Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Bodywork for Bar


Yes, my horse may be a little spoiled.

But here's the thing. Karen--my friend the masseuse and the person actually responsible for the big, brown mirror ending up in my life--has rehabbed a lot of horses, Thoroughbreds included. Her own horse Bobby is 20, won over $250,000, and was deemed nothing more than a lawn ornament when she got him. He does dressage work now, and has carried Karen many miles.

Me? I know enough to see when Bar isn't moving exactly right, but my obsessive nature tends to skew my observational skills. Plus, I don't always know what to do with the information I see.

Bar is stiff and not moving as well as I'd like, but is that because he's been off so long? My body certainly reacts to not enough movement. How can I gradually get him back to work so he's stretching out and not straining? I do enough handling of him to know what muscles are tight, but at the moment--with only one very tired right arm--I can't do much for him.

Enter Karen.

She can do the body work, and she can watch the way he moves, see what I'm missing or what I'm imagining. And the best thing? She shares that information, shows me what I need to see to help Bar heal and become the horse he can be.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You're lucky to have her - our chiropractor does the same for us. Hope he feels better soon.

Dave (aka Buckskins Rule) said...

Even though your not sure what to do, you are in tune enough to recognize when something isn't right. And to seek help. I see too many people who won't acknowledge when their horse is off.