“I commissioned Jody Miller to do my professional photographs for my business, Interactive Equine Bodywork.
I had admired her photos at Arts Prescott Gallery, in Prescott, Az. I found her images moving and emotional. I liked the impact that they conveyed as I looked over them in the gallery. I needed to commission someone to photograph me as I worked on horses. The photos had to convey the trust that the horses extend to me as I work with them. I wanted it to show through the photograph that their body language was different and at ease. As I stood in her gallery, it felt more and more like she was the photographer who would be able to translate that in the photos that I wanted for my business.
Show time-On location commissioned Photos.
After contacting Jody and chatting for a bit, we set up the time and place to do the photo shoot. One of my clients horses was having some ongoing tension and I thought it would be a great horse to work with and capture the horse learning to release those body patterns he has acquired during training or riding. I developed a way to just have the horse learn to release its tension in a relaxed and trusting state so that they can move more freely from the inside out. I have found that when the owners watch their horses relaxing this way during a session, they completely understand how deeply trusting they are in that 60-90 minute session. I wanted to see if photos could convey that in a business card or a postcard format.
The horse is yawning.
The horse began to yawn during the photo shoot. That is what I typically look for as I work with the horse to release tension but since we had the owners there and Jody with her camera clicking away, I was not sure that he would relax to that level due to the distractions going on. I should not have given it a second thought, as it turns out. He was very relaxed and at ease, as was the rest of the herd. He gave off several great big yawns and rested his hind legs alternately to relax the muscles of his hind end to a level that he was comfortable with. I wanted the horse to be able to release their tension like a person would when they are on a table with a massage therapist working with them. Humans are able to let the therapist know that the pressure is deep enough and in the right spot and I created a communication method to do that with the horse. By doing this, they are more willing and able to release tension that has been stored for long periods of time within their bodies because of the trust that is established between us. He was demonstrating just that as he continued to yawn one right after the other.
Choosing which photo
I liked the way Jody thought to highlight my hands on the horses body and blur out some of the background. I also loved the horse as it was yawning during the photograph. I ended up choosing the yawn because it felt fun as well as gave the entire impression of what my business is about as you look at the photo. I am really happy with the way the photos turned out and I use them frequently on my business face book page. Within the next few months I will be designing my first web page about my business and have asked her to video tape me working so that I can use those on the site and possibly on you tube as well. While it may take a lot of time to describe what I do and how it works with words, Jody hones right in on what the horse is feeling as I touch them with her lens so that people can see it for themselves! I am looking forward to our next photo session of horse photographs and videos. Thanks, Jody!”
Christy Garavetto operates Interactive Equine Bodywork in Northern Arizona. Christy combines acupressure, cranial sacral, swedish, trigger point, stretching, deep tissue, and fascia tissue work using the nervous system as the access point. She can be reached at 928-308-2829 to schedule a consultation for your horse.
Comments
love both Jodi’s work and Christy’s! recommend both of them!