Peter Atkins’ top event horse Henry has benefited
greatly from Jim’s techniques. “I always let my horses tell me if a therapist is any good or not,” Peter states. “After Jim’s first visit, the next day both Henry and the other younger horse Jim worked on definitely ‘told’ me they wanted Jim back. Both were more balanced, straighter and stronger. Each time he has worked on my horses, he has taken their balance and straightness up to a new level. Jim has put together a program of numerous modalities, stretching, chiropractics, massage, acupressure and much more. His methods are simple, logical and they work.”
As we train our sport horses to be the best athletes
possible, no matter what the discipline, it requires the development of correct musculature. Muscles that hold tension and aren’t able to relax and release will not perform correctly and could ultimately cause other problems to surface. While so many factors affect our horse’s performance that include diet, turnout, saddle fit, bits, shoeing, training, etcetera, The Masterson Method incorporated into your program may be a simple and less expensive way to enhance your horse’s comfort and improve your relationship with your horse at the same time. v
The Masterson Method’s Influence on My Riding By Coralie Hughes
I
found dressage rather late in life and have frequently heard “it’s the journey that counts.” This is good news for me since I still have a ways to go! With the help of a
giving, aged schoolmaster, I completed the USDF Bronze medal requirements in 2007. Though excited about this achievement, I still felt I didn’t have a good grasp of what is considered “good” (on my test score sheets), so I went through the USDF L judge training program in 2009. Along the way, I have read every article and book on the subject of dressage training, riding and equine biomechanics that I stumbled across. Still feeling woefully inade-
quate when encountering a training issue, I have developed my own system of asking myself four questions. First, am I asking the proper question of my horse? Second, what might I be doing wrong in applying the aids? Third, does my horse understand the aids? And fourth, is it a fair question to ask of my horse? These questions address whether or not I am doing my job correctly when asking, does the horse understand it, and lastly can the horse easily comply physically with the request. Since my horses have been basically fit and sound, I searched for several years for a way to best answer the last question when I didn’t feel I needed the services of a veterinarian.
38 July/August 2012
FINDING THE METHOD My trainer, Jennifer Conour of Jolietville, Indiana intro- duced me to Jim Masterson. He was preparing horses for an internationally-known clinician, and Jennifer wanted me to see what Jim was doing because she felt my horses might benefit from his techniques. I talked briefly with Jim, watched his introductory video and spent hours practicing on my horses. I was hooked and decided I needed to know more. After a year largely dedicated
to going through The Masterson Method certification process, I became a certified practitioner in September 2011. With upwards of 500 hours invested in becoming certified, I am not only impressed with the effectiveness and durability of the method, but also by how the bodywork has caused me to think differently about my responsibility as a rider. Jim’s method combines tech-
niques from multiple modalities (including acupressure, osteopathic, massage and myofacial release). As mentioned above, The Masterson Method uses the horse’s responses to targeted human touch to find and release accumulated stress in
the connective tissues and muscles of the horse. Tension patterns in the muscle and connective tissue of the joints from pain or repetitive work can create restriction in joints and major junctions of the body. Accumulated
Photo by Lauren Esping
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