Bugsy, Quarter Horse Extraordinaire

​Bugsy is a 9-year-old Quarter Horse gelding with almost no history other than being a “so-so” cow pony in his past life. He came to his new owner a few months ago and was a very good boy from the start. His new owner is fairly certain that he has never been exposed to any kind of bodywork. Cow ponies are very hard working and are expected to do their job well. In my experience, there’s not always a lot of regard for issues in their bodies unless it prevents them from working. Soreness becomes tension, and if tension is not addressed, it turns into restriction, and restriction can lead to lameness. I first worked with Bugsy shortly after he came to his new home. I noted that his halter was pretty tight on his nose and he wasn’t able to move his mouth fully, so I decided to remove it and just use the lead rope. While the lead rope was handy, I didn’t need to use it as Bugsy remained completely still throughout the whole session. Imagine performing Tongue/Hyoid Releases and Lateral Cervical Flexion at liberty – it’s incredibly liberating! Bugsy’s responses were somewhat subtle yet his releases were huge with repeated yawns and third eyelid rolling. In true cow pony form, he had a lot of tension in the psoas and gluteal muscles and at the hind end as a whole. During his second session several weeks later, I wanted to try liberty bodywork with him again. Although his responses were a little more pronounced with him needing to fidget by taking a couple of steps forward a few times, he was otherwise quiet and fully participating. I’ve worked at liberty with my own horses many times but never to this extent. Safety always needs to be a primary concern when working with horses, but that rare horse that will allow liberty bodywork is out there. With Bugsy, I followed my intuition and the experiences warmed my heart and soul. Don’t be afraid to listen to yourself while you’re listening to the horse!