Trystan's Masterson Method Success Story

​“What did you do to this horse? I can’t believe the difference in Trystan!” This question/comment come from a well-known and respected, highly accomplished dressage trainer whose barn I now visit weekly for bodywork with her client’s horses. Trystan is a 12-year-old Welsh Pony Thoroughbred mix gelding who I first worked with in April 2023, and the question from the trainer was asked after his very first The Masterson Method® session. The trainer also mentioned to me, “This was his sink or swim month to see if he would stay or be sold because he was so spooky that he was not enjoyable to ride. After just one bodywork session and in addition to other holistic changes, he’s this happy, confident little guy who is so fun to work with. Thank you for making such a huge difference in this little guy’s life!”
During that session, Trystan only had palpation reactions (albeit big) at his atlas (front and top) and TMJ on the left. With Tongue Releases, he yawned repeatedly. Since this technique massages the poll from the inside and because his poll was particularly sensitive (he was not initially comfortable with any extent of Head Up or Head Down), I suspect he released not only at his TMJs/hyoid apparatus, but also at the poll-atlas junction. He had knots on both sides at his poll and with softening, he was eventually receptive to light work and was even able to tolerate a bit of massage with his head down as the session progressed. He was relatively quiet/stoic with work at other junctions/ areas of his body.
With his responses during bodywork, it made sense to me that tension at his poll-atlas junction was a major contributing factor to his “spookiness.” I was at that time amazed that one session could yield such profound results for a horse but I’ve now witnessed it on several occasions in my MMCP career. In subsequent sessions with Trystan, we paid special attention to the poll-atlas junction with an obvious decrease in tension there as sessions progressed. I now work with Trystan monthly to keep him feeling the best in his body and he only on occasion has anything to say about his poll. Trystan and his owner went on to complete the 2023 dressage show season with many awards, most notably Champion 1st Level Pony at the RMDS Championships and the RMDS 2023 1st Level Pony of the Year. That’s a tremendous triumph for a horse who very was close to being sold and I’m so pleased that I was able to participate in that success!