Body Blog
Exploring mindfulness and healing through the body for both horses and humans.
Blending In-hand Exercises, Riding, and Bodywork
February 9, 2025
I love this mare. She's not mine, but I get to ride, play with, and help Sugar, a 15 year old Morgan mare, be a relaxed, happy lesson pony for kiddos.
Sugar rushes. Her other rider’s family nicknamed her Sugar Rush! As a bodyworker, I get curious with a horse who rushes: is there pain somewhere in the body that’s causing them to rush? Is it core balance?
The first thing her owner and I looked at was saddle fitting. I revisited a webinar by Murielle Richard-Price, a Masterson Method practitioner, who shared the 9 Points of Saddle Fit from a bodyworker perspective.
Using a gullet ruler, her owner and I learned that Sugar is so very wide… she’s beyond extra wide! So we tried a few different saddles, and this dusty Wintec was the winner. It’s not fancy, but it’s the most comfortable for her. Not only does she rush less, but her stride is more even (occasionally she had a longer left front stride than right front, and I think the saddle was partially the issue).
The proud owner of a German-made leather cavesson, I was just in need of a horse to wear it! I dusted off my Manolo Mendez’s In-Hand Lessons DVD I bought years ago, and was hooked. Sugar would be the proud wearer of this beautiful work of leather. And I would learn how to walk backwards!! The exercises Manolo offers are simple and useful in helping a horse feel relaxed both in-hand and on the lounge, and in developing their core postural muscles with lateral movements. I pulled out my garden trellis bamboo sticks from the shed (Manolo uses bamboo sticks as they’re light and long) and was good to go.
Diana Waters is teaching many people around the world how to build their horse’s topline using exercises at the walk, and in particular, the slow walk. “Synchronizing” with your horse as the very first step to master. Last night I practiced this synchronizing with Sugar as we walked together on the rail—me guiding the direction, her guiding the pace. I didn’t realize how much focus it takes to really “listen” to your horse and walk at their speed, while also maintaining your own balance and leadership. Each time I had a felt sense of being in sync with her, she let out a sigh or licked and chewed. It was like magic, the same magic I see in my biodynamic craniosacral practice when I’m present and listening to the person’s body without ego or agenda.
While Diana’s work is based on the French classical tradition, I was raised in the German tradition. I recently audited a Gerd Heuschmann clinic (German, as you might expect) with a friend and took pages and pages of notes. Many of his suggestions were ones that I vaguely recall from my eventing days the 80s. My biggest take-away from this clinic—and there were many—was the importance of allowing the horse to lengthen their body before asking for collection: they need to be able to use their backs, like in a relaxed trot on the buckle in the warm-up. It takes courage to let go, and the half halt is only a half halt AFTER the release.
Lastly, I’ve joined Jillian Kreinbring’s Books & Bourbon Equestrian Club, which means we read books and have Zoom calls to review and discuss. The first book is by Christina Stinchcomb, Riding with the Chakras. I have a signed copy from over a year ago and have skimmed the book, but there’s something about learning in community with others. Now I’m really paying attention to her wisdom. While I can focus on chakras and energy when I’m reading or practicing bodywork, it’s a whole other thing to bring it “off the mat” so to speak when I’m training or riding.
While I’ve gathered a variety of approaches, they feel very compatible. I get to put the wisdom of all of these great clinicians together—sometimes just one or two at a time— with this sweet mare Sugar. Having a riding horse again helps me be a better bodyworker. I see the biomechanics more clearly, and how each discipline informs the other. I note her postural and movement patterns in-hand or under saddle, and apply bodywork to release restrictions. I note what really floats her boat in the bodywork (which techniques she melts into) and where her challenges are (when she resists particular techniques), and revisit postural in-hand exercises to strengthen her core and supple her ribcage and spine.
With saddle fitting pretty well established, now we are working on core posture and balance. From synchronized walking to lateral work at the slow walk and now trotting on a long rein around the arena, we’re working our way towards all gaits with ease and balance for me and her other riders.
We’re getting there, bit by bit, as each time I come out I hear how good she’s been in lessons. Music to my ears!
If you'd like some help from a professional bodyworker in The Masterson Method, reach out. I can help you and your horse be the best you can be, helping you examine the root of your horse's issues and helping to remove obstacles to success. I've got my winter Redingote onesie and am ready to help horses in pretty much any weather!