This guy isn't so sure about a massage.	Hey, this isn't so bad!	The veteran client.
Students from the Paschelke Massage II class at Lane Community College practice massaging horses.

Slowly the glassy eyes cleared and she began to lick her lips. Still the doe did not offer to struggle or leave. When Leo was satisfied her legs were ok he stepped back.

Slowly the doe got up, calmly looked them over, then took a few steps and jumped back over the fence into Leo’s pasture. Walking a short distance away she began grazing as if nothing had happened. It was clear she did not considered it necessary to hide.

A Thoroughbred stallion had received an electrical shock that affected his nervous system and the control of his hips. He could not lift either hind leg and step forward, let alone be used for stud service.

He swung his hind legs out in an arch much as a duck walks. With two treatments Leo had him able to walk normally. Four more treatments and the horse surprised us by running up the hill. As he came to where we stood he slid to a stop, reared and pawed the air with his front hooves.

Pleased with his total recovery Leo and Sharon gave him one last touchup massage. The stallion went on to sire numerous foals.


Sharon Jakeways rescued a Cocker Spaniel from the road side. One morning about three weeks later the dog went into a full body seizure. Sharon trapped the dog’s body against her own and began massaging. Working from neck down the spine in several passes. The muscles seemed to relax and let go quickly.

She stopped massaging and the seizure started to return. Resuming the massaging for another 3-4 minutes with concentrated attention to the vertebrae of the neck and front shoulders the seizure ended. A quick touchup to the hips and the dog’s body was relaxed.

Usually after a seizure the muscles are stiff and sore and the animal is often disoriented. None of those symptoms was present. The dog had a second episode with a seizure two weeks later. The same type of massage treatment was administered and the dog has not had an reoccurrence in twelve months.