Mandy Collier – 1 HOOF
Location: Pittsburgh area, USA
412-440-8307
Mandy Collier owns and operates Optimum Equine LLC providing integrated equine bodywork in the Pittsburgh area and its surrounding communities. Her practice focuses on hands-on techniques based on the principles of traditional sports massage therapy and the well-known Masterson Method. Bodywork sessions are enhanced by the use of SUREFOOT pads and red/near-infrared light therapy. Mandy was inspired to pursue a career in equine massage therapy by her first horse who benefitted greatly from a variety of therapies to help him feel his best while competing in dressage. The pair earned their USDF Bronze Medal together and competed at the US Dressage Finals in 2014.
It was her young mare that inspired her to learn more about healing at a deeper, nervous system-level, however, and begin to integrate alternate modalities and therapies like SUREFOOT pads. It has since become an important tool in her bodywork practice, enabling deeper healing with horses who are anxious, sensitive to touch, or have become so guarded and braced in their bodies that SUREFOOT is the only way to unlock them and reach the parasympathetic nervous system to let relaxation and healing begin.
Mandy holds a neuroscience degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and experienced a satisfying full circle moment while revisiting her nervous system anatomy and physiology roots while in SUREFOOT training. In addition to her bodywork business, she works in a mental health research lab and enjoys the not-always-obvious connections between emotional and physical healing, even across species."