About Mercedes...

My lifelong involvement with horses as a rider and horse owner led me to become a Certified Equine Body Worker® following a 15-year career in equine-related graphic design & publishing. I studied at Equinology, Inc.®, which is dedicated to providing quality and innovative training by top instructors in equine & canine health care, science, and complementary modalities.

I am also a State of Maryland Licensed Massage Therapist for humans and maintain a human massage therapy practice in Rockville, Md., as well as offer on-site table & seated chair massage massage for people (including horse owners) at their work and home locations. Click here to visit my' human massage website or here for horse & rider packages.

My extensive massage & bodywork training includes certification as an Equine Body Worker (EBW), with additional training in equine myofascial release and craniosacral therapies. In addition, I am a Reiki practitioner and a graduate of Potomac Massage Training Institute (PMTI) in Washington, D.C. ("the Harvard of East Coast massage schools," Express 6/13/07), successfully completing their rigorous professional human massage training program in 2007. I am Nationally Certified in Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCTMB).

In addition to my massage & bodywork practice, I have also assisted with Equinology's East Coast Equine Foundation Sports Massage and Myofascial Release I courses, served as Equinology's U.S. externship assessor, am an available tutor for Equinology, Inc. students working on completing their EQ100 externships in Equine Foundation Sports Massage, and have taught human massage at Potomac Massage Training Institute, a not-for-profit educational institution.

About Mercedes' fight to practice animal massage in Maryland...
In February of 2008 I was served with a cease-and-desist animal massage order by the Md. Board of Chiropractic Examiners, which licenses & regulates massage therapists for humans. As justification for their action, they produced a written prohibition against all licensed MTs from the Md. Veterinary Board, which stated that practicing animal massage was considered to be the practice of veterinary medicine and that ONLY veterinarians could practice massage in Maryland (imagine if only doctors were allowed to practice massage on people!). I was threatened with thousands of dollars in fines, immediate revocation of my license to practice massage therapy on humans, as well as possible arrest.

The Chiropractic Board refused to back down from their unlawful position and I was sadly forced to close my animal massage business. I struck back against this injustice with the invaluable assistance of the non-profit Institute for Justice (IJ). In June of 2008, we filed suit against both the Md. Veterinary Board and the Md. Chiropractic Board for infringing upon my right to earn an honest living free from arbitrary government regulation.

The next month, July 2008, the Vet Board backpedaled on their earlier position, stating in a press release that they did not have a problem with me massaging animals for the purposes stated in my lawsuit. The case against the Vet Board was subsequently dismissed.

Unfortunately, the Md. Chiropractic Board proved to be an unreasonable and stubborn adversary, with little regard for its licensees or the interest of the public. Despite the Vet Board now not having a problem with animal massage performed by licensed MTs (or any other non-veterinarian), the Chiropractic Board sallied forth in their obstinancy, blithely stating over and over that their licensees could ONLY work on the human body, period.

Instead of recognizing that the Board should LIMIT their enforcement of the massage therapy regulations to HUMAN massage, the Chiropractic Board was illegally limiting the activities of its licensees beyond human massage and vastly exceeding and abusing its regulatory authority. We were left with the absurd situation that the only people in the state of Maryland who could not massage an animal were licensed massage therapists.

Fortunately, justice was on our side, although it took another year of hard work by my IJ attorneys Paul Sherman (aka "The Shermanator") & Scott Bullock, buoyed by IJ's Assistant Director of Communications Bob Ewing and the rest of the always-enthusiastic IJ crew. On July 30, 2009, Judge David Boynton (Montgomery Co. Circuit Court) ruled in my favor -- the Chiropractic Board illegally issued the cease-and-desist order and has no jurisdiction over animal massage. Licensed massage therapists are now free to pursue training in animal massage and offer that service to the Maryland public, just as non-licensed people can.

My deepest thanks to everyone who supported me through this adventure, including my attorney Kathleen J.P. Tabor, who helped me throw down the initial gauntlet, and to the fine folks at the Institute for Justice for taking on this fight with me. It would never have happened without IJ, and that's what government bureaucrats count on when they abuse their authority -- that the little guy (or gal!) won't be able to fight back. With IJ, this gal did fight back...and WON.

To read more about the case, click here.