Our First Bodywork Session

I did Tellington TTouch circles[i] on Jalila’s right side for 5 minutes before I could earn enough trust for her to allow me to put my hands on her and get a reading of her energy. This would tell me where to begin. The right shoulder was obviously turned out at what appeared to be an uncomfortable angle and that side was the focus of concern, but when I went to her left side to check her Heart Roll,[ii] I was immediately drawn to a restriction in her left shoulder. The left scapula was sucked in against her ribs so tightly that there was no delineation at all at the base of her neck, and the scapula felt like a rock with skin stretched over it. I pointed this out to the owner who could both see and feel how tight and odd the left shoulder was.
[i] Tellington TTouch is a special way of touching a body that impacts it physically, mentally and emotionally by bringing new awarenesses. It was developed by Linda Tellington-Jones.
[ii] In the practice of ANT, osteopathic Animal Normalization Technique, I look for restrictions of blood flow into or out of any area of the body, and reading the rhythm of the heart is where I begin.
 

This photo was taken about 24 hours after Jalila’s first bodywork session. The twist and tension in the right shoulder and front leg are still apparent but the improvement was radical.

I suspected (intuition?) that the mare might have birth trauma rib fractures[i], but did not find any on her troubled right side. I did find one on the left, near the top of the 5th or 6th rib. I performed an Quantum Energetics repair that I learned from Trudy Johnson[ii] and within less than a minute, the mare closed her eyes, lowered her head and her scapula released to produce a normal shoulder on the left! It was one of the most dramatic postural changes I have ever witnessed. I did a few strokes of Shoulder Delineation[iii] to help her release the muscles along the front of her scapula, and returned to the Heart Roll to begin an ANT vascular balance.[iv] I worked for about for about 30 minutes, doing as much as I felt Jalila could tolerate, releasing her neck and softening her back. I was able to handle her front legs enough to feel for rhythm in the Chopart joints[v] of her knees and work up through her shoulders. Then I told the owners that I had to stop because the horse’s nervous system had taken in all it could take.

[i]  My introduction to this common problem came from an article by Wendy Elks with Dr. Ian Bidstrup called Birth Trauma in the Hoofbeats magazine, August/September 08 (PDF online)
[ii] http://holdingthespacetoheal.com
[iii] Shoulder Delineation is a Connected Groundwork exercise developed by Peggy Cummings, originator of Connected Riding, that releases tightness in the shoulders and encourages a horse to telescope the head and neck forward and down.
[iv] Feeling a strong rhythm in her heart, I checked in with her lungs and kidneys. With so much out of sync, I went to the Chopart joints in her knees, left then right, so I could use them to help clear the shoulders and neck. Whenever I touched her legs, she picked up her feet and also pawed the air. I could not complete much of what I knew would be best due to Jalila’s reactivity and the threat of a blow up. She did receive vascular drainage of her neck and shoulders before I had to quit.
[v] The Chopart joint is formed by the articulation of four bones, the movement of which is more extensive than that of the other tarsal or carpal bones in the knee (front) or hock (rear) respectively. The motion allows for a sort of rotation and can be felt as a figure-8 energetic pattern in the joint.
 

The owners had hoped I could get some work done on her hind legs and hips because she was leaving in a few days to go to a trainer who does a type of desensitization training. They were concerned that the horse had been unable to allow her hind feet to be trimmed and suspected low back problems. I had no doubt they were right, but the horse had truly had enough and I ended the bodywork session.
We hung around and talked while I just fidgeted with the horse asking her to experiment with looking around and lowering her head. She responded so radically to the fact that I acknowledged her situation it really touched my heart. I felt sick that she was going out into the world, so innocent and unprepared, but I tend not to say much to people about their training decisions when all they’ve asked for is bodywork.

Less than 24 hours after our first bodywork session, Jalila reveals a clearly defined shelf in the front of her left scapula and the right front leg has dramatically rotated back toward center. The dotted line indicates how turned it it was before the bodywork​.
(Yes, I wish I had “Before” pictures!)