Hi Everyone,    

After a month at home in the frozen Midwest, I'm now in sunny Tucson teaching an Advanced 5-day Course, and then plan to meet next weekend with all of our Instructors for our first annual Instructors Training Conference. This conference, apart from having some fun, will let us pool ideas and refine teaching techniques to strengthen our courses even more. The weather in Iowa still hasn't broken its cold streak, and we're in Daylight Savings Time already. Hello Arizona!

Even more exciting than warm weather in Arizona; this month's Dressage Today Magazine has just hit the newsstands with a 7-page color article on our, Dressage Movements Revealed. The content of the article is taken from our upcoming book on the biomechanics of dressage (due out Fall 2015). The book will accompany the recently released DVD of the same title.  I'm sure that the campfires of all of my calf-cutting, team-ropin', barrel-racin' friends down here in Tucson are a-buzz with the news!

Truth is, keeping a balance between strength and suppleness in the performance horse, and being able to tell from the saddle when an imbalance might be hampering the horse's ability to do what is being asked applies to all equine disciplines. Horses working in western disciplines go through the same intensity of training as dressage horses, and the effects on the muscles of the horse are just as strong, and just as important. So when no one's looking you might want to sneak out back behind the bunk house with a copy of

On top of that, we're happy to announce a new a three-day Dressage Movements Revealed Course, equal to the Weekend Seminar in the sense that you'll learn techniques that will release tension in key junctions of the body by following the horse's responses, but with a special focus on biomechanics and bodywork techniques specific to dressage.

The United States Dressage Federation University Program has approved our Home Study Course for 2 credits. The USDF provides an accreditation structure for independently-organized events, allowing members to earn USDF credit for participating in accredited programs.  We have applied for credit for the Dressage Movements Revealed Course, which will be approved prior to the July 3-day course (see above).

I wanted to alert everyone to a change on our online Home Study Course. The Home Study Course is now an unlimited access course, rather than a 6-week subscription. With all this cold weather, those who have signed up early really haven't had time to get out and practice with their horses, so we've decided to permanently extend the term. Now you will have unlimited on-line access to a structured study of Beyond Horse Massage, including 6 hours of video in the techniques taught during an actual Weekend Seminar. There is a discount if you decide to attend an actual Weekend Seminar-Workshop. All the perks, plenty of knowledge, and no rush to, "get 'er done!"

More good news (the best kind): Our publisher, Martha Cook from Trafalgar Press (Horse and Rider Books) emailed me that she received an email from Katja Pauls at Kosmos Verlag Publishing saying they will publish the Beyond Horse Massage book in German in 2015. In addition to that great news, the Beyond Horse Massage DVD is now in the final stages of translation with Pferdia TV in Germany; proposed date for completion, April. So curry your horse and brush up on your deutsch!

Call all your friends!  While in the UK this coming June, I will be doing a two-hour demonstration of Masterson Method techniques on the evening of Friday June 6, at Emily Baker's Equinethos facility in Churchill, Oxfordshire.  This demonstration will take place the evening before the Weekend Seminar there and will be open to the public. The charge is £10 a ticket with limited space, so to book your ticket soon.  For more information and to book a ticket, email: equinethos@gmail.com

Lastly, we just heard from W.F. Young (Absorbine) that they will be sponsoring my trip to accompany the U.S. Endurance Team at the 2014 World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France at the end of August. After a very good showing by the Team at the World Endurance Championships in England in 2012, I've been told that we have a really strong team going into this year's competition. This is exciting. I'm really looking forward to it and will keep you posted as the event nears.   

We have a couple new certified practitioners, so take a look below at their bios.  If you are looking for a practitioner in your area, we are always updating the Find A Certified Practitioner page. 

Until then, keep warm and, like me,  Enjoy your horses.   

Jim