About Gabriella Valsecchi
All through high school Gabriella Valsecchi would ask her counselors, “What can I do to earn a living with horses?” The life of a trainer did not appeal to her. Then a disaster pointed the way. A terrible car accident left her partially paralyzed.
“I was always sick, from infancy until my early twenties,” she told me, “including a bout with cancer. Now I had to learn to walk again, literally step by step. I had plenty of time to figure out how to get well.” For two years, day after painful day, she rehabilitated herself, until she was able to recover so completely she could even play collegiate volleyball. During her journey back to health, she tried chiropractic, acupuncture, herbal and a number of other remedies that proved successful to her recovery. Why couldn’t horses benefit as well, she asked herself?
She had found her career.
Valsecchi epitomizes the holistic approach to health and wellness for both animals and humans, an approach that finds a particularly strong following on the West Coast. While she specializes in neuromuscular bodywork for horses (as well as cats and dogs), she keeps up to date on nutritional, herbal and homeopathic options through continuing education.
Valsecchi, who graduated from the pre-veterinary science program at
Cal Poly, finds her traditional science background is also
helpful in identifying problems. In 1986, Gabriella began working with Linda Tellington-Jones, founder of TT.E.A.M. (Tellington Touch Equine Awareness Method, a holistic training approach) and for 13 years, she was a certified practitioner. “Once in 1995, I tried to count the number of sessions with horses I’ve worked with, and stopped at around 60,000,” she laughed. Through all this experiences, she has learned the body language of horses through this experience. “Whenever I hear an owner say, ‘He always does that,’ about a problem, there is an opportunity for change.”
Valsecchi writes a monthly column monthly for RIDE! magazine, offering practical advice about alternative/ complementary training and healing concepts for both horse and rider, RIDE! is available at local tack stores all across the western states. Upcoming columns focus on trailering—including the use of calming herbs and homeopathics—bodywork and specific steps for teaching the horse to load in the trailer easily and quietly. “I love to delve into new things,” she told me. “I look at all the best alternative practitioners in different fields and then I develop combinations that work for me.” Her bag of healing tricks includes the use of radionics, the discipline of working with the body’s energy fields, correcting negative flow and problems that disrupt harmonious resonance. She uses and sells Dynamite nutritional products, which have gained popularity with the “alternative” competitive crowd because of their natural, synergistic basis, but she also recommends other herbs, homeopathics and commercial products.
At 45, Valsecchi looks younger- a slim, petite woman with the dark hair and complexion of her Italian ancestors. She projects boundless energy. She gave my show horse, Annie, a first-time session. By touching specific body points, she immediately identified the two problem areas that vets have told me about: left hock and right stifle, as well as a tender spot on the right flank. Valsecchi trained with Dr. Regan Golob of Washington State who has perfected these nontraditional diagnostic tools (Bio Energy Synchronization Technique or B.E.S.T.) to evaluate trouble spots in the horse’s energy system. As I watched, Valsecchi worked on relaxing Annie’s hind legs, using TT.E.A.M. and other body techniques, and when the horse “ objected with an attempt to kick, Valsecchi moved quickly away from danger, then continued working, until Annie relaxed. She showed me simple exercises to develop Annie’s back muscles and relieve stress. She used kinesiology—muscle testing—to check “Annie’s nutritional program, then she made recommendations for feed changes. “It all starts with nutrition, you are what you assimilate,” she said. “Many behavior problems can be traced to an all-alfalfa diet, which has toxic effects over time, like lowered thyroid activity, a pre-cursor to Cushing’s Disease.”
Valsecchi had that early love of horses so many of the people I write about seem to have. From early childhood, she begged for riding lessons. At age six she got them, with Major Owen Cathcart, at his riding stable at San Ysidro Road in Montecito near her childhood home. “He really scared the heck out of me,” she remembers. “I’d turn white and get knots in my stomach before every lesson, but I wanted to ride so badly, I stuck it out.”
I sympathized with her, because I too remember being terrified of Cathcart’s
drill sergeant style the few times I had lessons with him.
Fortunately, her family caught on, and she started taking lessons at Cynthia Wood’s world renowned American Saddlebred Stables on East Valley Road, studying with both Cynthia and her trainer, Bud Kinney. “I couldn’t hold on to the reins of those big Saddlebreds, even though they had mouths like butter,” Valsecchi told me. “So Kinney took me up behind a driving horse and I had to learn to handle the reins or else.”
Despite the thrill of riding the dramatically beautiful Saddlebreds,
Valsecchi was always in love with Morgans. The storybook, “Justin Morgan Had A Horse” set her ideal in her mind. When she was just 12, her family bought her a five-year-old black Morgan mare, Bandanita, that she kept at Peter and Judy Whiting’s Hope Ranch Hunting and Riding Club on Las Palmas. (The buildings, now a private residence, are still visible off Las Palmas near the old polo field.) There she learned to jump. “ I was fortunate to come just at the end of that time when the unusual was commonplace,” she said. Sports were not so organized and safety conscious as they are today. “We grew up doing everything and going everywhere with our horses; we rode bareback and bridleless, with just a wire around the horse’s neck, and didn’t know that was something special.”
Valsecchi enjoyed jumping, but her first love was the saddle seat style she learned with Cynthia Wood. Her family got her and her Morgan into Intrepid Farms, a local Morgan breeding and training farm boasting many national champions, owned by Jim Wigle and Art Perry. At that time in the mid 1970’s, they were located in New Hampshire and Carpinteria, and now have a facility on Roblar in Santa Ynez. “This was another fabulous opportunity,” Valsecchi told me. “They do things with true finesse. Even picking up the lead rope to take a horse into the arena must be done deliberately, precisely, and gracefully.” Valsecchi hung around even when she wasn’t having lessons, and soon was helping out to gain valuable experience. “I ran many miles ground driving the horses,” she said. “I asked questions about everything. That is where I first learned about herbal remedies from the Intrepid Farms’ trainer, Patty Neal.” After a number of years showing, Valsecchi decided her Morgan stallion was just too much to deal with. “I acquired two warmbloods, and now that I am older, I love that feeling of riding a mellow horse,” she laughed. An accomplished athlete herself, Valsecchi enjoys coaching, working with backyard enthusiasts all the way up to Olympic contenders. “One of my clients at Pony Club has gone to the national level in Dressage on a jumper,” she told me. She has also assisted Bev Gray, whose national champion Arabian endurance horse, Omner is a Breyer Model Horse, the “horse of hope.” Omner was cured of cancer with Dynamite products and other natural alternatives, going on to race several more years and winning high accolades nation-wide. Recently, Valsecchi has crewed with Bev Gray and Omner’s half brother, Pallidin. “You really have to stay on your toes with those two; so much can change in an endurance race from start to finish. Working with Bev has been such a pleasure, she really makes every effort to take the best care of herself and her horse in a race situation.”
Valsecchi’s recent efforts have been focused on her rehabilitation facility in Santa Ynez Valley, HeartSong Farm. A lifelong dream made real, she has her hands full with horses and projects. “The hardware store is my new favorite place,” Valsecchi exclaims. “I have a vision for this farm as a healing place where horses can receive the best in complimentary care and personalized attention anywhere.” Along with rehabilitation and training, seminars and classes of a variety of topics are featured, bringing increased knowledge and awareness to the horse community.
Carol Storke, Santa Barbara Independent with Gabriella Valsecchi, Ride! Magazine, update: March 2005.
For an appointment or evaluation of your horse or other animal,
Please contact:
Gabriella Valsecchi
HeartSong Farm
PO Box 404
Los Olivos, CA 93441
805- 686- 1312
