WATCH OUT! IS your horse sounding the alarm that it’s in pain? Untold injuries to humans have been caused by a horse in pain. I learned more about a noninvasive pain-relief method when I caught up with Bridget Stumbaugh during the Olympic Peninsula Equine Network (OPEN) Trails campout and fundraiser last month at Layton Hill Horse Camp. There, I watched her perform acupressure on Laurie Corson’s horse, Nova.

“I brought her here to see Bridget because she’s having major soundness issues,” Corson said.

Her recent problems have been caused by Nova pulling back from the hitching post with all her might to try to free herself. A horse can do some serious bodily harm by pulling back like that, such as damaging the first neck vertebra. It is a classic cause of horse headaches. Even worse would be if the lead rope were to break and the horse fell backward. An incident like that could fracture neck vertebrae and lead to debilitating neurological problems; it could even be lethal.

“She’s got problems from it,” Corson said. “One time, she almost knocked herself out pulling back.”

Corson said Nova is an unusually smart horse, so much so, she has to spell out the word walk — W-A-L-K — if the horse is within earshot. Otherwise, Nova starts bouncing around with excitement.

Soothing scents

Stumbaugh used aroma therapy on Nova, and it helped with Nova’s pain and her behavioral problems as well. Stumbaugh uses Young Living Homeopathy Oils, carrying a misting bottle filled with a mix of oils matched to an individual horse with her.

Corson said Nova tends to internalize her worries and fears rather than most other horses, who tend to act out.

“Basically, Nova gets an ulcer,” Corson said as she rolled her eyes.

I knew what she meant by it. It’s so much easier to diagnose an external, rather than internal, injury.

Still, problems and all, Nova remains Corson’s favorite pet.

“This type of intervention has been a real eye-opener for me because I can see my horse is really happy with it,” Corson said.

I first met Stumbaugh about 19 years ago when she assisted Marie Dickinson’s 4-H horse club, Sidekicks, when my niece was a member. I recall Stumbaugh lighting the air with her bright smile during the group’s weeklong stay at the Clallam County Fair. She often came to the rescue of club members in distress with a simple, “Here, let me help you.”

Desire to help

So, it doesn’t surprise me the formal dental assistant is now focusing her life on helping horses feel better. Her interest in equine acupressure began from a desire to help her own horses.

The goal of equine acupressure is to give back the horse its state of well-being. If the condition is caused by physical injury or illness, then the owner should contact its veterinarian. Acupressure is meant to complement physical healing and aid an animal’s mental well being.

“I work strictly on meridians,” Stumbaugh said. “Radius meridians are the channels that go to the vital organs. Each organ has its own meridians, for example, like the lung meridian, the spleen meridian and stomach meridian.”

Horses, like humans, have 12 major meridians, and along these meridians, we find acupoints, specific anatomical locations where we can influence qi (pronounced chee). Qi, sometimes spelled chi, is based on the belief that qi is the vital energy that flows though the body along pathways called meridians. Practitioners believe stimulation of points along the meridians rebalance qi.

Both acupressure and acupuncture use the same meridians, but acupuncture uses needles where acupressure uses pressure.

There are several criteria that decide how acupressure is applied to a horse. Stumbaugh, a certified practitioner, assesses the horse’s reaction to work stress, pain and therapy, and then chooses particular points along the meridians to apply pressure for a certain amount of time with the aim of clearing blockages in those meridians.

Acupressure is believed to release hormones in the body that relieve pain and anxiety and reduce inflammation in injured tissues.

Modern physiologists have put forward the “neural hypothesis,” stating that the influence of acupressure or acupuncture is transmitted primarily though stimulation of sensory nerves; the peripheral and central nervous system considered the most rational basis for defining meridians.

As one living with multiple sclerosis, a disease of the central nervous system, I’m well aware of how the flow, or any impediment of flow, in the sensory nerves affects the entire body, causing problems such as chronic pain, inflammation, muscles spasms and even balance issues.

“It usually takes an hour or two to find out what’s going on — and the horse itself will tell you what’s bothering them,” she said. “Then there’s a road map, such as the one that is just on top of their back, on the tip of the withers, that goes on down the side.”

She follows the road map of meridians to test the flow from point to vital organs.

“Like the liver and large intestine, they are sister organs,” Stumbaugh said. “It’s my job to discover if it’s actually based in the liver, or if it’s coming from the large intestine.”

She said using the road map, manipulating pressure points and seeing if or how the horse reacts helps her to discover where the problem originates.

“You’ve got like alarm points, source points, which can tell you which is deficient or efficient,” she said. “So basically, I’m helping the horse’s body look for the discrepancies and then working to keep everything in balance. It’s like a domino effect when one organ is not functioning properly, the pain or problem spreads to another area.”

It’s same idea for the muscle acupressure points. Follow the road map to find the a certain muscle area that will signal where the animal is having difficulty. When you release that point, they’re going to feel better. That’s when you’ll see the horse show signs of happiness and relief through behaviors like licking their lips, chewing, yawning and shaking heads.

“My favorite is when they do a complete body shake; it’s like saying thank you,” she said. “I love doing this work, and I do it for the enjoyment of the horse. And it’s very rewarding for me to be able to see a horse go from being in discomfort to being comfortable.”

“Bridget has helped a lot of our rescues that have come to OPEN,” said Valerie Jackson, OPEN president. “When the horses come in there, they’re pretty upset, so Bridget will work on them to help calm them down and get them to relax.”

For more information, visit Stumbaugh’s Facebook page, Nose to Toes Equine Acupressure, email her at rockins138@gmail.com or phone her at 360-460-2953.

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Karen Griffiths’ column, Peninsula Horseplay, appears the second and fourth Sunday of each month.

If you have a horse event, clinic or seminar you would like listed, please email Griffiths at kbg@olympus.net at least two weeks in advance. You can also call her at 360-460-6299.