In equine acupuncture, acupressure and bodywork sessions, we look for and frequently witness so called “release responses” and processing from our horses showing us that the modality is working.
Such signs and expressions are a nice indicator and a clear feedback you may get from the horse you are working on. Though in some cases they may be very obvious, they may be more subtle and even be missing altogether in others. This depends on the individual horse and situation. However, a lack of such a clear response does not mean that the modality is not working. And in the end, it still is the resolution of the body’s imbalances and restrictions which will make the call on the effectiveness of an acupuncture, acupressure and bodywork session.
Some of the release and processing responses include:
– eye softening,
– lip twitching,
– a change of breath,
– sighing,
– lowering the head and neck,
– snorting,
– sneezing,
– snoozing,
– licking & chewing,
– stretching,
– yawning.
Here you see a very clear release response during an equine acupuncture session:
