About The Masterson Method™

Click here to see a short clip of Jim talking about the value of equine massage and the Masterson Method™ =>

Reading, and feeling responses helps you determine where and how long to release that stress, kind of a, "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" relationship! When done properly, this can be applied to stress in the connective tissue of joints at key junctions deep in the body that take a beating in work and performance. By using the correct techniques, and knowing the responses to look for, you are able to get a release of accumulated stress that affects mobility, comfort, attitude, training and performance. Muscular and structural balance, and natural alignment are restored, and your horse can respond to your training without stiffness and pain.

Part I: Touch and Response

Staying Under the Radar: How the correct use of touch bypasses bracing or guarding.

When practicing massage and bodywork on horses, we can only achieve good results if the horse remains cooperative and relaxed. This can be challenging. In nature, the horse's first survival response to intrusion is to flee. When we are handling the horse, it normally doesn't have that option. It falls back to its second survival response; to guard, push against, or brace. This can happen either externally or internally. You can stay under the radar of this "survival response" by applying pressure to the horse lightly enough and slowly enough and therefore bypass this internal bracing or guarding response. The Masterson Method™ enables you to access that part of the horse's nervous system that will yield, or release tension.

Achieving releases: How subtle responses from the horse lead to release of tension.

As a prey animal, the horse will attempt to always appear strong. If the horse shows signs of pain or weakness it will be the one first noticed by the predator, or may be left behind by the herd. Every horse will guard against showing signs of pain, weakness, lameness in the body. That is why it can be so difficult to evaluate lameness in a horse.

By applying the Masterson Method™ you can access that part of the horse's nervous system that will give you certain signs that tell you where tension is being held in the body, and when it is being released. If you use the correct level of touch or pressure, and follow what the horse's own body is telling you, it will release the tension it is holding onto.

Part II: Key Areas Of the Body That Affect Performance

Achieving Improvement By Releasing Tension in Key Areas:

Certain areas of the horse's body accumulate stress and tension that affect mobility, comfort, attitude and performance.. This can come from any number of areas including feet, saddle, teeth, conformation, lameness or just plain work. When the tension is released you see immediate improvement in mobility, comfort, attitude and performance.

The Masterson Method™ focuses on releasing tension in key junctions of the body that most affect performance such as the poll, neck/shoulder/withers junction, and sacro/lumbar junction.  

Part III: Improved Relationship With Your Horse

Creating Trust and Winning Your Horse's Cooperation:

By learning to read and follow the horse's responses to your touch, bodywork becomes a fulfilling interactive process. You are able to create a trusting bond and win the cooperation of just about any horse.

About Jim Masterson

To find out about Jim’s travel schedule go to the Calendar page. If you would like to contact Jim directly to work on horses, please use the Contact Us page.

Jim Masterson, Equine Massage Therapist for the 2006 and 2008 and 2010 USET Endurance Teams, teaches a unique method of equine bodywork to therapists and horse owners, in which the practitioner recognizes and follows the responses of the horse to touch to release tension in key junctions of the body that most affect performance. When he first became interested in equine massage in 1997, Jim recognized that the horse exhibits certain neurological responses to touch as it releases tension in the body. Using those responses to guide his work, he developed a system in which the horse participates in the process by showing the practitioner where tension has accumulated, precisely how much pressure is needed to release it, and when it has been released. The result is an effective method of bodywork that anyone can learn to use, to improve performance while at the same time opening new levels of communication and trust with the horse.

In 2004, Real Bodyworks of California released an instructional DVD, Equine Massage for Performance Horses: The Masterson Method™

In 2006, Jim was invited to accompany the USET Endurance Team to the FEI World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany. Team member Jennifer Niehaus said afterward, "Of all the things that were done for my horse Cheyenne, the bodywork Jim did was the most beneficial. He has truly never moved as nicely as he did in Germany.” In 2008 Jim was again asked to accompany the Team to the FEI World Endurance Championships in Malaysia. Team member Meg Sleeper, DVM said of Jim, “It is impossible to overestimate Jim's ability to keep performance horses working at their peak level. Simply put, he is like having a secret weapon.”  He will be supporting our Endurance Team at the 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington, KY.

Jim has been a presenter to large crowds of enthusiastic horse owners at Equitana Asia Pacific (Australia, 2008) and Equine Affaire (US, 2009) equine conventions and was invited to demonstrate his techniques at the Syracuse Invitational Horse Show (2009). Jim currently works on 500 to 600 horses a year on the U.S. Hunter-Jumper Show circuit, including top equine competitors in events such as the USEF and Maclay Medal series, and FEI Grand Prix, Nation’s Cup, Pan American and World Cup jumping events.  He helped members of the USET Singles Driving Team prior to the 2010 Championships in Italy.

Jim travels the world teaching the Masterson Method™ seminars and Advanced courses to horse owners, trainers and therapists.

Career Highlights

• 2003 - Jim went public with his Method, scheduling demonstrations and seminars of the Masterson Method™ at private barns and public facilities sponsored by clubs and organizations in the US and overseas.
• 2004 – in conjunction with Real Bodyworks of California, Jim produced an instructional DVD, Equine Massage for Performance Horses: The Masterson Method™.
• 2006 - Jim was invited to accompany the USET Endurance Team to Aachen, Germany, for the FEI World Equestrian Games as the Equine Massage Therapist.
• 2007 - Jim Masterson continued to travel the world to teach “hands-on” workshops and seminars in Australia, Italy and the United Kingdom for horse owners and professionals alike.
• 2008 – Due to popular demand, Jim began teaching a Certification Course in the Masterson Method™ in both the United Kingdom and the United States to those that want to use this Method as a career path in Equine Massage
• 2008 – Jim was asked to help the USET Endurance Team again, this time at the FEI World Championships in Malaysia
• 2008 – Jim presented at Equitana Asia Pacific in Australia
• 2009 – Jim presented at Equine Affaire Conventions and the Syracuse Invitational horse show
• 2009 – Jim started to offer video over the web on YouTube, his website, and other equine sites such as Equestrian Life and Barn Mice.
• 2010 Equine Bodyworker for members of the USET Driving Team (singles) in Holland.
• 2010 Invited to FEI World Equestrian Games in Lexington KY as the United States Endurance Team equestrian bodyworker, and to members of the Jumping and Driving teams.
• 2010 – Jim and Stefanie Reinhold are co-authoring a book on the Masterson Method™ to be published by Trafalgar Publishing in Fall 2011.