How Does Equine Hanna Somatics Work?
Want to get hands-on and help your horse? Equine Hanna Somatics® (EHS) is a science-based, reliable and safe approach to rapidly help horses gain the performance and well-being benefits all ‘bodywork’ methods promise, but can’t always deliver…
Equine Hanna Somatics is an adaptation of Hanna Somatic Education®, the proven, natural and safe method of pain relief and sensory-motor training developed for people. Like humans, horses experience stress and develop chronically contracted muscles that restrict movement and cause discomfort.
Over time, these chronic, low-level muscle contractions, which can also be described as “tension” or “tight muscles,” become incorporated into the horse’s habitual posture. This is known as Motor Sensory Amnesia (or MSA—more on this later).
Once this happens, performance and comfort are reduced, and the new postural patterns are difficult to change, even with gymnastic training, in-hand ‘straightness’ training, or even most bodywork or manual manipulation techniques. Instead, EHS goes straight to the root cause of the tension – the horses brain – to unwind the distorted habitual posture and free up the horses natural conformation.
What happens in a session with an Equine Hanna Somatics Practitioner (EHSE)?
The role of EHS is to help a horse recognize inefficient and unconscious muscle contractions so he can regain conscious control over his own muscles and, therefore, also regain access to his full range of motion, comfort, strength and endurance….
We do this by guiding the horse through a customized series of Somatic Movements to invite the horse to Voluntarily Pandiculate various muscles and muscle groups. When horses pandiculate, the motor-cortex of the horses brain will reset the resting muscle tone of the muscles involved. When this happens, we are both reversing and preventing Motor Sensory Amnesia! Just by doing the Initial Pick-up movement, a horse will reset and relax tension in more than 30 muscles!
What is Motor Sensory Amnesia (MSA)?
As both the body and the brain adapt to stress or repetitive motion as a survival mechanism, these adaptations become integrated into the brain’s autopilot system. Once the adaptations become habituated (aka on autopilot, or in ‘muscle memory’), the horse maintains the new posture, effectively forgetting what it felt and moved like before. This is Motor Sensory Amnesia.
A horse may show adaptations like:
Chronic Stiffness or Bracing
Crookedness, Asymmetry or apparent ‘Muscle Atrophy’
Changes in Posture or Way of Going
Having a ‘Good’ Side and a ‘Bad’ Side (or direction)
Lumps, Bumps or ‘Weird Conformation’
Short-Striding or an Uneven Stride
And have symptoms like:
Pain, Soreness or ‘Shifting Leg Lameness’
Loss of Range-of-Motion (ROM)
Weakness, Fatigue or Low Energy
Poor Attitude, Disconnected or Aloof
Negative or Stereotypical Behaviors
Loss of Peak Performance
other Symptoms of ‘Aging’
Although MSA cannot be cured by drugs, treatment or surgery, it CAN be controlled consciously after the relearning process facilitated during an Equine Hanna Somatics session.
Said another way, EHS can both reverse existing MSA, and prevent future Motor Sensory Amnesia too!
The BENEFITS of Equine Hanna Somatics
Performance and athletic enhancement
Improve soundness, comfort, and overall health and wellness
Increased range of motion, elasticity and length of stride
More flexibility, suppleness & straightness
Career extension and injury prevention
Enhanced endurance and recovery
Overall relaxation and well-being
Increased willingness and improved attitude or work ethic
Increased bonding with the handler/rider
