Three Week Photo Report

Angel arrived at my house 21 days ago. Today she had her first craniosacral therapy appointment. I will show you photos of that in a minute. But first, here are a few photos from her burst of running yesterday.

This is an excellent photo of how a horse should NOT look when it is running! Among many other things, can you see how muscled the bottom of her neck is and how there is no muscle on top (the "topline" curves the wrong way)? She is a textbook example of an "upside-down horse."

Here she is again, in a frantic burst of out-of-control energy. Not very aesthetically pleasing! Not good for the horse's body or mind, either.

After she had run around a bit, she got her body a little more organized. She looks to have a very smooth trot.

She was showing off for the geldings next door. Angel and the geldings were all very impressed with each other.

Angel had her first craniosacral therapy appointment with Debbie Krimsley, CESMT today. Debbie has offered to work on Angel pro bono, and Angel and the animal shelter staff and I are all grateful to Debbie for her willingness to do that!

Can you see how she is dropping her right hip, resting her rear right hoof and her eyes are half-closed? For part of the session, she was very relaxed and *almost* allowed herself to enjoy the body work.

Let me say first that Deb is a very brave woman! She has a wonderful ability to read horses and a very calm, quiet presence to which Angel responded very well (most of the time). Angel did kick out twice and threatened a third time, probably due to pain from her incredibly tight and poorly functioning muscles. Deb heard her protest, but was not phased. Wow!

Angel did remember her manners when it came to dropping her head. I was SO pleased with the work Debbie could do on her poll, forehead and head. I was thrilled that Angel allowed a new person to work on her, with her head comfortably lowered.

Brigid Wassen, the Shelter Supervisor for the Santa Clara County Animal Shelter in San Martin, stopped by to see how the foster horse was doing. I think she is pleased with Angel's progress.

Here we are at the end of the first craniosacral therapy session. Deb is videotaping "before" and "after" each session, so she can chart the difference in Angel's posture and movement. If you would like more information on Debbie Krimsley and Four Seasons Equine Wellness, she can be reached at 831-402-1340. Many thanks to Gisele Mitsuk, for photographing the session today. Debbie got more work done on Angel today than I had thought would be possible. I was very impressed with Debbie's quiet confidence and her ability to read the horse. Thanks, Debbie!