AMOR Animal Wellness

09/28/2025

A fun day at Fryeburg Fair today! Best of luck Northfield Farm!

I’m available again tomorrow afternoon, with a special fair rate still available! Reach out!

09/20/2025

😃 I’ll be working on horses at the Fryeburg Fair!

09/16/2025

This post was kickstarted because I was reading again - Someone asked Martin Black and Steve Peter’s if learning was different for a horse that has experienced and holds trauma.

I’ve recently taken on a few horses for groundwork and problem solving. Each has come to my side with variable levels of trauma but not all of these horses are from rescues or kill pens…folks can do a whole lot of bad to a horse when they ignore, push beyond what the nervous system can EFFECTIVELY handle, attempt things beyond experience level, or allow Ego to rule the day. Sometimes agenda, deadlines, or ultimatums are more important to people than the horse’s feelings.

Most of you know I’m a lifelong learner, but may not know I worked professionally for almost 20 years as an exotics animal trainer (operant/positive reinforcement) & some were large predators that required(!) body awareness/safety, steady deep breathing, and hyperfocused observations (slight ruffle of guard hairs, change in the shape of the eye, etc). Others were prey animals were my own energy or reactions mattered to them. This work offers me a fairly well honed “feel and timing” to responses.

Through yoga, I remain deeply committed to the functions/benefits to the body with a particular interest in engaging the parasympathetic nervous system (rest & digest).

We humans move too fast. We get too frustrated. We zoom around disorganized or chatting away, and essentially show our animals how to disregulate. Then, we blame them and question how come they dont know how to stand still.

Anyhow - keep learning! I will.

So many amazing folks still work hard to help us learn. They take time to fly across the country, leave their families, sleep in strange places, and likely answer similar questions at each location they go to. They watch is struggle, praise the smallest try, appreciate the ones who keep on trying and trying and trying….Go learn from them. I believe they come to help the horses. The luck and magic comes when us riders figure something out too! I’d be somewhere every weekend if my bank account allowed.

If you made it this far - thanks. I’m passionate about this and know I got a little long winded. Ride em like to stole em, but only if your kind, fair, try hard for them,
and have an open heart directed straight into them.

Martin answered beautifully first, then Steve followed up. Have a read below.👇

09/14/2025

More friends. 💕

09/12/2025

💕

09/12/2025

Thanks Beth, good stuff!

Give them their heads back.

09/01/2025

Good stuff Amy! My empath/intuition alerts go off frequently - I sometimes wish I could turn that little gift from above OFF. I’ve gone with the better person over better accolades numerous times. Honest, kind, thoughtful, timely - and a lifelong learner, not a lifelong boaster. 🐴💚

When seeking a mentor, find someone who is a better human than you.

Find someone who is grounded to a moral code
Find someone who is less judgmental, more patient, stronger emotionally, and more giving.
Find someone with strong boundaries and a soft heart.
Find someone who you aspire to be like- if you aim for 100% and manage 60-70%, that’ll be far and above where you already are.

Aim for the top, with a sharp eye on where you want to be. A mentor models how to be a better horse person, but more importantly, how to be a better human.

08/30/2025

YES! It's human nature to want the big reveal - but some are real subtle. I even have one rescue that I work with almost exclusively at liberty so she can walk away and into her shed to yawn in the corner (I've seen it more times than I have fingers!) - then she comes back over to me for more. Being vulnerable isn't always a benefit for some of them.

So, do you know your horses releases? Slow down and watch for them, it will help with haltering, saddling, and all the other stuff too! Let them have that release time - it means a lot to them.

EQUINE TENSION RELEASES
BIG & small

Horses have many ways they release tension in general and the same actions can mean different things in certain situations.

Today's post will be about tension releases during bodywork sessions.

We’ve all seen the pictures of big yawns or sleepy, droopy heads but that is not always the norm AND it should never be the judge of whether or not your session was effective.

Some horses release BIG with:
+yawns
+lots of licking and chewing
+big head shakes
+big stretches
Some horses release really small with:
+soft eye blinks
+a rested hip
+deep sighs
+a lowered head

ALL ☝🏼of those releases are great!
Releases are more examples of horses “processing” a feeling.
Some are just more comfortable being a little more dramatic than others.

Don’t be discouraged if your horse doesn’t yawn like crazy during their sessions-their sleepy eye may just be the way they “let go”.

If you’d like to provide massage to your horse(s) check out my online owners course and get lifetime access to video instruction and more:
https://sbw-owners-massage.thinkific.com/collections/owners-courses

Don't forget to check out the website and sign up for our newsletter to get exclusive tips and savings on education!

www.schaefferbodyworks.com

08/24/2025

Martha's Vineyard & Conway NH areas....I am trying to gauge interest in both riding lessons & groundwork training (traveling to you) to see if it's worth the cost of renewing my instructors insurance this year. I am certified in MA.

References for both available.

08/24/2025

These two were super stars for their MagnaWave sessions!

08/11/2025

“Animals help calm the human nervous system by offering a steady, nonjudgmental presence that signals safety to the brain.”