05/30/2026
One of the things that sets Lazaris Nerve Release Techniqueโข apart from most other manual therapies is that it requires an adequate level of horsemanship, feel, and timing to perform effectively.
I deeply believe the horse should be an active participant in their bodywork session.
Because when weโre working in deeper areas of the body,
especially where we suspect nerve involvement/compression, this isnโt something that can be accessed through force.
Not just structurally, but neurologically.
If the horse does not feel safe, the body will not release in a meaningful or lasting way.
When we talk about โrestrictionโ or โcompression,โ weโre not only talking about tissue.
Weโre also talking about the nervous systemโs protective response.
If the horse perceives a threat:
Muscles increase tension.
Joint mobility decreases.
Fascia stiffens.
The body organizes around protection, not movement.
So before we ever get into the techniques themselves,
we have to address that first.
In our Certification Cohort, we start with
Pillar 1: Relationship to Connection, and specifically, how the horse relates to contact through the halter.
1) Neutral Touch.
Is the horse comfortable being touched without an ask anywhere the halter sits?
If not, thereโs already tension in the system.
And that tension will show up every time you try to create connection.
So we start by helping the horse find genuine safety in contact.
Neutral Touch is the foundation for every LNRT technique that follows.
2) Confinement.
A very normal, species-appropriate response to contact is bracing to confinment.
This can look like:
Neck locking
Head raising
Pulling away
Escalation when pressure is sustained.
Also comes up in trailer loading, being claustrophobic, pull-back issues, bolting, flipping over and more...
These are not โbehavior problems.โ
They are signs that the horse associates connection with loss of control or increased pressure.
So before we ever ask the horse to follow a feel,
we help them learn that contact can be predictable and safe.
Once those two pieces are in place,
then we move on to teaching the horse to follow feel.
3) Following Feel.
Can the horse softly follow our guide, up, down, left, and right?
This is critical, not just for training, but for assessment and bodywork.
From a diagnostic perspective:
If a horse understands the request and feels safe in it,
then resistance becomes meaningful information.
If they donโt, you lose that clarity, especially with stoic horses which so many of us come across in the high performance world.
And arguably most importantly -
From a somatic perspective:
Following feel allows the horse to move from protective bracing into coordinated movement.
Which leads to:
Improved joint mobility.
Better fascial glide.
More organized muscle function.
A shift toward a more regulated nervous system.
This is NOT the same as a horse simply yielding to pressure or dropping away from contact.
This is the ability to maintain connection while staying soft.
Like holding a dance partnerโs hand, where the guidance is felt, not forced.
There are generally three different groups to the horse world around this foundational piece of education -
1.) Every good horseman that I know naturally puts this into every horse they work with, and I believe it's a cornerstone as to why their horses are so solid and sound.
2.) People who do not want to spend the time and frankly have the glacial patience this work can require, especially when horses have legitimate trauma around it.
Which is totally fine, you can absolutely hire out for this!
3.) People who are uncomfortable working with the brace because they are not educated and therefore not confident in themselves to get the horse to the other side in a safe way, and therefore they avoid the conversation entirely while they're horses sit like an advanced game of minesweeper.
I said at a clinic last year, that I would fight for the right for anyone to have their own opinion on what to do with their horse, regardless on if I agree with them or not (unless it's flat out abusive of course)
But for me and my horses, I find it to be unethical frankly, to not help horses find safety in connection considering being a domesticated horse triggers this in some form or fashion throughout their entire lives.
If a halter ever has to go on your horse, be it for the farrier or the vet or to just to move through paddocks, helping them with this one thing is not only life-changing, but life-saving.
And consistently, itโs the thing that creates the biggest shift in both the nervous system and the body.
And so, for all that and more -
I am really, really damn proud of my LNRT Certified practitioners.
https://www.balancethroughmovementmethod.com/nervepractitioners
