News & Articles:

Jill Deming, M.A., Teaches Massage Technique Skills To Local Horse Owners

by Muphen Whitney of the Stafford County Sun, published May 28, 2003

The gracious grounds and cozy barn at Mr. and Mrs. William Boldon's historic Rokeby served as the backdrop last week for a session on massage therapy led by Jill Deming, M.A., a local certified equine, canine, and feline massage therapist.

Deming taught seven local horse owners the techniques they need to know to give their horses a therapeutic session of massage and acupressure.

"When we take horses out of their natural environment we deprive them of much of the social interaction, including mutual grooming, that they have developed as part of their herd behavior over the millennia," Deming explained to the attentive attendees, some of whom had brought their horses to Rokeby for the day to serve as "guinea pigs."

Animal experts have discovered that when the skin receptors in horses and other animals are stimulated they transmit messages to the brain that initiate the production of important chemicals. These chemicals are critical to the functioning of major body systems such as blood, muscles, nerve cells, tissues, and organs. Massage and acupressure techniques stimulate the skin receptors and release the chemicals necessary for optimum system performance.

Deming began the learning session with an instructive exercise where she gave everyone a telephone book and put various sized coins under increasing numbers of pages in the books. The goal was to develop your touch and concentration to the point where you could identify the individual coins by touch alone. Not nearly as easy as it first sounded!

Using diagrams of a horse's muscle and nervous systems and explanatory and helpful handouts, Deming taught everyone several basic techniques of massage, acupressure, and stretching. The most important part of the day's learning, though, came with the "hands-on" experience afforded by two patient and cooperative equines: Anne Varlgen's 15-year-old Arabian-Quarter Horse cross mare, Maggie, and Linda Kramer's 8-year-old Virginia Painted Pony mare, Brie.

All of the women attending the session were experienced horse owners, and they all learned things that would benefit their horses and their relationships with them.

Everyone was amazed at how much they learned from Deming's well-organized and well-presented instruction. Even the most technical and difficult-sounding concepts became clear under Deming's tutelage and demonstrations.

It also helped to have the feedback from the two horses when practicing the techniques. The horses' relaxation in response to the massage was very visible and noticeable. It was amazing to watch Maggie's eyes grow soft with pleasure as first one then another of the women came up to put what they had just learned into practice.

"I picked up so much information today," said Linda Kramer, an experienced rider from King George who owns a Quarter Horse gelding, Dusty, in addition to her pony Brie, "especially about the muscles and muscle system."

Dorothy Boldon, who organized and hosted the day's event, also learned new things, even though she has previous experience having Jill Deming work with her horses.

"I learned a safe and effective technique for massaging a horse's gums," Mrs. Boldon said. "And I learned that this is a very powerful tool for dealing with horses who are 'mouthy' or who have biting tendencies.

"This is a great tool to help your horses relax and to put you in control."

Learning and relaxation were the order of the day last week at Rokeby – for horses and their owners alike!

To learn more about Jill Deming, M.A., and her Integrated Animal Therapies, visit www.jdanimals.com.