This testimonial was originally published on the Sarah Martin Dressage Facebook page, January 24, 2017

"Had a remarkable weekend with Alissa Mayer conducting her Hanna Somatics workshop here at Mystique Pond Farm. If this is a term you are unfamiliar with, I highly encourage you to read on, look it up, or contact Alissa and create a workshop with her.

I said this last summer, and I repeat here: This is an AMAZING modality for resetting the human mind/ body, AND resetting old muscle patterns in the equine mind/ body.

My feeling after this weekend, in a hugely broad sense, and forgive me for a lack of science here, is that Hanna Somatics is to Pilates what Natural Horsemanship is to Dressage...

Allow me to explain:

In my opinion the NH approach I have adopted into my work allows my dressage horses to obtain a deeper access to their mental and physical performance by creating a MUCH deeper layer of relaxation. The NH tools I use induce what I would love to have the science to prove, is a meditative state for the horse. During these periods of meditation, or what we refer to as "Processing," the horse releases muscles throughout their poll, neck, back, hindlegs, shoulders- you never know where a release will occur, but if you wait for the cycle to truly complete, you get visible actions, such as the horse drawing a hindleg high up under the belly, and then returning it to the ground with a very visible release of low back muscles. This occurs while the horse is standing, most often with their eyes fully closed, or at least half closed, appearing to be "asleep". When the cycle is finished, they open their eyes, look around, and refocus on the human who is waiting for them to "come back."

I have found that with my sensitive Dressage horses, who we teach to become almost hyper sensitive to the slightest touch from our aids, this deep relaxation prevents a cycle of tension and awareness to develop, hence my analogy to meditation for the human. Of course, as all of my students have pointed out, this does remarkable things for the students awareness as well. As Dressage riders, we are quite addicted to the action-reaction cycle. Truly - who would not prefer to watch Piaffe-Passage transitions, or tempi changes, then to stand with your horse with the ultimate challenge being to observe when they will wake up from what must be an incredibly boring experience because they keep falling asleep???

In the methodology of Equine Hanna Somatics® you see much of the same physical manifestations, accompanied by the mental relaxation, that you see in the NH approach that we use. However the fascinating aspect to me, is that while the NH approach RELAXES the horse, the muscles release, stretch, and return to their same patterns.

With Hanna Somatics, the muscles are barely manipulated - there is an absolute adherence to less is more, you specifically AVOID the sensation of stretching [although if the horse does that for themselves, great] It is an incredibly gentle process of taking the limbs of the body in the direction first that they WANT to go, then inviting them the opposite direction. Interesting, in the patterns of the Old Masters - all exercises are done in sets of 3.

The process clearly resets energetic as well as nerve/muscle patterns in the body. You start to see coats glow, and without a doubt the horses drink copious amounts of water. Logically, Alissa explains at the start that as muscles release they need fluid to wash through the old cramped, stuck cells - and over the course of 3 days, we watched backs fill in, hindquarters round out , necks change their shape. It all sounds like hoo-doo, but it is real, and it works, and it stays with the horse. Of course if you do these 3 days and never follow up, the effects wear off and new muscle patterns return (actually, as I later explained to Sarah, they don't wear off, but it IS possible for the same, or very similar, contractions patterns to be re-acquired if the training or environmental factors are not changed - AM). However, the process is almost ridiculously easy to learn, does not take that long [maybe an hour for a full body session once you know what to do] and you can do it yourself. The cost of the workshop is akin to 4 average massages - but then you own the tools, and have the knowledge.

Each day includes Hanna Somatics for the human, and this is where I say it is the precursor to set your body/mind up for a great Pilates session. With deeper relaxation, greater body awareness, you can keep developing both your own, and your horse's, mind/body. I just want to ride for as long as I am alive...and this is another tool I truly think will allow me to do so!"

- Sarah Martin, USDF gold medalist and Certified Instructor through Fourth Level and USDF instructor/trainer faculty member.