Lending horses a healing hand

Watching Susie Buck, it’s clear she helps horses feel good in their bodies. Standing next to an Appaloosa named Finn, Buck slowly glides her hand lightly along what in traditional Chinese medicine is his bladder meridian. This energy pathway runs along each side of Finn’s body, starting in front of his ears and running down his neck, back, haunches, and the backs of his legs, all the way to his hoof.

Buck pauses whenever Finn twitches, flicks an ear, blinks hard, or his breathing pattern changes, indicating tension in the area. “This shows that you’ve pinged into something their nervous system is trying to hide,” she explains.” Buck remains on the spot until she sees an energetic release, such as Finn licking and chewing, sneezing, shaking his head, swishing his tail, or yawning.

“It’s a combination of soft touches to promote relaxation and then moving joints through a range of motion to see if they have full range, or if there is a restriction,” Buck goes on. As she works, Finn’s physical tension clearly dissipates. His range of motion through his neck and hind legs improves, and he looks more relaxed and quite blissful, with drooping eyelids, after the bodywork.

Buck, an advanced fieldwork student, is demonstrating the Masterson Method, an interactive equine bodywork approach that centers on the relationship and communication between the horse and practitioner. Founder Jim Masterson says, “It’s hard to describe. It’s not massage, it’s not chiropractic, it’s not acupressure. What I came up with is: It’s a method of equine bodywork where we learn how to read and follow the responses of the horse to our touch, to help release tension in key junctions of their body that most affect performance.” 

In contrast to traditional massage, the Masterson Method works with the horse’s nervous system, and the horse actively participates in the process. It is something you do with the horse, rather than to the horse.

“Horses are really good at compartmentalizing from different parts of their body that might be bothering them, because they need to stay and keep up with the herd,” says Buck. “So when you are working with them in the Masterson system, you are helping them bring that part of the body back online as part of the whole. It could be atrophy from an injury, or an old compensatory pattern from uneducated riders putting horses in not-great weight-bearing postures. Once you loosen things up, you want to create a healthy movement pattern, and that’s where proper riding comes in — having somebody who has a connected sense of how horses and humans use themselves properly.”

Like many horse people, Buck has ridden since she was young, starting at age 3. She went to Foxcroft in Virginia, a horse-centered boarding school: “Riding was my ‘varsity sport,’ and I was on the team all four years.” In college, Buck started teaching in addition to riding. Having come to the Island as a teenager, she moved here full-time in 2013, unknowingly beginning her path to becoming an equine bodyworker.

“I got into classical dressage, which focuses on developing horses in ways that are good for their bodies. It harkens back to when they prepared horses for war — making them muscular, well-balanced, and trained for longevity. Once you’ve put all that work into a horse, you don’t want the muscles and joints to fall apart. It’s about approaching the horse as a partnership, rather than getting on to show in a performative way.”

Buck got involved with Misty Meadows when it was just getting off the ground in 2016; she teaches there today, as well as for private clients. Shortly thereafter, Buck became intrigued with the Masterson Method, which aligns perfectly with Misty Meadows’ dedication to providing transformative experiences where people connect with horses and themselves on a deeper level. At Misty Meadows, the horses often work with people of different abilities. Buck says, “The Masterson Method helps support the horses’ capacity to show up for everyone who comes. It’s like a human with chronic pain. You’re not going to be overly patient with people if you have chronic pain or want them in your space.” 

Buck notes the importance of the Masterson Method for anyone, of any ability, and for these beautiful and intelligent 800-pound creatures themselves. 

“A horse that’s comfortable in its body and enjoying itself, then the rider is going to be a lot more relaxed, safe, and connected when you take them out into the world.”

For videos of the Masterson Method, visit bit.ly/Masterson_Videos. To learn more about Misty Meadows’s therapeutic horsemanship programs, visit bit.ly/MM_therapy.