Nash C&C Sept 2016

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Nash C&C Sept 2016-01-02-03-04-05:

Nash C&C Sept 2016-06-07:

Buddy is sore and a little nervous but nonetheless stands quietly as Vanessa Donnelly holds his halter and Nash Francis skilfully inserts acupuncture needles into his chest.

The 18-year-old is one of 10 horses at the Cambridge Riding for the Disabled facility, where up to 70 children and adults ride in different sessions four days a week.

“All our horses learn to compensate for riders who often can’t support themselves in the saddle the way an experienced rider would – and that can lead to back, neck and leg problems for the horses,” says Vanessa, who is the manager of Cambridge RDA.

“I recently attended a workshop Nash presented at a conference and immediately recognised that some of our horses were displaying the symptoms she spoke about, so asked her to come to work with them.”

Since then Nash has been donating her expertise and treatments for Cambridge RDA horses, as she does with horses at the Waikato RDA in Hamilton, working that around her full-time role as a practitioner treating horses, cats and dog through her business called Animal Muscle Release Therapy Ltd.

This is Buddy’s second treatment and while he accepts Nash’s needles without complaint, he does lift his feet in an attempt to avoid the ones she places just above his front hooves. However, Nash is quick and deft and once the needles are in, Buddy stands quiet again.

Cambridge RDA manager Vanessa Donnelly holds Buddy’s halter while Nash Francis applies acupressure and specific trigger point therapy and soft tissue manipulation.

Body language

One set of needles inserted in Buddy’s shoulder set up a very visible muscle twitch. “There are still people who are sceptical about the effectiveness of acupuncture,” says Nash.

“The results we gain with animals show it’s not a case of mind over matter, as some claim happens with humans.”

Nash watches Buddy’s body language, including his eyes and ears, to gauge his responses, predicting ahead of time, his reactions. “He will stop rolling his eyes.” And he does. “Buddy will begin chewing.” And he does.

“Horses probably tell us more about how effective the treatment is than humans, because people tend to overthink how they feel. Horses just show it.”

As well as needles, Nash also uses her hands for acupressure and specific trigger point therapy and soft tissue manipulation. She works on his back, his head, especially around his ears, and even manipulates Buddy’s tail, something he appears to enjoy.

Gently Nash opens Buddy’s mouth and after a little initial reluctance – but definitely no biting –the horse allows her to manipulate his tongue, something she says helps release muscles through his head, neck and shoulders.

Ready for sleep

After more than half an hour of treatment Buddy is so relaxed he appears ready for a sleep – his eyelids close and he lowers his head. He will be rested from riding duties and Nash will treat him one more time, with follow-up treatments as required.

With the treatment over, Nash leaves for her next appointment. Her clients include racehorses, dogs and cats – she’s even treated goats.

Born of Pakistani and Iranian parents, Nash had a fascinating upbringing. “My parents met in England and moved back to Iran where they set up a breeding stud involved in the breeding and racing of thoroughbred horses. They also bred Dobermans and German shepherds as part of the business.” From a young age Nash took part in various equestrian disciplines, such as show jumping and racing of Arabs and thoroughbreds. Her love of animals, and horses in particular, made it inevitable she would pursue a career involving them.

Nash has trained in various aspects of the stud and racing world in several of the most influential countries such as Ireland, England, New Zealand and Australia. She has a wide range of qualifications including completing the Irish National Stud Breeding Course and gaining a John Durkan scholarship for two years’ study of race management in the United Kingdom.

Darley Stud

She has also worked at the Darley Stud in one of their main breeding studs in Ireland, the global breeding operations owned by Sheikh Mohammedbin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai and vice-president of the United Arab Emirates.

When she came to New Zealand, and drawing on her management skills, Nash worked as a horse stud manager for a number of years for a well-known boutique Waikato Thoroughbred stud-farm. There her work consisted of spelling racehorses, foaling and preparing yearlings, supervising horses for rehabilitation and caring for post-surgery patients.

“However, I discovered I didn’t enjoy management as much as working more directly with horses.”

So she travelled to Australia to attend the Equus College of Learning & Research completing both the Equine Muscle Release Therapy and Cat & Canine Muscle Release Therapy. She has studied under Dr Kerry Ridgeway, Dr David Gilchrest and also with a traditional Chinese medicine teacher in Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture and Acupressure for equine and canine wellness and performance in Australia.

In 2015 she attended a Biomechanics workshop conducted by Sharon May Davis.

Dissection workshop

It could be said Nash knows her patients inside out because she has also attended a dissection workshop on muscles, fascia, skeletal system, internal organs and acupuncture fascial trains.

She’s also now getting her qualification to become an accredited saddle fitter through an Australian qualification.

Today she enjoys working with animals from high performance racehorses, to agility dogs and pedigree cats to family pets – and, of course, the RDA horses, taking pleasure in seeing the positive effects of the treatments and their impact on the quality of life of the animals she treats.