So we’ve decided to try an experiment and try muscle testing the horses to figure out their needs such as herbs and supplements. So far the results have been rather interesting. It does take a while since we have a large list of things to go through, but it is interesting what the results of the muscle testing have been. What will be even more interesting is to see if through the muscle testing and the selection of herbs and supplements to see what changes occur in the horses, if any.
Muscle testing, short for applied kinesiology muscle testing, uses muscle resistance to see whether something strengthens or weaknes the body. It is not infalliable, nor perfect; but it can give you a different picture of your horse and how to treat it.
While we’ve known about muscle testing for a while, we got a different look at it just last week when I was at an acupuncture appointment. During the appointment the acupuncturist muscle tested me to see how many needles my body would accept. This was a different from what I’ve seen or heard it being used for. I’ve usually used it when a horse seems to be having a negative reaction to a feed or supplement to see if that is in deed the culprit.
Some people just test a substance to see if it strengthens or weakens the body. But with what the acupuncturist did, was actually asking a question. Though she didn’t ask the question out loud. My response was a strengthening at 10 needles but a weaking at 12. So we thought, let’s try asking certain questions to see what responses we get of the horses. We tried it first on Maverick and got mixed responses. I e-mailed the acupuncturist for advice. Her advice was to ask “Does Maverick need _____ in order to heal?” We’d been asking if he needed something or if he had ______. We thought if we asked if he had a certain ailment it would confirm for treatment. That is where we got the really vague answers, sometimes yes, sometimes no on the same question. Using the question she proposed gave us much more defined answers. We’ve started using it on the other horses too with interesting results. Though with the ones that don’t necessarily need healing we are asking what do they need the most or what is the best for them.
We’ll post about results as or if they happen.