I gave Bailey her first full body massage.
First I took her crest and firmly shook it side to side moving up and down her neck.
As I was doing it Bailey relaxed her lower lip and her neck became much more loose and relaxed. I discovered that Bailey's favorite spot for me to wiggle her with all my might is just past the break of the withers. The exact spot varies from day to day and I have to search around for it every time.
Next I dragged my knuckles down her neck on both sides using as much or little pressure as Bailey liked. Next I did the withers wiggle. Bailey breathed out on the second wither but did not release anywhere else.
The next thing I did was the head down technique. Bailey never allowed my to do this technique before. But today she relaxed her head down and really started to enjoy it. I massaged her poll using about grape pressure on the bony areas and slowly increasing pressure on the muscular areas. Bailey absolutely loved it! Her eyelids and lips drooped, and she started to relax into my hands.
After I finished she zoned out a little bit and then she shook herself and licked and chewed, showing me her tongue.
Next I attempted the scapula release technique. Bailey is telling me that I am not very good at it yet. But she did breathe out and did a tiny lick and chew without showing her tongue.
Next I worked on her hind legs relaxing the pelvis and QH. She soon settled down and really relaxed her HQ. After I did both hind legs she licked and chewed then turned to look at me. I smiled at her. The very last thing I did was touch her endorphin release points above her eyes. After the massage I tossed some cut up apples in her feed bin.