympathetic (fight, flight, freeze) to the parasympathetic (rest and digest “healing state”). Either way, this doesn’t really affect the work being done. The horse will still benefit.

With the Masterson Method, the horse “MUST” participate for it to work! The practitioner’s goal is to take each joint of the body through a small range of motion . . . “in a relaxed state”. It may be only seconds but can be minutes that the horse goes into the parasympathetic state and we create range of motion in that quick span of time and the “magic” is that when we do so, with timing and feel, it triggers the central nervous system to release deep seated tension and restriction in key junctions of the body that most affect performance. The joints of the key junctions are embedded deep beneath layers of soft tissue. It is impossible to “massage” these key places. But we can reach it through the central nervous system. And to bring further clarification, The Masterson Method, though it may appear that way, is not stretching either. When we “stretch” a horse, the muscles are active. With The Masterson Method we create range of motion when the muscles are “relaxed”.

And this takes us back to, “Is The Masterson Method massage?” The simple answer is, no it is not. However, it can have the same affects as massage and goes even deeper . . . It goes “beyond massage”. This is why our title isn’t “Massage Therapist”, rather “Masterson Method Certified Practitioner”. The two certifications are completely different, as is the application.

Yes, I am certified in equine massage and do still use a portion of that very effective modality but I’m also a Masterson Method Certified Practitioner and can offer the horse both! If you’d like to learn more, below is a link to The Masterson Method Website. I hope this helps to clarify those asking.

https://mastersonmethod.com

16/03/2024

Bloo getting some The Masterson Method, Integrated Equine Performance Bodywork from the main man himself, Jim Masterson!

12/03/2024

This weekend I got to assist at a Masterson Method Weekend Seminar taught by Suzanne Liscouski. All the students did a wonderful job of staying soft and applying what they learned.

Then, today was the last day of the Masterson Beyond Dog Massage Read and Release Course, that was informative and fun to watch all the other dogs and their owners. Also, come see Jim and myself this coming weekend at the Super Pet Expo in Chantilly, maybe grab a Beyond Dog Massage book!

And tonight..wrapping up case study 14.1 write up! 💫

09/03/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/NQLGQt4sDTSyTE5N/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Don't we all wish we had perfect hands? I know some of you out there do and I'm jealous! I blame my shortcomings on my initial hunter riding 🤣. One of the things I like to do to make sure I don't NEED my hands to ride is go bridle-less. It's a great test of your balance and your horse's responsive to your other aids. I dedicated two podcast episodes to it, if you are interested in learning how to start. I don't expect you to just go out and dump your bridle!

Check out Come Ride With Me wherever you get your podcasts!
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/come-ride-with-me/id1707925929?i=1000645691977

08/03/2024

Super Excited to be assisting this weekend in Leesburg, VA: Beyond Horse Massage Weekend Course with Suzanne Liscouski

06/03/2024

Come see me and meet the man himself next weekend at the Super Pet Expo in Chantilly!

20/02/2024

Practicing some on Snugs 🖤

Check out Quantum Bodyworks's video.

19/02/2024

My little buddy Bloo and I spent the day learning about The Masterson Method Beyond Dog Massage with one of their first Read and Release courses! This is what Bloo had to say about it:

18/02/2024

This man right here ⬇️ Warwick Schiller is such an inspiration. He has a podcast that EVERYONE can and should listen to, he has openly shared his journey of personal/spiritual development, and even talks about Men’s mental AND emotional health, something I think is so stigmatized in the USA. He is also a phenomenal horse trainer and so much more… Congratulations Warwick on completing the Gaucho Derby!

Back in civilization after the Gaucho Derby, which wil from now on be known as “the psychedelic trip without the psychedelics”.

In 9 days Kansas Carradine Circus Cowgirl and I did 680 kilometers together. It’s a 500 kilometer race, so that gives you an idea of our navigation skills.

I will have been married for 30 years next week and all of those years have been guided by a strong woman, my amazing wife Robyn Schiller.

The race was no different and i couldn’t have done it without the spiritually serene presence of Kansas. Her ability to stay positive, calm and centered in the face of many challenges, along with her hours of chanting in Sanskrit when the days were one rising trot moment after another.

We got lost in forests, crossed so many rivers we stopped counting at 20 something on our second day, and every day our perception of what a horse is capable of doing was altered. The Gaucho horses are a cross between and endurance horse and a mountain goat , with all the positive qualities of both. They gave us so much faith in them that we would ride them up, down, over and through places that I didn’t think was possible for a horse and rider.

My brother Dan James Double Dan Horsemanship decided to join me in this adventure a year ago along with his good mate Elliot Holtzman. We got separated on day one and didn’t see each other again until half way through the race. But we got to ride across the finish line together after what was a massive push to the finish line.

Dan your leadership and support crossing those cliff faces on those ravines that last day was the stuff of legend (when Dan James tells you “that was one of the top 3 scary moments of my entire life”, you know it was crazy). I’m so grateful we went through this physical and spiritual journey together, we need to come up with something even more crazy next time.

To all of the crew of the Gaucho Derby, you guys are amazing. Some of you got to see me at my best and a lucky few of you got to see me at my worst. You got to see my caterpillar turn into a pile of gooey mush before emerging as a butterfly.

Stevie Delahunt, you got me ito this, you got me prepared for it, you were there for the breaking point (and accepted my behaviour with humility and grace) and you were there for the rebirth at the end. I am eternally grateful for your part i this whole adventure .

A special mention to Eric Erik Cooper who also accepted my unfolding with humility and grace.

I’ve been off grid for 2 weeks now, and just got back to internet, and was humbled to see the outpouring of support from people following along at home. I hadn’t even given that a seconds thought, I’d been too busy on the adventure of a lifetime. Thank you everyone who followed along, I’m sure your energy helped with the favorable outcome.

Last but not least my amazing wife and son, thank you guys for allowing me to take on this challenge and emerge with a renewed sense of what it means to be alive.

This picture is of the horse I rode across the finish line. A big hearted mare I called Gaia. She was fit and fast and very , very brave, taking me up and places I’d never considered a horse could go. So grateful for her keeping me safe that last day.

09/02/2024

Consider neck x-rays as routine part of your pre purchase exam of your next partner, here’s why:
🐎

Sharon’s passion for horses was first noticed when she was caught riding a bush horse at 4 years of age. She would climb up the front leg and haul herself up...

08/02/2024

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/pEcU4kTPn6JCudEA/?mibextid=WC7FNe

06/01/2024

Yes we did just sign up last night for The Masterson Method Canine Bodywork Read and Release Online Course! 🐾 🐶

You can too;

The Beyond Dog Massage Read and Release course provides tools to help you work with your dog to relieve tension and build trust and a deeper connection.

06/01/2024

All about continuing my education in this field and yes we are signed up for this course in February! 🐾🖤🐾

15/11/2023

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8DXgcC4/

Check out Quantum Bodyworks's video.

15/11/2023

Shout out to Keats for my awesome logo! 🖤💫