The Masterson Method and the Museum: BACH Special Event on 23 August

By Mary Wicksten

BACH’s special meeting on 23rds August offered us the opportunity to see the Museum of the American G.I. and use their big screen to see “Dressage Movements Revealed”. Thanks to Donna Meyer and On the Bit Farm, we were able to see this very interesting DVD, part of the “Masterson Method” series, which showed on an “illustrated” horses the action of the bones and muscles as he performed dressage movements: the basic gaits, and then the shoulder-in, half pass, zig zags all the way to the piaffe, passage, and canter piroutte. Most of us expected to see the big muscles along the shoulders and haunches at work but we were surprised to see the action of muscles along the top of the neck. The main “belly” area usually was not involved. After seeing enough videos, at least some of us were able to spot tiny irregularities in the movement of the lovely dressage horse performing the upper level movements, and saw how the very skilled rider could compensate. Good food for thought. If you intend to try to paint your horse, make sure that the paint will wash off and is not toxic to animals (or riders, for that matter).

We enjoyed climbing into old military trucks, seeing the suspended helicopter, huge tanks, and a restored World War I tank. There is an enormous variety of printed matter, photos, medals, flags, etc., too much to see in one visit but well worth it. Yes, there was a horse connection–a model horse and rider from World War I, but don’t touch his tail!

We were happy to have Brazos Pony Club members join us for the evening!

Special thanks to The Museum of the American GI for hosting us! Find out more about the museum, their exibits, and their annual Living History Weekend on their website: http://americangimuseum.org/ .

For more information on the video, visit the Masterson Method website here: https://mastersonmethod.com/ .
Or watch this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/zbk_iarbyHA.