Mel's Equestrian Services LLC

10/29/2025

🦄 Why It’s Important to Release the Omohyoid Muscle in the Horse 🐴

Ever heard of the omohyoid? It’s a small but mighty muscle connecting the shoulder to the throatlatch — and it plays a huge role in your horse’s comfort and performance.

✨ Why it matters:

➡️ The omohyoid runs close to major structures like the jugular vein, carotid artery, and vagus nerve.

➡️ When tight or restricted, it can cause:
• Throatlatch tension
• Resistance to flexion or poll release
• Head tossing or difficulty swallowing
• Asymmetry in contact or bending

💆‍♀️ Releasing the omohyoid helps free up the front of the neck, improving:

• Lateral flexion and softness at the poll
• Breathing and swallowing comfort
• Overall relaxation and balance

🔹 Gentle myofascial release, stretching, and postural work can make a big difference.
Your horse’s neck isn’t just for beauty — it’s a complex system that deserves care.

Book your next session with me, and enjoy having your horse feel their best! I have 4 openings over the next week, and then I am headed out of town for a long weekend 💕

DM or text/call me at (440) 223-2177 to schedule your next session! Winter Beach Farm Alexxa Hearon

10/27/2025

This technique is used to help the sacroiliac region! Low back pain can be detrimental to a performance horse, and my job is to help them be happy in their jobs 😍

I am not actually touching either of these muscles because they are too deep. I am definitely helping release the tension in them though🤩 Winter Beach Farm

10/24/2025

🦷Jaw Release Magic — Why It Matters for Your Horse 🐴

When we do a jaw release, we’re not just helping your horse “relax.” This simple but powerful technique helps release deep tension through the entire head, neck, and poll — unlocking better movement and comfort throughout the body.

✨ Muscles affected include:
• Masseter – the big chewing muscle, often tight from bit pressure or teeth grinding
• Temporalis – works with the masseter for chewing, tension here can lead to poll restriction
• Pterygoid muscles (medial & lateral) – help the jaw move side to side; when tight, they can affect symmetry and softness in contact
• Digastricus – connects jaw and hyoid; releasing it helps the tongue, throat, and poll relax
• Hyoid apparatus muscles – influence how the horse carries its tongue, head, and neck

🌿 When these muscles let go, you’ll often see your horse lick, chew, yawn, or sigh — clear signs of release and parasympathetic activation.

💫 A relaxed jaw = a soft poll, open throat latch, and freer movement through the topline.
Winter Beach Farm

10/22/2025

✨How can your horse be stronger and healthier?✨

The BEMER Horse Set helps improve circulation, support recovery, and boost overall well-being — so your horse can perform and feel their best every day. 🐎💨💚

The BEMER is all about helping your horse perform to the best of their ability!

BEMER is the perfect add on to any massage treatment to help stimulate the microcellular part of the vascular system. It provides faster nutrients to the areas as well as takes away the waste quicker!

DM me to schedule a consultation call, and learn more about the BEMER🤩 Winter Beach Farm Bending Light Yoga

10/06/2025

So insightful!

There’s a difference between a rider and a trainer. I’m not talking about the difference between an AA and a Pro. A “rider” is someone who rides the horse, doing what the horse already knows. Certainly you can be a good rider or not so good. And you can even be a Grand Prix “rider.” And that’s nothing to sneeze at! Learning to be a really good rider is a huge accomplishment. You keep the horse where they are in their training. Hopefully through good riding you keep them fit, happy, confident, keep their minds and bodies sound. All wonderful things.

A “trainer” is different, though. A trainer is able to assess a horse, and come up with a path to improve the way the horse goes and then hopefully teach the horse new things. A trainer needs a very inquisitive mind, needs to be bold enough to push the envelope sometimes, and needs enough grit to work through the inevitable mistakes that will arise. Mistakes are no fun, especially when you’re on a 1200 lb animal, who might tell you that you made a big one 😳 But there’s no learning without mistakes. And as a trainer - that’s your job. Your horse is going to have to learn new things from you. New movements, yes, but also new concepts (that we often call “the basics”) that really change the way they use their body.

Are people just naturally “riders” or “trainers?” Sometimes. I’ve met some young kids who just intuitively wanted to train their horse, and not just ride him. But I’ve also met plenty of people who were “riders” and over time became very effective “trainers.”

Want to be more of a trainer? Learn to assess a horse’s strengths and weaknesses. Learn when to push and when to just cruise for a while. What do you do when you run into a problem that’s tricky or one you didn’t expect? All of these can be learned, mostly from horses who will teach you but hopefully from an educated and patient trainer who has run into whatever problem you’re having many times before. That’s why great trainers still work with another trainer themselves. Always more to learn. Always a new problem to solve, and no single person has all the answers. I’m so grateful to all the trainers who helped and are still helping me learn!!

10/23/2024

As most of you know, busy season is starting back up for me down here in FL! I have a few clients already back down here with their horses and more to come💕
I can’t wait to continue to help more horses thrive with the use of these tools as well as stay consistent with my maintenance clients as well!
I love having the BEMER and the fascia tool be a part of my practice. They enhance what I can do with my hands, so definitely book a session with me before I fill up my schedule 😍
P.C

09/29/2024

Love this in this difficult time of uncertainty for so many…

09/16/2024

I love being able to use and sell this tool for others to see great benefits in their horses as well as my own💕
As you can see in many of my videos, each horse finds relief with the help of this fascia tool. Breaking up of the fascia or releasing it can have a huge effect on how the muscles move within the body since the fascia is the honeycomb like layer on top of all the muscles. It’s meant to glide over the muscles not to get bunched up and restricted. This tool helps release things that I can’t always find with my hands😍
It can be used with light to medium pressure on all parts of the horse’s body, and some horses like deeper pressure depending on the area😁
It’s made out of fiberglass infused nylon which makes it extremely durable! I sell it for $70 plus shipping, and I sell directly from my house🤩 At the moment, I have blue and black in stock, so DM me to purchase!

09/02/2024

Just got back from showing my love my hometown in Ohio💕 We also went to my cousins wedding, and he met lots of family, and my close friends! A very busy week, and we are both quite exhausted, but there were some great memories made😍
I loved showing Daniel around, and laughing about lots of things like all the traffic our little town has🤣
He definitely got a good picture of NE Ohio, and the few hot days we have!! We came during a heat wave, and let’s just say we didn’t expect it🥵
Happy Labor Day and I hope you enjoy being with family and friends today❤️

08/17/2024

Had a sleepy Friday with this boy❤️ He was quite tired after a night of turnout with his friends, plus it’s a Friday, and we were all feeling it yesterday!!
He was being so sweet, and loving. He also wanted to fall asleep on me, so I could carry his head😍
Here is to a relaxing weekend 🥰 Beach here I come!

05/01/2024

I did a quick evaluation on this sweet girl, and couldn’t help but give her more attention 💕
She responded with such gratitude. She yawned twice, and kept doing these big sighs. I was with my friend, and I just said this is why I do what I do. I love to be able to bring balance to an otherwise tense and stressed out horse. Bringing relaxation to the muscles, builds trust and peace with the horse🥰
Living my best life yesterday with 2 BEMER and fully customized massage sessions for my clients, and this little mare kind of stole my heart ❤️
She is a lesson horse who is older, and had plenty of tension in her neck, glutes, and hamstrings. What a pleasure to give her some relief 😊
❤️

04/13/2024

So happy to share the news of the sale of my horse Nevada aka Reno to a wonderful mom who lives in Colorado ❤️
I would’ve loved to have kept him, but he wanted to do Hunter Jumper!! I am excited to watch his journey with his new mom, and I hope to see great things because he is really a fabulous and sweet horse🥰
Congratulations Sheena Chapman on buying my sweetie! Thanks to Molly Brame Silver Glen Stables LLC South Shore Stables for connecting us together and making this possible 😍