Clubhouse Q&A: Benefits of bodywork
As beneficial as professional massage is to the tight muscles of a hardworking athlete, so it is for releasing tension and easing the aches and pains of a 1,200- pound sport horse, says bodywork practitioner Cyndi Hill. The longtime horseman has limbered up racehorses and sport horses for years through a non-invasive approach aimed at relieving tensions in muscle and connective tissue. In this week’s Clubhouse Q&A, Hill describes how she transforms a wired equine into a yawning, eyes-rolling-backward Gumby. Q: Cyndi, please tell me about the work you do as part of your practice, Synergy Equine Bodywork? Synergy bodywork […]
Saving a Thoroughbred brings race fan full circle
Wide-eyed with excitement, the young receptionist paged through the glossy brochures. Beautiful Thoroughbreds, groomed to perfection like glamorous fashion models, filled the pages she had organized for Centennial Farms. It was her first job. In some ways, it was one of the happiest times of Elizabeth De Smet’s life. And the work she did, answering phones, chatting with racing officials, and other office duties, might not have seemed like much to an outsider, but to De Smet, it was her ticket in. “That job sucked me into racing!” she says. “I used to answer phones and made frequent calls to […]
Blue Blue Sea passes on
Blue Blue Sea, a 14-year-old gelding who battled and survived many health problems during these past several years has passed away in his barn. Blue’s devoted owner Miranda Prather announced Blue’s death on Feb. 9, stating she had received a call from the barn that her pretty chestnut had died overnight. The pair had weathered many storms together, including a bad bout with colic in 2006 that nearly claimed his life. (See related story). Time and again, Blue proved himself a fighter, and he always bounced back. The irony, Prather says, is that Blue was in good weight at the […]