Essential Equine Therapies, LLC

03/10/2026

Wintergreen! A Raindrop Technique power house! One of 9 oils I use in this Therapy for Horses & Humans 💙

Wintergreen is one of those oils people think of as just “minty”… but the chemistry behind it is actually pretty impressive. 🌿

In laboratory research, wintergreen essential oil showed anti-inflammatory activity comparable to the NSAID diclofenac sodium, a commonly used prescription anti-inflammatory drug.

The reason comes down to its main compound: methyl salicylate. 💙

Methyl salicylate is a natural salicylate that interacts with the same inflammatory pathways many pain medications target (the COX pathway). It also acts as a counterirritant, which is why wintergreen creates that warm, soothing feeling when applied to sore muscles or joints.

Researchers also observed a protein-stabilizing effect, suggesting potential support for inflammatory conditions like:

• arthritis
• muscle pain (myalgia)
• nerve pain (neuralgia)

In other words… that little bottle of wintergreen isn’t just a smell. Plants produce compounds like this to protect themselves, and humans have been using them for musculoskeletal support for a very long time!

This is also why oils like PanAway, Ortho Sport, and Deep Relief tend to be favorites after workouts or on sore shoulders and knees. Wintergreen is a key ingredient in those blends, working alongside oils like clove, peppermint, and helichrysum to support circulation and calm irritated tissue. 💪🌿

It’s also one of the oils used in the Raindrop Technique, where it’s applied along the spine as part of a sequence designed to support the back, muscles, and nervous system.

Most people use wintergreen topically for muscles and joints (diluted), and once you start using it that way, you’ll see why it’s been a staple in traditional bodywork for decades.

🔎 If you like digging into the research, here’s the study:
https://abstracts.aijr.org/index.php/abs/article/view/186/117

Want to schedule a session for you or your horse or learn about more benefits?

Visit Essential Equine Therapies dot com

 𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚𝙖 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙙, 𝙇𝙈𝙏, 𝘾𝙀𝙎𝙈𝙏, 𝘾𝙀𝙍𝙏

03/08/2026

Did you know that cabbage can aid in gut health and ulcer healing?

Actually, it’s a long standing traditional remedy for humans to drink cabbage juice to help heal ulcers.

It’s one of the ingredients I fed Sis, along with others, to help her severe bleeding ulcers heal seven years ago.

Because many of the ingredients and remedies that help heal us and our horses are used improperly, the majority of horse owners have been scared into NOT using this really useful veggie.

However, it can be fed safely alongside my gut and ulcer healing herbal blend. Additionally, with other helpful fruits and veggies. The tips, outline and quantities for fruits and veggies, I have listed in my Equine Gut Guide.

Tonight’s dinner is stir fry. I took a moment to pause and take some cabbage to my girls and I’ll eat mine here in a little bit. 🤎🐴

03/06/2026

Compensation! Ask me how I can help your horse with thermal imaging 🔥

03/02/2026

SEPARATION ANXIETY and how it truly works in the horse’s body.

What is happening in a horse’s brain when they experience separation anxiety? Knowing the science can help us formulate a plan to help them through this coming issue.

When a horse experiences the stress of separation, the brain shifts from a state of social connection to one of high-alert survival. This process is deeply rooted in the equine amygdala, which acts as the brain's alarm system. For a horse that has undergone past trauma, this part of the brain becomes hyper-reactive. Instead of processing a friend walking away as a temporary event, the amygdala floods the body with stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.

This neurobiological reaction is often linked to the panic and grief system located in the subcortical regions of the brain. When horses are separated from their herd or a specific bonded partner, they don't just feel lonely; they experience a form of emotional pain that is physically taxing. The frantic pacing, whinnying, and sweating often seen in these cases are outward manifestations of a brain that is literally screaming for social safety. Because horses are prey animals, being alone is historically synonymous with being vulnerable to predators, making the drive to reunite an biological imperative.

Trauma further complicates this by impacting the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory and context. In a healthy horse, the hippocampus helps the animal remember that they were alone for ten minutes yesterday and remained safe. However, chronic stress and high levels of cortisol can impair hippocampal function. This means a traumatized horse may lose the ability to put the current separation into a safe context, causing them to react to every departure with the same intensity as the original traumatic event.

Another significant factor is the concept of allostatic load, which refers to the cumulative wear and tear on the body and brain due to chronic stress. A horse with unresolved separation trauma lives in a state of constant vigilance. Their nervous system is often stuck in a sympathetic state, also known as fight-or-flight. Over time, this makes it harder for the horse to return to a calm, parasympathetic state. This internal physiological exhaustion can lead to more extreme behavioral outbursts because the horse has very little emotional or physical resilience left to handle minor changes.

This is why the "scream it out" method with the intention of helping horses to learn coping skills about separation anxiety almost always backfires. And this proves to be another reason why we always want to look at the science behind why our horses do the things they do.

The horse may also experience a sense of hyper-attachment as a survival strategy. Once they find a companion that makes them feel safe, they may cling to that individual with an intensity that seems irrational to us. This is because that companion has become the horse's external regulator for their nervous system. Without that presence, the horse's internal systems dysregulate, leading to the high-energy, reactive behaviors that characterize severe separation anxiety.

Addressing this issue requires a focus on rewiring these neural pathways rather than simply managing the behavior. READ THAT AGAIN. By using methods that prioritize the horse's emotional comfort and choice, it is possible to teach the brain that separation does not equal danger. This involves very slowly building the horse's confidence in short increments, allowing the prefrontal cortex to remain engaged so the horse can actually learn and process new, safe experiences. Over time, this structured approach helps your horse move out of a survival mindset and into a state of relaxed engagement.

When thoughtfully done, we as humans also become a source of comfort due to the classical conditioning we have established through positive reinforcement training alongside them.

02/28/2026

🔑 Some key signs of stored trauma for human and horse include

▪️ old emotions rise to the surface for no apparent reason ( 👧🏻unexpected tears or laughter, 🐴 a spook or change in behavior towards something that is passed by daily)

▪️👧🏻 you cry more easily
🐴 anxiety or tantrums spikes at random intervals

▪️👧🏻 you feel exhausted after years of running on adrenaline
🐴 emotional shut down

▪️ 👧🏻memories begin to resurface that you “forgot” about
🐴 the “he never used to do this…” things

▪️👧🏻 you notice physical sensations (tightness, tingling, shaking) during rest or reflection
🐴 fidgeting and not being able to stand calmly in body and mind

▪️you might begin to crave quiet, solitude and safety over stimulation
🐴 pasture loner, pleaser or not getting along with mates

Sometimes the body isn’t breaking down, but breaking open.

A recent horse session resulted in a large emotional rest for this horse as well as relief from physical pain she was experiencing. She went from flinching and trying to bite me in certain areas of tension to not. This mare got to enjoy soaking spa music as well which I believe helps the both of us.
Here was part the beautiful end to her session as I was on the ground in front of her 🤍

Healing often looks messy before it feels free….
for you and your horse 🪻

_____

𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚𝙖 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙙, 𝙇𝙈𝙏, 𝘾𝙀𝙎𝙈𝙏, 𝘾𝙀𝙍𝙏
Horse & Human Massage Therapist
More info 🌐 Essential Equine Therapies dot com

02/12/2026

This is why my diet outline shares healthy nuts and seeds that you can feed your horse, for the betterment of their health. Chia seeds were one of the ingredients that healed my horse of severe bleeding ulcers. Chia seeds are an ingredient to my SisUgut blend that I mix and ship out weekly to horse owners 🥰

When I was a child, it was a known idea that canola oil was safe to add on top of grain, especially in winter to keep them warm. How duped we were! When I learned better, I began to do better!

Quick anatomy lesson that could change how you feed your horse:

Horses don't have a gallbladder.

In species that do — humans, dogs, cats — the gallbladder stores bile and releases it in concentrated bursts to emulsify dietary fat. Big meal with a lot of fat? Big release of bile.

Horses secrete bile continuously from the liver in small, steady amounts. There's no storage. No burst capacity. Just a slow, constant trickle.

So when we dump a cup of oil on a horse's feed, we're asking a system designed for slow, steady fat processing to handle a concentrated amount it was never built for.

The horse's evolutionary fat source? Seeds and the lipids naturally present in forages. Small amounts, consumed gradually over hours of grazing.

This is why I recommend whole food fat sources — h**p hearts, chia seeds, stabilized ground flax — over isolated oils. You're working with the biology instead of against it.

The horse already told us how it wants to eat. We just have to listen.

02/11/2026

“Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?” - Nashville Voyager

My first job that I moved out of the house for was to be a Flight Attendant!

I did that for almost three years before I got married and we moved states.

I am from and grew up in Upstate New York, lived in Houston, Texas for a couple years when flying, lived in Springfield, Illinois for 5 years and have at the time of writing this been in Manchester, Tennessee for 7 years.

🤎

02/09/2026

As 2025 began drawing to a close, through a series of personal events I chose to leave behind my phone on most days. Leaving it on silent as well as do not disturb. It was very freeing. I was more present than I thought I already was, less stressed and more focused on what is important to me. I wasn’t distracted by reels, keyboard warriors and things that waste the ever so precious and short, time.

This platform has changed so much. While I have curated my feed as best as possible, I see less of the pages and people I want to see and more of the things I don’t. Like, fake news and fake generated photos.

I want real and personal connections.

Which I get, in my emails.

I sign up and get the emails from those I want to learn from, grow with and be inspired by. I respond to their emails and receive personal replies.

My followers do the same with me. I recently had such a wonderful reply to an email I sent out that it really humbled me and reminded me that THIS is what is important.

As 2026 unfolds you will see less of me here on this page, because I will continue my limited use and checks of social media.

If you’d like to be part of my personal connection without all the FB fluff, I would welcome you to the emails I send out.

Over the last few years it’s a miracle if I am able to send out one a month 🤣 However, I will be funneling my focus there instead of other places.

During the winter, I have been giving my website another face lift. It’s still in process as I am adding the new services I will provide, like thermal imaging and scoot boots for our equine friends.

Camping, trail riding and eliminating stressors as I also focus on my own health is very important to me. If I am not healthy and well, I cannot be and give the best of me …to you.

Join my email list by commenting EMAIL and I’ll message you the how to.

If you were lucky enough to have FB show you this in your feed, would you please like this post so I know you did? Thank you 🤎

02/02/2026

"Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?" - Nashville Voyager

There is no one set approach or cookie cutter that every body fits into.

What sets me apart is that my Human Sessions are customized to what a person needs in that moment, that day.

I integrate Therapies like Myofascial, Cranio-Sacral, Acupressure, Swedish, Stretching, Range of Motion and sometimes muscle taping into a session. The Raindrop Therapy is a wonderful standalone Therapy session that I also provide, as well as Prenatal Massage.

For Horses, I specialize in and provide the Raindrop Therapy.
At this time, it is not something that anyone else is doing in the surrounding areas for Horses.

It is a privilege for me to teach owners about the power of essential oils as well as the safety of them, to dispel any fear they may have in using them with their pets.

For owners to see the results with their horses as well as experience in their own bodies when they receive this therapy is incredible!

My favorite thing is to receive personal testimonies and messages! - Chelsea Blackford

𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚𝙖 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙙, 𝙇𝙈𝙏, 𝘾𝙀𝙎𝙈𝙏, 𝘾𝙀𝙍𝙏

02/01/2026

I specialize in this therapy for horses. I also offer it for humans in my massage therapy practice. It truly is incredible. 🤎

𝘾𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚𝙖 𝘽𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙙, 𝙇𝙈𝙏, 𝘾𝙀𝙎𝙈𝙏, 𝘾𝙀𝙍𝙏

Raindrop is another type of massage that we incorporate Young Living essential oils. This fantastic for horses with EPM and Lymes disease.

01/30/2026

So easy, even the kiddos can do it 🥰

My Herbal Blends are an easy addition to a healthy equine diet.

From gut healing, joint supporting, detoxing and cleansing…I’ve got what you need! Two days left of the Sale!

Thank you to one of my longest standing customers and friends Megan, for this adorable picture of feeding time, on her farm in Ohio.

Years ago her horses made major improvements from hair loss to hair growth and gut healing. She’s been feeding this way since 🌷