An Equine Hanna Somatics (EHS) Demonstration

August 23rd, 2026 was the final day of an intensive 3-day Equine Hanna Somatics (EHS) Hands-On Professional Training conducted by Alissa Mayer at a private horse facility in Petaluma, California. We invited the HSE Teaching Team, as well as several attendees of their recent 5-day HSE Hands-On training program (for humans!) held in Novato, to a private, interactive demonstration of how we work somatically with horses. It was so much fun!

Those that attended noted how gentle the EHS work was, shared how thrilling it was to actually connect with the horses, to palpate a horse’s muscle tonus, and to watch them visibly become more somatically integrated in real time. They found it most instructive to watch how an EHS Educator goes about non-verbally guiding an animal through various voluntary pandiculation exercises.

We were excited to bring both the equine and the human Hanna Somatic Education®  communities together at this in-person event.  We became acquainted (or re-connected) with colleagues, made new friends, exchanged valuable somatic learning insights, and started building professional relationships that have the potential to grow our collective practices.

Every horse is owned by a human rider, many of whom have been actively looking for a solution to their own chronic pain or tension. They’ve sought exercises to add to their own personal rehab or conditioning routine, or have been seeking something that could help them take their riding to the next level, often to no avail! We know that they could also hugely benefit from doing Hanna Somatics. Thus incorporating Equine Hanna Somatics for the horse with Hanna Somatic Education for the human rider mutually supports much improved horsemanship.

For more info, visit www.equinehannasomatics.org