Subtler aspects of horses muscles and what massage means to me

I have been re-reading the great and very respected book "Physical Therapy and Massage for the Horse" by Jean Marie Denoix and Jean Pierre Pailloux. (Thanks goes to Wiola with Kingley (Wiola's blog), who reminder me of it again). It is not a very light read and will take a bit of time and brainpower to understand the intricacies of the quite scientific sounding language, but it is SO packed full of information I think every horse owner/rider should read it before they even get on a horse. Here I wanted to really just touch a point that I found very interesting, and something I certainly was never told when I was learning about horses and riding. In the end of this blog I also wanted to speak a bit about what massage and healing actually mean to me... Enjoy reading!

Differentation and relationship between gymnastic and cybernetic muscles

We all know, tht the amazing feather like performance of a classically trained dressage horse is achieved gradually and in steps. Over time, the bigger, slower and clumsier movements of both the horse and rider become more controlled and coordinated. What actually happens during this process? Why does the finesse always come after a long time and only from experience? According to Denoix and Pailloux the finesse is achieved by neurophysiological development and by the diversification of muscular roles. And by distinguishing between the roles of  gymnastic and cybernetic muscles. As in everything in the living being, the roles of these two kinds of muscle complement each other, but have a very distinguished individual functions.

What are these muscles?

The gymnastic muscles are the stronger and most important skeletal muscles responsible for power and impulsion. Those are the muscles we see and those are the muscles most of us place all of our focus on.

In contrast, the cybernetic muscles have higher level of nerve endings per muscle, which makes their movement much more precise, think of muscles on the eyelid or the muzzle. These sensitive cybernetic muscles are also located deep within the body. Most importanly around the articular joints, for example around the joints of the spinal column. It is these cybernetic muscles that respond to the riders more subtle commands.

For the subtler, sensitive cybernetic muscles to be effective and to achieve any kind of balance and finesse when riding a horse, few conditions must be met. For example if the horse is stressed or fearful the gymnastic muscles take over, locking the muscles and joints. Finesse of movement cannot co exist with overwork. As the book puts it "The horse is not mindlessly altruistic, a machine which builds muscle simply in order to compete". Also the bigger sceletal, gymnastic muscles need to be in good health, supple and free of pain and tightness before any of the finer aspects of harmonious movement aided by the cybernetic musculature can be achieved.

What does massage and healing really mean to me?

I know I tend to lean towards very scientific posts and have a tendency to keep them really practical. Truthfully, the scientific / practical part of me is only really a half, (or maybe one third) of the story of who I am and how I see life and how I work with horses, or any animals to that matter.

Massage is kind of a living experience, feeling the living tissue under the skin with my own living tissue on my fingertips. I believe "the feel" is something that no one can teach you, it is something that comes after years of practice and after feeling several hundered different horses under your fingers. You also learn to read the horse - those subtle signals of pain and comfort. Tiny look from the corner of his eye, little flicker of the whiskers... It does become like a dance between two living beings. As Denoix and Pailloux say in the forementioned book, "it is impossible to heal with one's hands if the desire to comfort is not also there". It is simply not enough to learn a technique or a routine of massage. One must love what one does and one must have an unconditional desire to heal and to help.

In particular when working with a difficult horse, I often center myself for few seconds and silently ask the horse "how can I help". Maybe this is just to help my own subconsious to focus and I dont really stop and wait for a concrete answer to come, but who am I to say that is all it is? I just put the intention out there - open my mind and let the nature do the rest.

My question for a while has been - without sensitivity and finesse in everything we do with horses can true horsemanship really exist? On the back of that, and many other similar thoughts, I am currently having a funny old break from riding. I just don't really have a need or desire to ride. I feel I have so much learning to do about how to put this same aspect into my riding, not to mention to find the right horse, yard etc, although those are the more practical aspect of this question. I really want to feel I am doing the right thing for the horse and most importantly for myself. I dont want to ride for "selfish" purposes, just because I fancied a ride or want to win rosettes (not that with my current riding skills I would anyway!!! hehe!!). I want it to be something more.... and currently I am struggling to put it in words, not to even mention in practice. I am not talking about the "fearful middle aged woman doing parelli" - syndrome here either (and I am not quite middle aged, yet!!). It is something else than that. I want the horse to WANT to work with me and me to ENJOY everyday working with that horse.

Maybe one of you has an answer? Otherwise I am stuck being a happy hacker for the rest of my life. And to be honest, that doesnt really satisfy me either. So I am stuck not riding at all at the moment!

Thank you for taking your time to read my thoughts. I leave you with one of my favourite quotes from one of my all time favourite book's

"Only with the heart one sees clearly. What is essential is invisible to the eye"

(Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Little Prince)