A New(ish) Direction

I can't remember now what I've revealed about my future career and what I haven't. I'm thinking I have said very little, if anything.

So, here we go.

I decided a while ago that I wanted to attend massage school because of it's potential to give me a more secure job future than equine massage does. I have collected a few equine massage clients here and there over the last couple years, but I haven't pushed into getting more because A) I haven't had time, and B) I felt like I wanted more education. Graduating from college and realizing I have limited solid skills I can use in the job industry (specifically the equine industry) was a little scary. Sure, I can ride pretty well. I'm business savvy, quick-witted and a hard worker. I can write and am fairly artistic. I am easily taught and I have a lot of equine "street smarts" when it comes to handling tough situations in training and care. But none of these = jobs. Not unless I find an independently wealthy horse owner who wants to pay me a livable salary to ride, groom and generally care for his/her horses. And wouldn't we all like one of those...

I've always had a fascination with anatomy and biomechanics, and my senior thesis was a fairly large project covering the physical (and emotional) relationships between three horse and rider pairs. I've acquired a lot of knowledge as to how horses work physically and how easily we can screw them up influence each other both physically and mentally. In my experience, most riders are able (or willing) to see just how MUCH they influence their horses, and how much we project onto our animals.

I also have realized, through experience, that very few people want to be told "Hey, the reason your horse goes crooked/spooks in that corner/ignores your aids/has gone lame is because of you." It's not terribly friendly nor is it likely to garner interest from the other party.

But, I HAVE learned that people, especially people who often do a lot of physical work, i.e. barn chores and riding, often have pain or injury. This is a target market that could benefit HUGELY from massage therapy and its related modalities. The best part is that massage works not just on the physical body but also on the spiritual, mental and emotional bodies as well. I've seen this ring true in horses and it certainly does in people. My theory is that if I can work with both horse and rider using massage as my medium, amazing changes could happen in the relationships between the two parties.

This is how I found myself in massage school.

Obviously, this means even LESS time blogging, and even LESS time working with Stella. An update on that is coming soon, but she's perfectly content to receive her regular grooming sessions - which she enjoys immensely - and get fat and fuzzy for winter. And I am perfectly content to enjoy and cultivate our relationship this way, although I'm trying to throw in the occasional massage to keep my skills honed. You know what they say, use it or lose it!