Ruby’s Checklist

I have a body work routine “checklist.” It is systematic starting with moves on the horse’s shoulder--check….then works up toward the head--check….then the back--check, etc. It is a good routine with a good system of movements and good techniques. I learned it through a good massage school.  It is good for the horses.  Um, did I mention it is good?  Well, Ruby doesn’t think so!

Ruby is a permanent resident at Hanaeleh Equine Rescue. She is a feisty 20-something Chestnut Thoroughbred mare who was rescued from a not so great situation. Ruby doesn’t really love being touched, she doesn’t really trust people…with reason. And well, she is a Chestnut mare which (even on a good day) comes with some unique personality traits.

I started working on Ruby during my massage certification process.  She was one of my “case studies.” In the case study process, we have to follow a routine, a checklist of sorts. Ruby didn’t love the list. She is blunt and if she doesn’t like a move, she either won’t stand still or turns around and nips me.  I often thought, “does Ruby even like this?”  But every time I arrived during these early sessions to work on her she greeted me cordially at her corral and welcomed me in. So off we would go, she and I toughing it out together so that I could in some way shape and form complete my checklist. Along this journey together, something interesting happened.  Ruby “encouraged” me  to listen to her and loosen the grip on my checklist.  This transformed the old checklist into something much more flexible and open...and better. Ruby’s checklist looks something like this:

1. Don’t arrive with an agenda aka “checklist.”

   1. Stop, take a few breaths and become present before I even dare go near Ruby’s corral.

   2. Pay attention to what is going on in the barn. Is it feeding time? Are there other distractions or triggers?

   3. Check-in with Ruby. “Listen” with my senses as to how she is doing. Horses have good and bad days, just like us. Sometimes Ruby just wants me to stand with her for a minute. I assume it is for her to settle in, but in reality she is probably trying to get me to go back and revisit point #2!

   4. Begin the bodywork wherever she directs (Hint, it usually isn’t on her shoulders where my “old” checklist starts).

   5. As we run into spots of tension on her body, does she “agree” to work with me through a move or is it wiser to let that area go and come back to it later…or never.

   6. When we are done, we are done. Doesn’t matter how long the session has, or has not, lasted.

Certainly not my original checklist but instead something infinitely more connected. I continue to visit and work on Ruby (and a few other “friends” at Hanaeleh, shouts out to Rio and Sapphire, more to come in future blogs) and I still leave sessions where I have not even touched major muscles of her body.  The interesting thing is that muscles and fascia are interconnected.  So, while I may feel like I am missing a spot, for example, on her neck, she has probably already directed me to work a related area on her back or hind end.

I laugh thinking about all the fumbling around that Ruby has had to endure. I thought I knew best with my checklist and hung onto it tightly. In her great wisdom, and surprising patience, she showed me a new way, a new checklist.  Thanks Ruby! See you soon, I promise to chuck "my" checklist before I arrive.