Majic-Touch Equine Sports Massage

06/02/2024

I have been seeing and hearing that a lot of horses owners, trainers, even bodywokers and other professionals are using PEMF machines and massage blankets to replace hands on bodywork.

Let’s talk about the Power of Human Touch in Bodywork and Why PEMF Machines and Other Devices Can't Replace It!

In the world of bodywork and therapeutic healing, there's one element that no machine or device can replicate – the incredible power of human touch!

While PEMF machines and other innovative devices offer their own unique benefits, they simply cannot replace the profound connection and intuitive healing that comes from the hands-on approach of a skilled practitioner. Here's why human touch is irreplaceable in the world of bodywork:

🌟 Sensitivity and Intuition: A trained therapist possesses an innate ability to sense and respond to the subtle cues and energy patterns of the human body. Through their touch, they can identify areas of tension, pain, or imbalance that may not be apparent to a machine. This sensitivity and intuition allow them to tailor the treatment to the individual, providing personalized care that promotes holistic healing.

🌟 Heat and Swelling: A therapist's hands have the remarkable ability to detect even the slightest increase in temperature or swelling in a horse's body. By gently gliding their hands over the horse's muscles, joints, and limbs, they can identify areas of inflammation or discomfort. This invaluable insight helps them tailor their treatments and interventions to alleviate pain and support the horse's overall well-being.

🌟 Balancing the Body: Just as they can detect heat and swelling, therapists can also feel imbalances in a horse's musculoskeletal system. Through their touch, they can identify areas of tension, tightness, or misalignment that may be affecting the horse's movement and performance. This allows them to develop targeted treatment plans to restore balance, improve flexibility, and enhance the horse's overall athletic ability.

🌟 Responding to Feedback: Horses, like humans, communicate through non-verbal cues. A skilled therapist can pick up on the horse's response to their touch, such as subtle shifts in body language, muscle tension, or relaxation. This feedback helps them adjust their techniques and pressure to ensure the horse's comfort and optimize the effectiveness of the treatment.

🌟 Emotional Connection: The power of touch extends beyond the physical realm; it also nurtures emotional well-being. A human touch carries warmth, empathy, and comfort that can have a profound impact on a person's mental and emotional state. The therapeutic relationship formed between a practitioner and their client creates a safe space for emotional release, relaxation, and healing.

🌟 Adaptability and Customization: Unlike machines, human therapists can adapt their techniques and pressure based on the unique needs, preferences, and comfort levels of each individual. They can adjust their touch, speed, and intensity to provide a tailored experience that promotes relaxation, relieves pain, and enhances overall well-being. This level of customization is essential for effective bodywork.

🌟 Connection to Energy Flow: Human touch has the power to influence the flow of energy within the body. Skilled therapists can channel their intention and energy through their hands, helping to restore balance, release blockages, and stimulate the body's natural healing mechanisms. This energetic connection is a vital aspect of many bodywork modalities and cannot be replicated by machines alone.

🌟 Holistic Well-being: Just like with humans, the therapeutic touch of a skilled therapist contributes to the horse's emotional and mental well-being. Horses can experience stress, anxiety, and tension, and the compassionate touch of a therapist helps promote relaxation, trust, and a sense of security. This holistic approach supports the horse's overall health and happiness.

🌟 Healing Presence: Beyond the physical techniques, the presence and energy of a compassionate human therapist can create a profound healing environment. Their calming presence, soothing voice, and genuine care contribute to a sense of safety, trust, and relaxation. This nurturing environment enhances the therapeutic benefits of the bodywork experience.

While PEMF machines and other devices have their place in supporting and enhancing bodywork, they should be viewed as complementary tools rather than replacements for human touch. The art and science of bodywork require the intuitive, empathetic, and skilled touch of a human practitioner to truly unlock the transformative power of healing ❤️‍🩹🐴💕

28/11/2023

- If your torso is collapsing to the right, your hips slipped to the left
- If your right leg keeps creeping up, or you lose just the right stirrup, your hips have slipped left
- If you find it easier to ride to the left, than to the right, your hips likely slip to the left.
- if you find yourself clinging to the right rein, while practically forgetting that you have a left one, good chances are that your hips slept left
- If your left hand is higher than your right hand, it’s possible that your hip slipped to the left
- If cantering counter clockwise, feels okay, but cantering clockwise feels awful, I’m gonna say your hips slipped left.
- if you can leg yield your horse to the right (off your left leg) pretty well,  but cannot lead guild to the left to save your life, your hips are probably chronically slipping to the left.

So many times, when a rider or is collapsing to the right, their coach tells them to fix it by stepping into the left stirrup. 🤦‍♀️ Like, I’ve heard of very famous coaches, giving this instruction.
And the thing is, it does look a little better, because at least when they step into the left stirrup, it gets them to straighten up their entire body -the problem is they are still off-center.
 I think the coach then typically gives students other exercises that bring them back over to the right (like twisting the shoulders to point a little to the left would help), but what I can tell you is these students then talk to me about their ride and they have absolutely no idea how to reproduce whatever straightness they may have accomplished during that clinic. 

The number one, needs solved now, issue in the rider in this sketch is that the hips fell left. I don’t care that the rib cage is collapsing to the right, or that the right leg is creeping way up. All of that will be fixed once the Rider brings their pelvis back to center.

This person is also riding with the left hip forward and the right hip back, but that will also likely resolve once you get this person to scooch over to the right.

 I would tell this student to put their left butt cheek in the middle of the saddle, high centering it, and drop the right butt cheek down into the hole that creates.

Another great exercise (on a trotting horse) is to drop the left stirrup, go clockwise, and posting trot utilizing just the right stirrup. This will feel horrible at first- to the point that I often have to let students try the exercise the opposite direction with the opposite stirrup so they realize how easy it is on their “strong” side. 

If you really struggle to keep from slipping left, it can also help to turn your chest to point a little bit to the left (while traveling right). This can be very effective at putting your weight into your right leg. You can stand up, assume a position similar to riding, and then twist your torso, one way, and then the other. Not all, but definitely most people find that when they twist to the left, it shifts weight into the right foot and vice versa.

Btw- I do virtual video review lessons! Very little tech knowledge needed. $65/lesson.


17/11/2023

Tightness in the muscles of the poll can cause an array of motion problems.

Does your horse …
-feel heavier in one rein than the other?
-resist bending in one direction?
-feel reluctant to step through from behind?
-begin to stop at fences?

When a horse owner mentions any of these problems to me, I won’t be surprised if, in my overall evaluation of the horse, I find tightness in the muscles of the poll. This is an issue I encounter in horses from every discipline I work with, including dressage, eventing, show jumping, hunters, racing and endurance.

The poll muscles I’ll discuss in this article are the re**us capitis muscle group, located on each side of the horse’s neck behind his ear. Technically, this group comprises three muscles that work in concert. I’ll refer to them collectively for the sake of simplicity and because in Sportsmassage Therapy™ I work on them together. They attach to three of the horse’s cervical—neck—vertebrae, called the muscles’ anchor point, about 8 inches down the neck from the poll. They also attach to the base of the skull, called the insertion point, the part of the skeleton for which the muscle group creates motion.

Acting together, the poll muscles flex the horse’s head downward toward his chest. Acting separately, they incline the head to the right or the left.

Why Is The Poll Important?
Although the poll area is relatively small compared to some of your horse’s other muscles, it is key to his freedom and ease of movement.

If you think of your horse’s motion as a wave that originates in his hind end and flows through his body and neck, you can see that the poll is the point at which the wave ends: The energy flows all the way from the hind leg to the head. If the poll is tight on one side (or both), it interrupts the completion of the wave.

The effects of this interruption may show up as problems in other parts of your horse’s body. This is why, whatever symptoms a horse is presenting, I always work on his entire body. Poll tightness may compromise his use of his back or may reflect a shortened step behind because he can’t step up under himself easily and freely. Also, the dynamics of a horse’s motion occur on a diagonal, so tightness in the left poll can reflect a problem in the right hind and vice versa. And because your horse’s body works as a unit that strives for balance, tight poll muscles can also be a secondary issue, a warning flag for a problem that originates somewhere else.

For instance, if simple muscle tightness in the gluteal muscles or the hamstring inhibits your horse’s freedom of movement in his hind end, he will tighten in his poll to balance or compensate for this lack of freedom of motion behind.

11/11/2023

Like many horses in the industry, I also think the humans may be in a state of learned helplessness.

Perhaps, achieved differently than how it is with horses, but helplessness nonetheless.

Specifically, the helplessness that is present with the apathy we see in riders who insist that their horse "needs" that double twisted wire gag, draw reins and their nose chain in order to be safely handled.

This state of learned helplessness may be in part achieved by the existence of an environment that offers no other alternatives but also through the pervasive belief that nothing we change in ourselves, the environment or our equipment could possibly alter the behaviour of our horse.

We remain helpless in the sense that we think a certain level of force is an absolute necessity, under any and all circumstances, and that those who believe in other solutions simply "don't know the horse" or "have never worked with a horse like this" or "have never actually trained a horse" or any other number of deflective excuses.

The horse needs the harsh bit.

The horse is dangerous without the harsh bit when we continue to try to show and jump it, so this means the horse needs the harsh bit.

We clamor onto the latest piece of equipment or calming supplement that problems to offer swift behavioural changes in our horse, meanwhile frowning upon what should be more obvious solutions.

Could the fact that the horse seldom sees the outdoors be the issue?

No, of course not! She hates turnout ( translation: she paces until she sweats due to the sudden over stimulation)!

Could the poor saddle fit be contributing to the reactivity?

No, of course not! This saddle is very expensive.

Could the harsh bit itself be creating a self fulfilling prophecy of reactive pain and the rider's anxiety and anticipation of misbehaviour makes them unconsciously tense up?

No, of course not! I /know/ my horse.

Many riders have been taught to have such a lacking toolbox that they cannot see how to modify behaviour without the use of forceful gadgets.

They cannot see how quieting the mind of the horse would in turn quiet the reactivity of the body.

They view the horse's behaviour as unchangeable.

Something that can only be managed with equipment, rather than wholly addressed.

What an awful, suffocating place to be stuck.

When we exist in an industry that offers us thousands of "solutions" that promise instant gratification, it is hard to want to do the difficult work.

It is hard to forego that show season of jumping, of moving up a level, in favour of ground and flat work to help settle your horse's nerves.

It is hard to consider that our fear may result in equipment choices that merely prolong and exacerbate issue.

It is hard to think about the fact that perhaps our horse is reacting in pain...

But, the thing is...

If we actually put the work in to do the "hard" thing, the payoff is far greater.

The smooth sailing that accompanies addressing the root of the problem, the better relationship between you and your horse...

It all makes it worthwhile.

It helps you realize that slow is fast, because you encounter far less obstacles in the long run, even if the beginning may feel like it's taking forever.

Addressing behavioural problems doesn't involve upping the harshness of your equipment.

That is merely managing them.

If your equipment gets more aggressive to rid a problem, you're likely actually covering it up.

Address the root cause, address the problem behaviour.

Doing things the right way isn't easy, but it certainly is rewarding.

Trying to cover up dangerous behaviour with more aggressive handling and equipment just endangers us humans more whilst harming our horse.

We can do better, we know better now.

06/11/2023

I highly suspect that this post will cause some activity that leads to clicking the "unfollow" button, but...
that is 100% ok because horses mean FAR more to me than ego and pride 😊

I write this post with the intention to educate, not to offend.

Horses may not use verbal communication but it doesn't exclude them from having a voice.

Pay attention to your horse's microexpressions. Microexpressions are the non verbal communications of a whispering horse. They will be used when a horse needs to express discomfort. If you were to add verbal communication in the place of microexpressions it would sound like:
"I'm worried about that and need time to process how safe I feel".

Microexpressions are seen in the face mainly.
Eyes
Ears
Nose
Mouth
Jaw

Macroexpressions are the non verbal communications of a SHOUTING HORSE!!!

Macroexpressions are expressed when the horse feels FEAR/DISTRESS.

Macroexpressions are so common in domesticated horses nowadays that they are considered normal. Conventional trainers and training systems will even "encourage" macroexpression.

Macroexpression is when a horse feels the need to move their feet. This is a limbic motor response to fear. It is known as a flight reaction. It is designed to help the horse survive in a threatening situation and is accompanied with a whole pile of adrenaline and stress response hormones.

Macroexpressions include:
Feet moving
Elevated and locked poll
Tail swishing
Bolting
Bucking
Biting
Kicking
Barging
Rearing
Etc.

Did you know the difference between microexpressions (the whispers) and the macroexpressions (the shouts) before now?

Has this been something that a coach or trainer has educated you on?

How many trainers/coaches are educating people to "move the horse's feet"?

These outdated training ideologies are destroying the emotional, mental and physical state of these beautiful animals.

Horses are NOT machines.
Horses are NOT slaves to the human ego.
Horses are NOT just for riding.

Horses are highly sensitive, receptive, loving animals that all to often have to "cope", "tolerate" and "put up" with the demands of the human's ego and overwhelming, fearful environments and situations.

It's time to change this industry!
It's time to advocate for the emotional and mental welfare of horses as well as their physical.

It's time that us humans notice and appreciate that horses deserve as much voice, respect, love and happiness as any human.

It's time to stop seeing horses as riding machines and objects that we demand satisfy our dopamine cravings.

It's time to stop and notice their emotional perspective and perception of the world. To help them feel physically AND psychologically SAFE at all times, just like we would an innocent child.

A child doesn't need to earn food or to feel physically and psychologically safe. These are things that they are entitled to the minute they take their first breath!
YOU don't need to earn food, to feel loved, understood, acknowledged, valued, appreciated or physically safe.
Your horse doesn't have to earn these things either.

Horses want and NEED to feel exactly what YOU NEED to feel deep down...
Understanding
Love
Acceptance
Safety
Belonging
Calmness
Valued
Appreciated
Acknowledged

And be offered communication that reinforces and nurtures:
Support
Boundaries
Kindness
Fairness
Emotional pocessing time

Happy brain training 🧠
Charlotte 😊

02/11/2023

Citazione

02/11/2023

From an anatomical perspective the nervous system is made up of the Central Nervous System (CNS) (brain and spinal cord), and Peripheral Nervous System (PNS) (cranial and peripheral nerves). From a...

02/11/2023

One of my favourite stretches for decompressing the cervical spine, and stretching out muscles that are commonly tense as a result of reduced forelimb protraction.

Visualising the release, mobilisation and stretch of these muscles is super eye opening to how this can be so beneficial for horses that have tension in these muscles.

From saddles that are too narrow, to navicular syndrome… these muscles develop tension to compensate.

It is also good to visualise why holding a stretch for 15 seconds is so important for effectiveness.

31/10/2023

A counter-intuitive path to success with horses 🌬️⁣
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This concept goes against some common “self improvement” advice 🤔⁣
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When your motivation for training is driven solely by your end goal, you’re set up for disappointment.⁣
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An external outcome such as winning a title, riding bridle-less, or plodding down the trail.⁣
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There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having goals. It’s beneficial to work toward something… until that something becomes the only thing we’re in this for.⁣
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Especially when there’s immense pressure to get there QUICKLY ⚡️ because the desire is so strong.⁣
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This puts excessive pressure on horses, creating more fear and resistance, slowing down progress.⁣
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Plus, in this energetic state, we’re robbing ourselves of the magnificent, even spiritual experiences we can have when we stay in the moment, enjoy the journey, and let go of the results we desire 🌬️⁣
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This is called ✨high intention, low attachment ✨⁣
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You can have a big, inspirational goal, and a plan to get there…⁣
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But in the day to day, you stay present. Work with the horse in front of you, not the horse you wish you had. Embracing challenge, accepting the natural, non-linear nature of progress (which includes “setbacks”).⁣
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If you can only enjoy yourself when you achieve a certain result, you’ll very likely experience burnout.⁣
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It’s important to take pleasure in the process of training, not just the result.⁣
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Sometimes, this state of being is natural. A lot of us start out feeling this way with horses—just being around them fills us up.⁣
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Other times, making the shift is HARD. If we’ve ever experienced external pressure to succeed, identify as a successful trainer/rider (and need to maintain that status), feel the need to *prove* our worthiness…⁣
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Our success with horses becomes the vehicle to our own sense of self.⁣
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This is where the horse-human connection breaks down.⁣
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…and requires inner work beyond just deciding to feel differently.⁣
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We can learn to give ourselves all the love, approval, and sense of worthiness we once needed from external achievement—ridding our horses of such a burden.⁣
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How did this land with you? 🩵 comment👇🏼⁣
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— MM team 💫

31/10/2023

As the weather changes and winter approaches let’s make do of the last snowless days and get your horses a much deserved massage to loosen their before the winter chills.❄️☃️ Message me today to set up a session or consultation!

31/10/2023

Not every bodyworker is the right fit for you and your horse.

I said what I said. It's like dating. Bodyworkers vary between approach, experience, techniques, and of course, personality. It goes both ways too- sometimes the client or the horse isn't a good fit for the bodyworker.

There is nothing wrong with that. To get the most out of a session, all three need to be in sync: the practitioner, the owner, and the horse. If one of these is off, it won't be as effective.

Sometimes yes, it does some time to get to know each other. I always recommend at least three sessions before you determine whether the horse is improving. Why? Because one massage session will be effective but it won't provide miracles and unravel months or years of compensation.

However, often I come into a session for the first time where the owner has very clear ideas of what needs to be done and talks badly about the previous bodyworker or other providers, whether it be vet or farrier. Those are red flags to me as a business owner.

My approach to bodywork sessions may not be the right fit for the owner.
The horse may be dangerous to work with.
The owner may have unrealistic expectations.

Not everyone is the right fit and that is absolutely okay. I want to help as many animals as I can, but it has to work for all of us to reap the greatest rewards.

31/10/2023

Halloween is a fun time of year but you may want to think 2x about feeding your horse sugary treats.

Your horse converts sugar (carbohydrates) into energy in several ways. Sugar contains fructose and glucose. The liver processes fructose, and glucose enters the bloodstream to fuel the muscles. Therefore, horses require a specific amount of sugar to ensure they have enough energy for physical activities. Too much sugar, however, can lead to health problems:

Horses that are fed diets high in sugar and starch have an increased risk for ulcer development. The starches in these diets are quickly broken down by gut microbes, resulting in acidic byproducts that create a more acidic stomach environment.

Saliva contains important an acid-neutralizing agent called bicarbonate, but it's only produced in a healthy horse when they chew. Sugary treats, which don't require much chewing, result in less saliva production over a shorter period. As a result, sugary treats not only create a more acidic stomach environment but also fail to stimulate sufficient saliva production to buffer the stomach.

Excessive sugar intake can also lead to other serious health implications, especially for horses with a higher sensitivity to sugar intake, including Laminitis, Metabolic Syndrome and Insulin Resistance.

What’s your horse’s favorite healthy treat?

19/10/2023

My dirty gelding got a half body massage the other day and has been feeling great! So great he went and found a bunch of burdocks to roll around in!

23/07/2023

Horses will always have a strong sense of 'self-preservation'.

This the rider must understand whenever he approaches them in their training.

Their honesty and intelligence should never be taken for granted and the good trainer will understand him in such a way as to have him 'want' to be with him and do as he asks.

Forcing a horse will only make him obey; but at what cost?

"The only approbation one should covet is that of your horse..."
Captain E. Beudant

(Photograph from 'Understanding Equitation'
Jean Saint-Fort Paillard.)

02/07/2023

I have taken a break from social media but I am still active and open for business! My Facebook messenger and WhatsApp are both open for any questions!

22/02/2023

17/02/2023

Message me to book your massage today!

17/02/2023

17/02/2023