Cutting Edge Performance Horse Therapy

12/24/2025

Piggies love massages too 🐽

12/19/2025

This boy will always tell you when he’s uncomfortable and when you’ve made him feel good. You can see in the first part of the video he is very unhappy while working in his elbow. After some gentle pressure, and letting him sit with his feelings, he realizes it starts to feel better and embraces the relief 🥰

12/11/2025

Calming the nervous system is one of the most important steps in any bodywork session. Muscle tension is often just a symptom. The nervous system is the part that decides whether the body should relax or stay in protection mode.

When a horse is high energy, anxious, or has a history of trauma, their nervous system can shift into a chronic state of fight, flight, or freeze. In this state, the body creates protective muscular bracing patterns, restricts movement, and can even shut down sensory responses. This is why these horses may look “tense,” “checked out,” or hard to reach mentally.

If we only address the muscles, we’re not addressing the system that’s telling those muscles to stay tight.

When I see a horse showing signs of being overwhelmed…. tight breathing, bracing, immobility, hyper vigilance, I start by regulating the nervous system.

Techniques like slow rhythmic touch, breath-influenced work, fascia decompression, or simply giving the horse space help shift them from sympathetic (stress) mode into parasympathetic (rest and release) mode.

Once the nervous system resets, the pain cycle can break. Muscles soften on their own. The body becomes receptive to deeper work. And the horse can finally process and release what it’s been holding.

A regulated nervous system isn’t just part of the session….

it’s the key that unlocks true healing.

12/07/2025

Just because it’s cold doesn’t mean you have to skip the cryo!

Weather cold and cryotherapy cold are not the same.

Cold weather can tighten tissues, increase stiffness, and make old aches flare up.

Cryotherapy, on the other hand, uses controlled, therapeutic cold to reduce inflammation, boost circulation, and support the body’s natural healing process.

So don’t let the winter chill fool you…cryo is still one of the best tools to keep your horse (and you!) feeling their best.

12/04/2025

While doing ground work with my own horses, I often think of the intention behind our movements and the effects it has on their body.

As an equine bodyworker, I see the effects of certain training habits show up in the horse’s body every day. One of the most common, is the overuse of hindquarter yields.

Yielding the hind end can absolutely be a useful communication tool, but when it’s done too frequently or with too much pressure, it creates patterns in the body that I later have to unwind, such as:

• SI and lumbar tension from repeated pelvic rotation

• Loss of healthy hind end engagement, leading to weak topline and reduced push

• Tightness through the obliques and ribs, affecting lateral flexion

• Crooked movement and compensation, like dropping a shoulder or stepping short

• Mental and physical bracing, especially when the exercise is used to “control” rather than guide

Balanced, thoughtful movement supports balanced, healthy musculature.

It’s not about avoiding hindquarter yields…. it’s about using them with purpose, clarity, and timing so the horse’s body can work with you, not against itself

12/03/2025

One of the best decisions I’ve ever made

12/02/2025

I am pleased to announce that I am adding a third service day to my West Valley route. If you are interested in placing your horse on a consistent schedule, availability is now open.

Each session is fully customized to support the individual needs of your horse. Services offered (as appropriate) include:

• Therapeutic massage
• Acupoint and acupressure techniques
• Color therapy
• Myofascial release
• Craniosacral therapy
• Cupping
• Muscle scraping
• Targeted stretching
• Trauma-release techniques
• Cryotherapy (additional fee)

Herd-health discounts are available, and there are no travel fees.

My available days for the remainder of the month are Tues 12/9 and Tues 12/16

Please contact me if you would like to reserve an appointment.

520-955-4132

Anissa

12/02/2025

Things I’ve learned from Lilith.

Lilith has reminded me, louder than any lesson I’ve learned in rescue, that what we do to horses leaves an imprint far deeper than most people want to admit.

In rescue, I’ve worked with so many horses who were willing to let me in, willing to let me help them heal. But then there’s Woodhouse, my sweet donkey, who still won’t let me touch him even after four years. There’s Luna, nine months with me, and I can barely lay a hand on her face. Their boundaries aren’t stubbornness, they’re history. They’re memory. They’re the aftermath of whatever came before me.

And then there’s Lilith…. a wild horse, untouched, unhandled, with every reason to keep her distance. Yet in just two weeks, I’ve been able to touch her everywhere, halter her, and now I’m sitting beside her in a round pen, simply sharing the quiet night together. No pressure. No expectations. Just trust beginning to unfold on her terms.

Horses don’t forget. They carry everything we do, good or bad, deep in their bodies and deeper in their hearts.

Lilith is proving that gentleness matters. History matters. How we show up matters.

And horses will always tell the truth about how they’ve been treated, if we’re willing to listen.

11/26/2025

11/25/2025

Stay frosty my friends 🧊

11/23/2025

A little icy massage for some arthritic relief. This old boy is in his late 20’s and loving his life ☺️