The history of horse & human goes back thousands of years. Horses have been a key factor in developing our societies for as long as we can remember. They transported & carried us, fought for us, & hunted with us. They herd our cattle, carry us over fences, play games for us, & have become our faithful friends & companions. More & more people are now realizing that horses have more value than we ever thought, far beyond being just our beasts of burden. Centers are opening up worldwide using these majestic animals for our emotional healing, therapy, & rehabilitation, as we now know that the mere presence of a horse can reach places no therapist can.

Unfortunately, however, as our lifestyles get more hectic, our land gets more crowded & our minds get more stressed, the effects are passed down to our horses. They are being removed from the comfort of their herds & grazing lifestyles, & forced to spend a lot of time alone & bored. As a result, horses are suffering more often from gastric ulcers, colic, restlessness, tense muscles, & undesirable behaviors, just to a name a few. Performance horses, as professional athletes, experience the added strain of sore muscles, fatigue, demanding travel, & training schedules, in addition to the stresses that the modern horse is living with.

Alaina Reed at Equine Shakti offers Equine Sports Massage, Performance Bodywork & Shamanic Energy Healing to help your horse with this process of releasing & healing from all of this stress & tension.

A combination of these modalities will be combined especially for what your horse is asking for at the time of the session. As we all know, every horse is different. Some horses will need to start with energy healing, as deep hands on massage work is too much for them to handle. Others need the massage & bodywork manipulations, because they are not yet ready for the energetic trauma healing. Every horse will be a guide for what they need at that moment, & Alaina will be sure to listen.

Equine Shakti also offers yoga classes designed specifically for equestrians. They can be taught on the yoga mat at your barn, or in the saddle on your horse or a combination of both. Yoga increases our awareness & level of relaxation. When we approach our horses from a heightened state of awareness and in a less stressed headspace we allow them to remain calm and peaceful. Yoga also will increase our level of flexibility and strength, especially in our hips & pelvis. This allows us to relax and be more free & graceful in the saddle, which in turn gives our horses more comfort while we are on their backs.

Alaina Reed is a lifetime horse lover & equestrian. She has a BS in Psychology from Colorado State University, and is a Graduate of The Four Winds Society – Shamanic Energy Healing – Light Body School. She studied Equine Sports Massage at Animal Dynamics in Ocala,FL & is currently being certified in the Masterson Method Integrated Performance Bodywork.  Alaina is also a registered Hatha Yoga Teacher through Keshava-Radha Yoga, and received her Horse & Yoga Integration Teacher certification from EquineOM. Aside from her love of horses, shamanism, & yoga, she is a musician & a recording studio owner.  For more information about Alaina please go to www.AlainaReed.com.