By Karen Lato-Jensen

The world is not a perfect place; it would be easy to say that many issues require improvement although it cannot be denied that overall quality of life is better when compared to the past.

This can also be said for our equine friends. Horses, like people, appear to be living longer and experiencing an improved quality of life. This can be attributed to a great number of factors ranging from continued discoveries in veterinary medicine, equine pharmaceutics, a greater focus on horses’ nutritional needs with improved feeds, and from the growing field of equine massage.

Betsy Ritchie, Certified Equine Sports Massage Therapist (E.S.M.T.) and Newtown resident, is part of this movement. Her company, Equine Alchemy, provides massage and energy therapies for show, race, polo and pleasure horses.

Ms Ritchie started as many horse people do, as a young person with a strong interest in horses. As a young girl living in New Canaan, she rode at the New Canaan Mounted Troop. As a young adult, she chose to pursue an Associate Degree in Horsemanship from Bennett College. Once graduating from Bennett, as many young people find the need to seek out other challenges, Betsy continued her educational pursuits, gaining a degree in Marine Biology from the University of California-Santa Barbara and a Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering from MIT.

After a series of impressive careers, something within Betsy required spiritual fulfillment. As with many who have experienced that insatiable drive to be with or near a horse, she found her way back home to Connecticut to be closer to her family and seek fulfillment in the challenging field of Equine Massage.

Fast forward five years later, Betsy’s client list has and continues to grow. She now services a wide range of equine clients from professional athletes in the hunting/jumping and dressage fields, whose owners want to enable their horses every opportunity to improve their performance, as well as recreational and therapeutic animals, to beloved senior horses whose owners simply want their pet’s golden years as enjoyable and pain free as possible.

When Betsy watches a horse move many times he tells a greater story of a possible sore back or shoulders not just the basic performance. She tells many passionate stories of horses that she has shared special moments; from the athletic horse who starts to show improvement over time with massage as an addition to his training regimen to the horse with an abusive past, guarded against the human touch based on his negative experience with man; this same horse who finally knows that a human can provide joy as Betsy’s skilled hands gives comfort and allows the animal to finally let go and for the first time, relax.

Along with providing private consultation to clients and servicing horses on a one-to-one basis, Betsy also teaches clinics to those wishing to learn basic massage to perform on their own horses. If you wish to discuss the range of benefits for your equine partner or wish to learn more about upcoming clinics, Betsy Ritchie of Equine Alchemy can be reached at her office, 203-426-0270 or via cell, 203-858-6512.

“… Everything around us can impact us and our horses emotionally in some way. If we are sensitive and observant of our horse’s emotions, we can better anticipate and respond to their movements and actions …” – from the book Believe A Horseman’s Journey by William Reynolds and Buck Brannaman

(If you are a dedicated horse owner and/or service the equine community and live, work or play in Newtown and wish to share your story, please contact Karen Lato-Jensen by email at Karen2171@charter.net or c/o The Newtown Bee, 5 Church Hill Road, Newtown, CT 06470)