Helping your horse have an able body for a long life.SM
About Me
Amy Callahan
My goal for your horse is no different than my goal for my own horse: be as able-bodied for as long as possible.TM
My story is like many other equine bodyworkers I’ve met. We have a horse that needs help so we begin our quest to find ways to provide relief. Eventually we start helping our friends’ horses. Inevitably we want to help all the horses because we love the horses, the complexity and variety of the work, and we experience great joy. Because horse day is always a good day!
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In Spring of 2017, our horse Goose was 16. He had a bump on along his spine, he never seemed to roll on his right side, he stopped cantering, and he has had pronounced DSLD his entire life. He always loved a good butt rub, but I wanted to understand these specific concerns and learn how to help him stay as able-bodied for as long as possible.
I started asking people I knew in the horse industry for help. The book “Beating Muscle Injuries for Horses” by Jack Maegher was highly recommended by an accomplished breeder for the sports massage techniques and preventative approach. I have used this book countless times after Goose let me know something’s going on.
Looking for videos, I found and took the accredited home-study course “Equine Musculoskeletal Unwinding” by April Love founder of Holistic Horse Works. This soft-work modality expanded my understanding of tension, muscle spasms, and how they tug and pull on the skeleton. Goose loves the horse yoga we learned together!
I was told ground poles would be great for Goose. So I found a bajillion layouts on Pinterest and started tinkering. Every day with him, we would do a different design to keep it fresh and engaging.
Eventually the world got back to in-person activities, and I attended Tensegrity Balancing Therapy Level 1 in-person course. It offers techniques to use neuroplasticity to help the nervous system, somatosensory and touch and motion for mind-body connection, and fascial remodeling. I saw how soft, slow touch could make a big impact on horses. In fact, it is very difficult, if not impossible, to make long-term progress for any horse if their fascia is tight.
Wanting MORE, I completed the Equine Rehab Therapist program hosted by the Association of Certified Equine Therapies and taught by Superior Therapy LLC. This course required in-depth knowledge of equine anatomy, biomechanics, and physical therapy as well as corrective exercises. We also learned how to use therapeutic devices: PEMF, warm and cold laser, light therapy, nebulizer, and massage gun during sessions. I plan to attend again at another location to learn how to use a water treadmill!
Currently, I am working toward completing Reiki I, II and animal Reiki. I have been told for years that I transmit energy in my hands. I’ve also been told that Goose chose me and I have an energy that horses are attracted to. Who knew?! I finally started seeing it in my regular interactions with other horses, so I decided I better understand it better.
In January 2024, I was accepted to a 2-year diploma program for Equine Osteopathy at Animal Osteopathy International based in the United Kingdom. My expected graduation is late 2025. I am so excited to complete this 1200-hour program and deepen my equine knowledge and ability to help horses more.
There is more learning planned including saddles and cranial sacral work as well as the addition of therapeutic devices. But all in good time. I do need to go riding myself too!
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As a horsewoman, my riding did not start until half-way through my 48th year. I had a specific goal to ride our National Show Horse, a strong saddleseat country pleasure horse. He was smart, spicy, very athletic, and so playful. A little like me! HA. I had no idea I was being ambitious, but I achieved this goal in about 3 years. I was able to show saddleseat in Academy in Summer 2023 on a retired Morgan park horse, who is an excellent professor of the canter. And I’m proud to say, I won a championship class even against the littles who ride the heck out of their horses!
I have experience in saddleseat including equitation and gaited riding, western pleasure and dressage. I have ridden National Show Horses, Arabians, Saddlebreds, Morgans, stock horses, draft horse crosses, and a few ponies. I am hoping to do some cross-training and learn about barrel racing too. I hope to ride for as long as my own body will allow me to!
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I’m often asked about my life before or outside of horses, so here ya go. In previous lives, I have created and taught my own French cirriculum to students age 4-80; worked in hospitality, non-profit management and volunteer services, insurance and financial services; had a personal chef business; lived in NYC, Minneapolis, Paris, and the Caribbean. I continue to provide marketing and sales support to a small clientele for startups, raising capital, securing financing, and prospecting. I’m a tech geek. I may have live streamed daily under an alias for a year to see what it was like to build an audience. And last, I am super passionate about clean food: growing it, preserving it, cooking it, eating it, and most importantly sharing it!
As for my beloved Goose, he is a 2001 Polish Arabian baby, a Bask grandson. He does not readily show his age despite the DSLD and how it impacts his body. We still ride at a walk; he can still trot and canter on the lunge line. Left to his own devices, I believe he’s imagining crossing the desert as he charges down the arena and snorting and blowing when he’s feeling spry. I love these days!
Some days, I call him Grampa Goose because he is a great ambassador for the Arabian horse. He has enjoyed many visitors who want to be around horses but don’t know anything about them. He is patient and curious.
He loves carrots, gets impatient for apples, is quite popular around the barn, and always still enjoys a good butt rub! Baths? Not so much.
And he truly is my first teacher. He is game for new bodywork techniques and groundwork exercises. I try out all kinds of brushes with him too. He might be a little spoiled, and I remain forever grateful.
Modalities
Jack Maegher’s sports massage; Home Study, 2018.
Holistic Horsework’s Accredited Musculoskeletal Unwinding; Home Study, 2021.
Level 1 Tensegrity Balancing Therapy; In-Person Clinic, 2023.
Accredited Equine Rehab Therapist Program graduate, including use of massage gun. Hosted by the Association of Certified Equine Therapies and taught by Superior Therapy LLC; September 2023.
Reiki I, II and Animal Reiki; The International Center for Reiki Training; in progress.
Equine Osteopath 2-year Diploma Programme; Animal Osteopathy International; estimated graduation: late 2025.
Why am I venturing into horse bodywork?
It’s for me just as much as it is for the horses.
It’s physical but not something I should really rent a machine to do in order to save my body for another day.
It’s complex. Horses don’t have words to tell us what is going on. And their brain is designed to protect them in the wild. So they will often mask the discomfort and pain.
It’s energy and connection. In an extremely short period of time, I am asking a horse to trust me to touch the pain. I am asking them to stay calm and relaxed instead of panicking and running away or try protect themselves or just shut down.
It’s release. They drop their head. Their eyes change from worry and alert to soft and sleepy. They sigh or exhale deeply out of their nose. They stop moving about and become softly still. And my favorite is the big, wide-mouthed yawns when they stretch out their neck, pull their lips up to expose their teeth, move their jaw side to side, and shake their head. The best.
What kinds of horses do I like to work with? ALL THE HORSES!!!
The horses who are ambitious athletes.
The horses who have a job to do.
The horses who are retired.
The horses who teach people how to ride.
The horses who are asked to entertain people.
The horses who take us on relaxing and beautiful trail rides.
The little horses who teach our littles how to ride.
The horses who are asked to help people work through their human emotions and problems.
The horses who help young people develop muscle strength.
The horses who help military veterans process their wartime experiences.
The horses who teach people how to stay calm in the face of fear.
The horses who used to have impatient or angry people.
The horses who are no longer able to do their former job and are learning a new one.
The horses who love us unconditionally.
Working on horses is a lot of work!
And it is teaching me who I want to be as a person.
It’s more outside time, even in winter!
Speaking with love and kindness to the horses and their people sets up the experience to be positive.
My lifetime of wanting to nurture runs out my fingers and hands into the horses and their bodies tell more how to help them.
I release all the other things swirling around in my head. I am present with this horse and its person. Not much else exists.
And after, I can go back to my resources and learn more about helping the horse again or another in the future.
Contact
It is best to text or message me on the socials, as I cannot answer calls when working with a horse.
Soft Eyes Equine Bodywork is a division of CallaPlan LLC.