About Ruth
Ruth has has a love of horses from a very early age and rode competitively as a child both side saddle and astride. She trained as a BHSAI and worked as a groom for hunters and eventers and as an instructor before retraining as a nurse.
She continued to teach part time and became very interested in rider biomechanics and centred riding techniques. Taking on a mare with physical and emotional issues led her to explore natural horsemanship techniques. This led her to understand just how sensitive horses can be and how easy is can be to misinterpret their attempts to tell us they are in pain and discomfort.
Already a human lymphatic massage therapist, she trained as an equine sports massage therapist however she always felt that she was doing to the horse rather than working with them as she liked to do when she trained, but after a longstanding shoulder injury and subsequent surgery left her with limited movement she was recommended somatic movement by a friend. Like Masterson this allowed her to understand how to release the tension in her own body in order to increase movement. This worked so well on her own body when she tried out the 2 day Masterson weekend she was totally hooked!
Ruth loves the way the Masterson ethos of reading the horse and allowing them to find and release in their bodies fits in perfectly with the way she trains and teaches horsemanship.
Her focus now in on bodywork first as she has found that so many time a training issue is actually the horse trying to tell us they are in discomfort in the only way they know how!
Linking this with a way of working from the ground and then ridden, can help horses and riders to reach an understanding of their own bodies, which may ultimately help them to move more correctly to avoid issues for both horse and rider in the future.
Bodywork
I am fully qualifed Masterson Method practioner and sports massage therapist.
My main emphasis is on Masterson work as I find that this is the most powerful form of treatment for most horses, but I also use sports massage, kinesio taping, some Emmett techniques and lymphatic massage should I feel this would be of benefit.
Teaching
I am also a fully qualified British Horse Society Assistant Instructor, but now concentrates on working with riders in a bio-mechanical way, it order to help both horse and rider build on the work from the bodywork and move in better posture both from the ground and in the saddle which will have an impact on physical and emotional health
What is the Masterson Method?
The Masterson Method is an integrated multi-modality method of equine massage in which we learn to recognise and use the responses of the horse to our touch to find and release accumulated tension in key junctions of the horse that most effect performance
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Contact Us
Wharfedale Equine Therapy and training
LS21 3JJ, Otley, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
Hours
Monday- Friday: 7am - 5pm
Saturday: 8am - 4pm