The Wrangler Horse and Rodeo News

October, 2024 • The WRANGLER • 19 She explained how she approaches working on a horse, "I start at the poll and there are meridians that run down the topline, so I start by relaxing the poll, and then slowly work my way into each muscle group. It is important to relax all those muscles first, because an adjustment won't hold without relaxing the soft tissue first." Using just her hands, O'Neal uses multiple styles of touch to work those different areas. Just like humans, horses have personal preferences for the amount of pressure. Some may enjoy a more aggressive, deep tissue massage and will even lean into her deepest pressure, while others prefer a lighter hand. "For the shallowly muscled areas, I use a lighter stroke and for a bigger, dense muscle group, I need to use a lot more power. I don't start with a lot of force. It is important to start light and work my way up in pressure, depending on what the horse can handle," she stated. With an emphasis on the connective tissue, her work is more than just a massage that feels good, "By following the fascia lines and muscle groups, then utilizing knowledge of equine biomechanics, it breaks up any fascia bindings or muscles that are bound." Although her patients cannot use words to tell her what they are experiencing, by reading the horse's body language, O'Neal can determine which areas are bothering them the most. "Typically you will feel knots or the horse will show you a sign like pinning their ears or looking back at you, something to tell you 'ouch that hurts' when something is out of alignment. You can feel the binding and the whole muscle group is usually tight if something is out of place in that area," she explained. Ultimately, the focus is to improve the entire horse's well-being and allow them to perform and feel their best. O'Neal describes the purpose of her work, "The goal is to loosen all of the fascia, so the fascia and muscle are sliding smoothly over each other and there is no binding or hangup. You also want the muscles to feel loose and limber." Bodywork has countless benefits in the short and long term, many of which derive from being able to eliminate and correct compensation patterns. "The fascia and muscles affect the overall body, so if the muscles and tissues aren't in good health, it affects the whole horse. That's where the vet care sometimes has to come in more frequently. With routine bodywork, I feel like they stay looser, freer, and if we can avoid compensation patterns, we can potentially have fewer trips to the vet because those patterns can affect their overall soundness." Depending on the individual, her work takes 45 minutes to an hour, possibly longer if the horse needs more work. The frequency of sessions depends on the individual, as well as their primary use. "If a performance type horse is getting used hard in the arena on the weekends, I would recommend every 4 weeks or if the owner notices any negative changes or there is a big slip in a run or something like that. For an avid trail rider or a horse with lighter use, maintenance sessions may be more like every 6-8 weeks. The harder they get used, it's just like a human athlete, the more maintenance they need," she stated. Kylie O'Neal in action, working on a client's horse. Find out More: or call: 307-709-0823

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