02/27/2020
I’ve been really busy making horses feel better and have been delinquent posting on my bodywork page. Yesterday, though really made me smile, so I’ll share it here. I was asked to work on a horse that EVERYONE warned me about as a “bad biter”. He’s had this reputation for 20 years, so I presume it’s a bad habit, not a physical issue. I heard it so many times that I was concerned enough to take a grazing muzzle along to use if I didn’t feel I could work on him safely. The horse is aged and could really use the bodywork or I might have just declined for my own safety. I have NEVER used a muzzle to work on a horse. I left the muzzle outside the stall and walked in to introduce myself and assess him. The owner pointed out the places where he’s likely to swing around to get ya. My plan was to avoid those areas until the end. I started working on the old boy. As expected, he was tight and stiff, but released and sighed deeply as I worked with him-not on him, but with him. Although, he maintained a grumpy ear position, his eyes were soft. I’d approached his sensitive areas and move on, approach and go somewhere else he liked before he had a chance to react. Before long, I was able to massage his most reactive areas without any reaction. I love being able to make a horse like this feel better. I’m happy to add him to my regular schedule and I’ll leave the muzzle at home-he doesn’t need it- and bet he’ll be a happier old guy for it.