Welcome to Balanced Equine Energy with Shannon

 

Welcome to Balanced Equine Energy with Shannon. I combine bodywork, energy work, movement integration, affirmative training and scent work to help your horses feel their best. My approach is multidimensional and individualized to each horse.

I started riding in Ireland at the age of eight and earned my B rating in the Bray Hunt Pony Club. Over the years I’ve been with and without my own horses, but my passion to learn with and from them has never abated. I’m horse-centered and love to help our equine friends develop comfort in their skin and find a deeper connection with their human partners.

I’ve earned my foundation massage certification from the Northwest School of Animal Massage and am working on my licensing for Washington State. I’ve worked with affirmative training for both dogs and horses for seven years, studying with Susan Signor of Dog Dilemma in Yakima. Susan opened my eyes to the power of clicker training in dogs, and helped me transfer my skills to horses, including introducing me to Karen Pryor’s work with dogs and Alexandra Kurland’s with horses.

As I practiced bodywork on horses, I noticed two things:

First, horses have huge energy fields. They can sense us in ways most people cannot sense them, and we can connect with them to release muscle tension and stress both hands on and hands off. This can allow us to access the body in a gentle way that avoids the brace reflex and encourages horses to integrate what they are learning about their muscles and posture.

Second, once tension has been released, many horses drop their noses to the ground and start a sniff-fest with the same enthusiasm as your canine partner checks out p-mail on the local fire hydrant.

Recent research, as shared in Rachael Draaisma’s wonderful book, Scent Work with Horses, reveals the reason. I now incorporate scentwork into sessions as horses request it.

My sessions with your equine partner will combine the old and the new, feel and science, touch and energy, and it will allow the horses to have a voice, to tap into their often unrecognized primal needs so they can find a sense of peace in our demanding human world. Body and mind are interconnected. Horses need to be in their parasympathetic nervous systems in order to learn, and they need to move in order to integrate the changes wrought by body and energy work. Bodywork helps horses tune into their often ignored need to smell the world around them. Scent exploration and tracking ignites horses’ curiosity and play drive, resets their posture and movement, and thus integrates bodywork at a deeper level. By combining modalities based on the horse’s needs, I can help them not only physically but emotionally. In the process, I can provide you with tools to help deepen your relationship with your horse.