Help horses feel amazing & perform better, faster, with Equine Hanna Somatics® (EHS).
Get results way beyond typical equine 'bodywork' - without doing any stretching, strengthening or manual manipulation when you learn to guide your horse through a full-body session of Somatic Movement. Do it for your own horse, for maintenance between bodywork sessions or to up-level your professional equine practice with this neuroscience-based approach!
Get results way beyond typical equine 'bodywork' - without doing any stretching, strengthening or manual manipulation when you learn to guide your horse through a full-body session of Somatic Movement.
Get the Equine Hanna Somatics - Session 1 intro video course for $47...
This video course will help you help any horse:
Move with Less Pain, Immediately!
Have improved Nervous System Function
Change their Default Posture
Activate their Thoracic Sling
Improve their Range-of-Motion
Increase Joint Stability
Restore Spinal Integrity
Let go of Compensation Patterns
Connect more strongly to YOU
Grow Body Awareness/Control
Relax all major muscle groups
Reduce Stiffness & Asymmetry
Prevent Injuries & Crookedness
Be more Balanced and Confident
Feel Younger, Calmer & Happier
Self-Regulate
Get amazing results that don't wear off!
Do it for your own horse, for maintenance between bodywork sessions or to up-level your professional equine practice!
As Seen In
Equine Hanna Somatics is an adaptation of Hanna Somatics (proven work developed in the 1980's for humans) that works with pure physiology to instantly reverse chronic muscle tension, by working by working WITH the voluntary cortex of the horses brain, instead of working ON the body... so even though it looks a lot like it, EHS isn't actually bodywork, but is a unique educational and experiential process that we facilitate for the horse.
Does your horse seem shut-down or anxious, have upside-down posture, back pain or undiagnosed lameness?
Does your horse seem shut-down or anxious, have upside-down posture, back pain or undiagnosed lameness?
Horses can get STUCK in one of 3 postural patterns based on survival reflexes, keeping them in a constant state of fight/flight (the GREEN LIGHT Posture), freeze (the RED LIGHT Posture) or acquired asymmetry (the TRAUMA/ASYMMETRY Posture).
Many horses remain trapped in these postures by unconscious muscle contractions for years, until they are finally freed from their learned chronic muscle tension (what most people call 'compensation patterns').
Learn how to use Voluntary Pandiculation to start freeing them in this course.
These 'funny stretches' horses do are spontaneous expressions of the Pandiculation Reflex.
Now is the time to start helping your horse and to become your own equine 'bodyworker' so you can support your horses between professional sessions (or when you don't have access to a professional). There is no better way to do both of those things while also growing your Feel with horses than EHS.
In a time when we are stifle-deep in horses suffering from stiffness, crookedness and undiagnosed or mysterious lameness, we want to show you how to help horses naturally reverse and prevent chronic tension - the right way.
Too many equine training, bodywork and therapy methods are focused on 'fixing' or correcting symptoms in the body, without understanding the root causes inside the nervous system - in the horse's brain. They leave horses feeling temporarily better, with unpredictable results that don't last very long.
Here at the Novato Institute, we have perfected the art of helping horses (and humans 😉!) quickly and naturally get free from tension, and it's WAY easier than you would think. In fact, it actually takes less time and is much more effective when you create the kind of cooperative horse-guided sessions we teach in this course. Horses will love you and so will your friends and clients.
Does your horse have neck, shoulder or thoracic sling issues?
A horse stuck in the GREEN LIGHT Posture experiences chronic downward pressure from the tightly contracting topline and back muscles, putting them into spinal extension, deactivating the power of the core, putting strain on the brachiocephalic muscles and dumping even more weight onto the forehand...
A horse stuck in the RED LIGHT Posture has tightly contracted chest, abdominal and iliopsoas muscles that pull the shoulders and pelvis in toward the midline and lock the whole spine into chronic flexion, which compresses the whole barrel and compromises everything inside.
Learn the secret to helping horses rapidly regain their spinal integrity, how to free up their pectorals and scapula to allow the muscles of the thoracic sling to function again, to open up 'base-narrow' posture and start relieving internal compression on the nerves and other vital tissues and organs - in as little as one EHS session!
A horse stuck in the GREEN LIGHT Posture experiences chronic downward pressure from the tightly contracting topline and back muscles, putting them into spinal extension, deactivating the power of the core, putting strain on the brachiocephalic muscles and dumping even more weight onto the forehand...
A horse stuck in the RED LIGHT Posture has tightly contracted chest, abdominal and iliopsoas muscles that pull the shoulders and pelvis in toward the midline and lock the whole spine into chronic flexion, which compresses the whole barrel and compromises everything inside.
Learn the secret to helping horses rapidly regain their spinal integrity, how to free up their pectorals and scapula to allow the muscles of the thoracic sling to function again, to open up 'base-narrow' posture and start relieving internal compression on the nerves and other vital tissues and organs - in as little as one EHS session!
Does your horse 'go better' to one direction? Here's why:
The muscles on one side of the body often become tighter than on the other, pulling the horse out of their natural alignment and into the TRAUMA/ASYMMETRY POSTURE.
The Trauma Posture is often mistaken for Laterality or 'Natural Asymmetry' when in fact it is a distinct layer of learned habitual muscle contractions that can (for most horses) be UN-learned.
In this course we teach you a proven series of proprietary Somatic Exercises so you can help horses start self-correcting their own crookedness, in just days!
Join Alissa Mayer EHSE-C & Eleanor Criswell Hanna Ed.D as we introduce Equine Hanna Somatics to a horse for the very first time, and then show you how to do EHS with your own horse.
What's included with your Equine Hanna Somatics® Session 1 Instructional Video/Course?
The simple EHS process for assessing horses for chronic tension and 'stuck' posture
Learn the basic EHS protocol for inviting any horse to do voluntary pandiculation exercises that instantly begin reversing chronic muscle tension in their whole body
An easy system for customizing your sessions to each individual horse
Learn how to invite willing participation from the horse every step of the way
A printable EHS Principles & Protocol sheet
A printable checklist of all the equine somatic movements in this proprietary EHS Protocol
Simple explanations so you can be effective right away, even while you're still learning
Video training to make sure you can learn to work somatically with horses from anywhere in the world
"The most effective time I have spent with a horse... EHS profoundly affects my horse’s ability to accept connection through his body, as well as to access areas of tension that exercises under saddle have failed to alleviate."
- Sarah Martin, USDF gold medalist and Certified Instructor
Who are Eleanor and Alissa, just what exactly IS Equine Hanna Somatics, and why are they the best ones to guide me on my horse-healing journey?
Great question, we're so glad you asked!
Eleanor Criswell Hanna Ed.D is the Creator of Equine Hanna Somatics®, Canine Hanna Somatics® and Somatic Yoga, the co-creator of Hanna Somatic Education® (for humans), and the Director of the Novato Institute for Somatic Research and Training. She's a horse-lover, scientist, master teacher, green-tea drinker, world-traveler, and much much more!
Equine Hanna Somatics (EHS) is an adaptation of Hanna Somatics (work developed for humans) that works with pure physiology to instantly reverse chronic muscle tension, by working directly WITH the horses brain, instead of working ON the body... so even though it looks a lot like it, EHS isn't actually bodywork, but is an educational and experiential process that we facilitate for the horse.
My name is Alissa Mayer EHSE-C. I'm the creator of the Feel-Embodied™ System where I help equestrians become the partner of their horses dreams and share how to quickly create trust and connection with horses using A Somatic Approach to Horsemanship™.
I earned my Certification in Equine Hanna Somatics Education more than a decade ago. This wildly transformed my horse training and riding lesson business, and shifted the way I approach everything I do with horses. Now, I co-teach the only EHS Professional Training & Certification Program with Eleanor, who I feel very lucky to call mentor, business partner and very dear friend.
I've been obsessed with horses for as long as I can remember... and when I discovered EHS and met Eleanor (who is also horse-obsessed), it was like I'd found my calling - to share the incredibly valuable and mind-blowing work of Hanna Somatics with the horse world.
I believe that this work, which is based on the natural tendency of animals to pandiculate, is going to completely revolutionize the way we train and care for horses. No longer do we have to spend years doing battle with crookedness, rely on hopes and prayers that our horses will stay or become sound, or watch our beloved horses become stiff and withdrawn with age...
EHS is the most reliable, most explainable and also the fastest way I have yet found to improve the function of a horses body, improve their overall wellness and happiness, and also to create deeply satisfying bonds between horse and human.
Eleanor and I share the passion and the dream of getting as many horses as possible to enjoy the life-changing benefits of Equine Hanna Somatics. If any of this is resonating with you, then you're in the right place and we can't wait to meet you!
Making and sharing this video is a big step toward making that dream come true. We designed it to make it easy for you to confidently (and quickly) start working somatically with any horse, whether you are a seasoned equine bodyworker or even if you've never tried anything like this before.
We want to empower you to literally 'have a hand' in your horse's health and well-being, and to enjoy the kind of heart-to-heart connections with horses that we know you're dreaming of, starting today!
EHS is Proven. Gentle. Science-based. Safe... and it feels great!
Get results way beyond typical equine 'bodywork' - without doing any stretching, strengthening or manual manipulation when you learn to guide your horse through a full-body session of Somatic Movement.
Do it for your own horse, or to up-level your professional equine practice!
Get the Equine Hanna Somatics - Session 1 instructional video for just $47...
Frequently Asked Questions
Here Are A Few Questions We Get A Lot
What's the refund policy?
If you jump into the course and don't like what you see let us know. Because you get immediate access to the training and downloads you will need to show us that you went through the training and it didn't work for you in order to get a refund. We want to make sure you have an amazing experience and we think you will love this video course.
What's if my horse already gets massage, chiro or bodywork?
If you already have a maintenance or treatment plan for your horse (hopefully including your vet), EHS is a wonderful compliment that will make your horse easier to 'adjust' and help the results of other therapies to last longer. You may even find that your horse will need need fewer and fewer sessions (of any type) to stay supple and moving comfortably.
What if my horse is injured or lame?
If your horse is in rehab from an injury or has a chronic lameness, your horse can still benefit greatly from the exercises in this course. All of the EHS exercises and movements are gentle enough for any horse to do once they are out of the acute injury stage. So, as long as your vet has given permission for your horse to do light work (like hand-walking), you can safely modify EHS Session 1 for your horse.
Disclaimer
Equine Hanna Somatics® is not bodywork, is not a diagnostic or treatment tool, nor is anything we teach in this course meant to take the place of professional veterinary advice. If you are unsure whether EHS (or any new exercise) is appropriate for your horse, we recommend you consult your vet.
The terms bodywork and bodyworker are used in various places on this website because they are commonly understood labels for hands-on work that helps horses feel or perform better. EHS is actually a slow and subtle form of training, not a manual or passive therapy that is applied to a horse.. In Equine Hanna Somatics Education, we rarely do anything TO a horse, but instead are focused on inviting the horse to participate WITH the practitioner to actually move their own bodies during the sessions.
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