Total Immersion
NEWSLETTER Volume 2, Number 6, June 2005
I have just returned from an amazing week in Western Montana, a week in which
I talked, worked, breathed, and dreamed horses! I was attending the Western
Montana School of Equine Massage www.equinetouchmontana.com where I became
a Certified Equine Massage Practitioner (C.E.M.P.). The course itself was
intensive, each day began in the classroom at 8:00 a.m. and ended with homework
and studying, usually around 11:00 p.m. Due to a series of events, our class
was unusually small, just four students. Michelle from Saskatchewan, Natalie
from Utah, Donna from Colorado via Nebraska, and me: Four women in different
stages and places in their lives all united by a love of horses and a desire
to communicate with them on a deeper level. We studied equine anatomy, philosophy,
and massage techniques. We practiced on the school horses, six horses who
were impeccable teachers, and had several reality checks when we traveled
to local ranches and stables to work on other horses. We studied together,
cried, laughed, and imagined different possibilities for ourselves, all guided
by our interactions with horses. In all of these activities we were led by
the owner and instructor of the school, Coreen Kelly, a most remarkable woman.
And in my "off time," I stayed at the Happy Horse Ranch bed and
breakfast www.happyhorseranch.net. The owners of the B & B, Lorri Roy and
Ethan Zimmerman, are both graduates of the Equine Massage program and horse
lovers. The Happy Horse lives up to its name and we passed many lovely meals
talking about their horses and observing the herd dynamics, especially the
communication between their boss mare – a 26 year old Peruvian Paso/Arabian
cross, and their most recent addition – a 2 year old Quarter Horse gelding.
Lorri and Ethan shared their experiences as horse masseuses and more generally
as horse owners in the Bitteroot Valley. Their house is full of equine art
– statues, Ethan’s paintings, photographs, and home décor
items.
And beyond all this? We visited Betty and Rocky Lynn’s quarter horse
ranch www.lynnsquarterhorses.com to see their stallions, mares, and new-born
foals – talk about herd dynamics! We had a lecture on saddle fit and
construction. We talked about the different disciplines of riding from barrel
racing to dressage, and we talked about our own horses back home and the many,
many lessons we learn from them. It was a wonderful, intense week, total immersion!
I am still processing all that I learned and experienced, but more on that
next month. Happy trails,
Anna Banks, Editor womentalkhorses.com
Anna Banks
editor@womentalkhorses.com
Moon Hill Ranch, Idaho