Conscious Horsemanship About Us

Don's career in the thoroughbred racing industry began during the Decade of Champions

(1970 –1980).

Don was educated and inspired by trainers of great horses such as: Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Alydar, Shuvee, Ruffian and Forego.

Don served in the United States Marine Corps from 1972—1975. While stationed in Japan, Don learned the fundamentals of the healing art of massage.

In 1979, Don became a partner and general manager of Broadlands Farm, a major thoroughbred breeding, foaling and rehabilitation facility. At Broadlands, over a 10 year period, Don cared for hundreds of thoroughbreds sent in for rehabilitation of muscular and assorted injuries. Don helped a majority of these horses recover and return to productive careers. Don found that the hands-on massage techniques which he incorporated into his equine rehabilitation program had the greatest positive effect on the healing process for the horses.

Don’s vision was to develop specific sports massage techniques for equine athletes.

To increase his knowledge and skills in the healing arts, in 1989, Don attended the Florida School of Massage in Gainesville, FL and became a licensed human massage therapist and certified human sports massage therapist. As a human sports massage therapist, Don performed ground breaking work by establishing the University of Florida’s first massage program for the swim and track teams.

Though independent research and his in-depth understanding of the horse, Don correlated human and equine athletic injuries and developed a specialized protocol for the evaluation and treatment of equine muscular problems. When Don began offering Equine Sports Massage Therapy to his equine clients, he also received requests from other horsemen to teach them the techniques.

In 1993, Don designed, developed and launched the world’s first Equine Sports Massage Training Program (Don Doran’s ESM Program). Since then many have followed in Don’s footsteps. Equine Sports Massage, also known as Equine Massage or Horse Massage has gained acceptance by the mainstream and has grown tremendously.

The caliber and quality of Don’s therapy work and educational programs were greatly enhanced by his training in Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM), From 1998 to 2002, Don studied Oriental Theory, Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine at the Chi Institute of Chinese Medicine. In 1999, Don was a founding partner of the Jing-Tang Herbal Company, the first Chinese Veterinary Herbal Pharmacy in the U.S.

In 2000, Don studied Tui-Na Therapy in Beijing, China. Upon arrival in China, Don was gratified to hear his instructor say that the most important concept of the program was the quality of the practitioner’s touch!

Performing equine bodywork has led Don to a deeper understanding of the horse and many of the unrealistic parameters placed on the horse by modern equestrians. In the horse industry today, pain management is a common practice and true horsemanship is a fading art.

Don’s work has led him to the conclusion that the root cause of many equine performance, behavioral, muscular and skeletal conditions is a two tier problem created by man:

Improperly placed and/or ill-fitting saddles

Lack of proper strengthening of the equine back

In response to this revelation, In 2002, Don embarked on a journey to understand the dynamics of saddlery and proper saddle fit. Don studied with English Master Saddler, David May, in Penrith England at the Cumbria School of Saddlery. Don continues to study and consult with Western Master Saddler, Blake Kral at his shop Texas. Don is actively forging new relationships with Western and English saddlers to produce equipment that works for both the horse and rider.

Don’s focus is on the horse. Through his educational programs and equine performance consulting practice, it is Don’s personal mandate to raise awareness and shift paradigms in the equine industry in order to empower horsemen with relevant information and skills that allow them to achieve maximum success, performance and personal fulfillment with their horses.

In 1995, as an amateur horse owner, Lisa attended Don Doran’s Equine Sports Massage Program. The information presented in the program challenged her paradigms and motivated Lisa to change her focus in life to practices that truly benefit the wellness of humans and horses.

Lisa took a sabbatical from her corporate career to attend the Florida School of Massage in Gainesville, FL. Lisa became a licensed human massage therapist and certified human sports massage therapist.

In 1998, Lisa left the corporate world to manifest her dream of a rural lifestyle, working full-time, professionally in the equine industry with her teacher, and now ,husband, Don Doran.

Lisa and Don studied oriental theory, acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine with Huisheng Xie, a doctor of Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine (TCVM). The three became

extremely close friends and together they established and built the Chi Institute of Chinese Medicine. The Chi Institute quickly became one of the leading providers in the U.S. of veterinary acupuncture and herbal medicine training programs. The three friends also established Jing-Tang Herbal, the first Chinese Veterinary Herbal Pharmacy in the U.S. During this time, Lisa was privileged to meet, interact and exchange ideas with holistic veterinarians from the US, Europe and Asia. In 2000, Lisa studied Tui-na Therapy in Beijing China with Professor Han Ping.

In 2002, Lisa and Don reached the conclusion that the root cause of many equine performance, behavioral, muscular and skeletal conditions is a two tier problem created by man:

Improperly placed and/or ill-fitting saddles

Lack of proper strengthening of the equine back

In 2002, Lisa and Don embarked on a journey to understand the dynamics of saddlery and proper saddle fit. Lisa and Don studied with English Master Saddler, David May, in Penrith England at the Cumbria School of Saddlery. Lisa and Don continue to study and consult with Western Master Saddler, Blake Kral at his shop in Texas. Lisa and Don are actively forging new relationships with Western and English saddlers to produce equipment that works for both the horse and rider.

Lisa uses her accumulated knowledge and experiences to serve as an advocate for the horse. As an Equine Bodyworker, Lisa works to discover and address the root cause of a horse’s physical or behavioral problems. Lisa enjoys sharing her knowledge with concerned horsemen and women in the educational programs offered by Animal Dynamics.