Lisa Turcotte Equine Massage

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Lisa Turcotte Equine Massage My mission is to provide an exceptional quality of life for equines of all disciplines. My most recent addition to my practice is compassionate care sessions.

I am a certified equine massage therapist, with credentials from the Bancroft School of Massage Therapy. In addition to being a graduate I am the current Equine Program Administrator and an instructor. I graduated in 2017 and since then I have taken additional courses in:

Acupressure
Manual Lymph Drainage
Kinesiology Taping, both human and equine
Instrument Assisted Soft Tissue Mobilization

I've

authored several articles on horse health, recognizing pain and the horse human connection. A mini massage clinic for owners is being developed and will be available in the late spring 2022. These are for those equines in the final stages of life.

The body doesn’t lie, it should be symmetrical. If it’s not and you have issues become a detective. There is so much gre...
18/12/2024

The body doesn’t lie, it should be symmetrical. If it’s not and you have issues become a detective. There is so much great information available. You are your horse’s best advocate.

Asymmetrical whorls

When assessing horses before euthanasia I try to be as thorough as possible, gathering information is a huge part of the process. Something I have noted in a number of the ECVM cases I’ve seen is whorls on the pectoral muscles that don’t match. The theory is that whorls form in relation to the tissue below it.

This guy was certainly asymmetrical and you can also note the rib cage rotation in both the points of the shoulder and the sternum sitting to his left side. In fact he was so destabilised that his p***s symphysis was completely unfused at over 8 years old.breaking it in half was easy because there was zero fusion occurring to strengthen the area. This horse had multiple lower hind joint injections that on dissection were relatively clean. The sloppy appearing joints in stifles and hocks were coming from the pelvis in my opinion. He was a well bred 17.2hh warmblood gelding.

To follow his dissection findings he has an album on my patreon page.

https://www.patreon.com/collection/857132/edit

I have further refined my “medicine ball” recipe. For those following along Forest is on minocycline for Lyme. Forest al...
23/11/2024

I have further refined my “medicine ball” recipe. For those following along Forest is on minocycline for Lyme. Forest also is a challenge to get the medicine in, hence the medicine ball.

Items needed for this concoction:

Whole old fashioned oats. I got the store brand

Molasses

A bowl

Silicone or bendy spatula

To start get a coffee bean grinder and grind up oats into a flour consistency

Next take a Tablespoon of the flour in a bowl with the meds.

Add a dash of water and start mixing
Add a pinch of oats then mix well until a dough ball forms. You may have to add more flour. If it is still wet (About a teaspoon)

Roll into a ball and set aside to harden.

Once they are hardened dip in molasses and roll into oat flour.

Voila you have medicine balls!

You will want a gloves to keep your hand from getting sticky.

Off to massage some clients today! A retired polo pony and a trail and dressage pony!
20/11/2024

Off to massage some clients today! A retired polo pony and a trail and dressage pony!

After a weekend of teaching and testing soon to be massage graduates I’m sitting with Forest and friend  really enjoying...
17/11/2024

After a weekend of teaching and testing soon to be massage graduates I’m sitting with Forest and friend really enjoying this warmer weather.

I’m lucky in my choice of professions, I get teach equine massage therapy to talented people!
16/11/2024

I’m lucky in my choice of professions, I get teach equine massage therapy to talented people!

Today is for making medicine balls. What are those you ask. Forest is on minocycline for Lyme disease and giving it to h...
14/11/2024

Today is for making medicine balls. What are those you ask. Forest is on minocycline for Lyme disease and giving it to him has presented some challenges. Recipe is ground oats, a scoop of meds, a pinch of oats,a dash of water and molasses. Mix well, form
into a ball then roll in the oat flour again. They harden without baking.

Downside is you should wear gloves when making them as they can get sticky.

04/11/2024

Ever wonder what hunter's bumps are? Have you thought people were too rigid in their thinking that horses shouldn't be ridden or worked to hard until they are older? If so I highly encourage all to watch this video.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=507359068798084

We had the pleasure of working with Dr Kevin Landau of Landau Veterinary Services last week. Forest got adjusted and we ...
30/10/2024

We had the pleasure of working with Dr Kevin Landau of Landau Veterinary Services last week. Forest got adjusted and we did some work on his fascial lines. We used the tests and protocols outlined in Dr. Vibeke Elbrød's work. fasciallines.com

Forest looks like he is saying "what is with the pick up sticks?" Getting him to become more aware of his legs and hoove...
27/10/2024

Forest looks like he is saying "what is with the pick up sticks?" Getting him to become more aware of his legs and hooves (AKA Proprioception) is important for so many reasons:

Avoiding injury: Proprioception helps horses avoid injury by providing sensory feedback when walking on uneven terrain.
Maintaining balance: Proprioception helps horses maintain balance and stay upright.
Performing fine movements: Proprioception allows horses to perform precise and sudden movements.
Understanding what to do: Proprioception helps horses understand what you want them to do, which can improve communication between horse and rider.

By asking him to walk through the pile of cross rails he learns where and how to put his feet.

You can start with just a few on the ground and then build up to placing them on top of each other and making them closer together.

This is a great breakdown of training techniques and what really works. Pushing your horse through their fear is a short...
23/10/2024

This is a great breakdown of training techniques and what really works. Pushing your horse through their fear is a short term solution which only causes future problems. Plus who wants their horse to be fearful?

𝗙𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿-𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘂𝘀 𝗧𝗶𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

I saw yet another post in a local group this morning supposedly promoting systematic desensitisation when in fact what they were doing is flooding. There is a huge need for education so that caregivers, riders and coaches understand the very crucial distinction .

I first came across titration and pendulation some years ago as part of my own on-going healing journey from trauma and complex ptsd. Ever since, this had made so much sense to me than the more frequently used systematic desensitisation and counter-conditioning.

I have also had the opportunity to deep dive into this on the EQUUSOMA course and further learning from Laura Donaldson which only emphasised for me that this is my preference when working with horses and dogs.

When systematic desensitisation and counter- conditioning are introduced too soon or if the intensity of the trigger is misjudged can lead to re-traumatisation. On the other hand with tiny drops of stress with titration the risk is greatly minimised.

Systematic desensitisation is the graded exposure to a trigger at a level the horse can cope with (Butler et al,2011, Wolpe,1950).

The aim is to maintain relaxation throughout. If your horse becomes tense go back a step to where they are calm.

Systematic desensitisation involves the following criteria:

• Distance
• Intensity (strength)
• Duration (start with seconds)
• Distraction ( layer them in one at a time)

Increase one criteria at a time. For example it you move closer (distance) then you lower intensity, duration and distraction. We need to recognise that we can still be removing agency from the horse when we use systematic desensitisation.

Counter - conditioning

Counter-conditioning is a type of classical conditioning. In this case the aim is for the horse to develop a positive or neutral response to a stimulus or situation that worries them ( positive conditioned emotional response or CER) (Bouton,2002,Dickinson & Pearce,1977). It is challenging to tell if what we are seeing is just a change in behaviour response or if the emotional response has truly changed with the behaviour.

This is frequently done by pairing the fear or anxiety provoking stimulus with something pleasant such as food or scratches.

For example a person on a bike is paired with food. However, this is not easy to apply as it requires precision and good timing. If your horse spots the bike before you then the association may be weakened .

Systematic desensitisation and counter-conditioning protocols can be long and complicated to follow.

Both can lead to flooding and potential re-traumatisation if done too soon, too quickly or at too high a level of intensity!!

If your horse has had a very frightening experience it is important that this is addressed FIRST through minimising every day stress and any veterinary treatment if required (Saur et al,2019)

👿FLOODING This is the process by which the horse is exposed to the fly spray at full intensity whilst escape is prevented. It is extremely poor for welfare, detrimental to the horse/ human relationship and unethical. DO NOT FLOOD YOUR HORSE!!

Titration and Pendulation

This way of working is more suitable if your horse is phobic or traumatised.
The goal with all horses to AVOID causing explosive BIG reactions as this worsens fear responses, erodes trust and can hinder progress. The aim is to settle the nervous system to optimise it's functioning (Levine, 1999,2010,Van der Kolk, 2014, Payne et al,2015) and allow for stress to be discharged safely.

Essentially pendulation and titration are about returning an individual to a more balanced state that allows them to calmly re-engage with the world (Levine, 2010). The process involves moving from a tiny droplet of stress or activation back to a sense of safety.

Dr Peter Levine describes pendulation as a primal restorative rhythm of contraction and expansion, that indicates to the individual experiencing the stress that does not last forever (Levine, 2010 p79) .

For example breaking stimuli down into it's sensory components drop by drop ie sound, sight, sight observing from a distance, tactile walking over different surfaces.

Working in tiny droplets makes flooding almost impossible. For example allowing your horse to observe a bike moving in the distance then move or graze or mutually groom with a friend to return to a sense of safety. This also allows for completion of the stress cycle (Schwartz, 2020).

References

Bouton, M. E. (2002). Context, ambiguity, and unlearning: sources of relapse after behavioral extinction. Biological psychiatry, 52(10), 976-98

Butler, R., Sargisson, R. J., & Elliffe, D. (2011). The efficacy of systematic desensitization for treating the separation-related problem behaviour of domestic dogs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 129(2-4), 136-145

Dickinson, A., & Pearce, J. M. (1977). Inhibitory interactions between appetitive and aversive stimuli. Psychological Bulletin, 84(4), 690.

Levine, P. A. (1997). Waking the tiger: Healing trauma: The innate capacity to transform overwhelming experiences. North Atlantic Books.

Levine, P. A. (2010). In an unspoken voice: How the body releases trauma and restores goodness. North Atlantic Books.

Payne, P., Levine, P. A., & Crane-Godreau, M. A. (2015). Somatic experiencing: using interoception and proprioception as core elements of trauma therapy. Frontiers in psychology, 93.

Sauer, F.J., Hermann, M., Ramseyer, A., Burger, D., Riemer, S. and Ge**er, V., 2019. Effects of breed, management and personality on cortisol reactivity in sport horses. Plos
one, 14(12), p.e0221794.

Schwartz, A. (2020). The complex PTSD workbook: A mind-body approach to regaining emotional control and becoming whole. Sheldon Press.

©️Jessie Sams (2023) Animal Behaviour and Trauma Recovery Service

Hanging out in the field after working with Forest.
03/10/2024

Hanging out in the field after working with Forest.

I love my alumni and so glad I teach them about listening to the horse. My philosophy is work with the horse not on the ...
27/09/2024

I love my alumni and so glad I teach them about listening to the horse. My philosophy is work with the horse not on the horse.

When the horse knows you listen they will allow you to work on painful areas so you get better results.

This is how you know your massage practitioner uses her entire body to make your horse feel great!
22/09/2024

This is how you know your massage practitioner uses her entire body to make your horse feel great!

08/09/2024

Concerned about your skills?
Certification will validate and boost your confidence.
Overcoming doubts about your skills and investing in certification will build lasting confidence. Certification provides the validation and assurance needed to trust in your abilities and grow professionally. Visit our page at National Board of Certification for Animal Acupressure & Massage (NBCAAM)

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