Well, I did NOT ride this weekend. I planned to. I got all Lizzie's equipment out to the barn and ready to go. But first I had to groom her, of course. And by the time I got that done I was really tired. So I went inside and sat down for a while and while I was resting I read some of that "Beyond Horse Massage" book by Jim Masterson that I just got a few days ago. I didn't get very far, but it was fascinating and I thought just for the heck of it I'd give that first technique he described an initial try - although I thought I would probably need to wait for the DVD to come and SEE it done before I would actually be able to do it correctly.
I have a couple other books on horse massage, but I got them primarily so I would understand what an equine masseuse might be doing if I were to hire one since my hands are not strong enough to do it myself. But the reason I ordered this particular book was because when I read pages from it on Amazon, I saw that the levels of pressure listed contained more than half that I COULD see myself able to use. When I started reading the book yesterday, the first technique he described he instructed be done using that "air gap" very light touch. Who would have even considered that?? What good could that possibly do?
Well, let me tell you, what happened when I tried it yesterday was nothing short of amazing to me. Lizzie is not only incredibly head shy, but she does not normally allow you to even pet or groom her unless she's tied in place. So I doubted that the technique he described would actually work at all with her. But what the heck . . . I have the book, I'm waiting on the DVD (so I can actually see Masterson doing it all), so I figured I might as well give that first technique a shot and see how Lizzie would react.
So I started at her poll using that "air gap" super light touch he specified, and she began to pull away instantly just as I expected. But as instructed, I simply stopped and left my hand very lightly in place . . . and SHE stopped as well! I waited a full minute or so, then continued to move incredibly slowly down her neck a couple inches below the midline.
Maybe five minutes later when I got to a point about 5 or 6 inches down her neck, her skin shivered and I stopped and left my hand lightly in place . . . and soon her head went down I could feel her relax and start to chew and lick her lips, just as the book said would happen when a horse relaxes a specific point! Wow! I spent another half hour or so at it (and came across two more spots that relaxed her), and as long as I continued she seemed perfectly happy to stand there! Amazing! At that point I had to stop, though, because my arms were beginning to get exhausted from holding them up like that while being careful not to rest them hard against her. But I'll tell you one thing -- I WILL be finishing that book SOON. Can't wait to see what the rest of the instructions are -- and see Lizzie's reactions to them!
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