Rein or Shine Horse Massage was inspired from the realization that the bucking fits my mare was notorious for seemed to occur at very specific moments when I was asking her to lift her shoulders, turn, and push off using her hind end. I knew it was pain related, but I couldn't figure out how to fix it. I had my saddle fit checked, lameness tests, her teeth done, and still couldn't figure it out. The punishment my body was taking at the time from trying to handle her repeated rearing, jumping into the air, bucking, and landing vertically (think bronc busting) turned me toward massage and chiropractic, so I asked my trainer if there was anything like that for horses. As it turned out, there was an entire world I was completely unaware of. I immediately called the recommended person in the area and after the first session I started to notice improvement with my mare. She was happier overall, moving with more balance, and there was no crazy bucking incident the next time I set up barrels. Under her recommendation, she came back at two week intervals, which turned to three week intervals, and in combination with chiropractic, my horse had completely changed her demeanor. She was never mean, but her willingness to try new things, and her trust in me grew tremendously. I had people coming up to me at shows saying "Is that the same horse?!? I can't believe it!". I competed with her locally at Silver Spurs Saddle Club and at both the county and state level for both performance and gaming as she turned into the all-around horse of my dreams. I knew the positive impact bodywork had on my horse, and as I headed off to college at the University of Idaho I knew I needed to find someone that could continue the body maintenance on my mare in an entirely different state. It turns out, that was a lot more easily said than done.
By the end of the school year, I could tell Covergirl wasn't feeling her best. I had tried three different professionals, and some of them had done more harm than good. It was at that time I decided that if I wanted it done right I would have to do it myself. I researched many different horse massage schools across the country, but decided that at my young age I wanted a national certification so if I ever decided in the future to work on other people's horses I would be taken more seriously. My two horses, in addition to the lesson horses at the barns in both Idaho and Washington were the primary beneficiaries my first year massaging. As I became more practiced in the techniques and more attuned to how massage positively impacted each of the horses I was working on, I decided to start Rein or Shine Horse Massage. I primarily worked on