Most women would be thrilled to get two new pairs of shoes every six weeks.

Not Fancy Moves. Fancy, a 3-year-old standardbred pacer who boards in Farmington, really hates getting new shoes. So much so that she usually gets a dose of tranquilizer before the blacksmith comes around.

But this week, things were different. Her trainer, Mike Cushing, said Fancy didn’t act up until the final shoe.

“She was decent – not perfect – but there was a marked improvement,” Cushing said. “I have to assume it’s because she’s more comfortable.”

Why the change of heart? Or hoof?

Twice in the last two weeks, Cushing and Fancy’s owner, Jim Hooper of Nightwind Ranch in Leeds, have treated her to a massage from Cher Lord of Charleston. Lord, a certified equine sports massage therapist, travels to barns throughout the region to bring soothing touch to race horses and leisure horses alike.

“They’re athletes. This is sports massage,” explained Lord, who graduated from the Virginia-based Equissage program last spring. “Any athlete is going to have muscle tension, areas of stress from working. She trains every day except race day.”

Cushing, who was a three-sport athlete at the University of Maine, understands the benefits of massage on humans and animals. And when you’re training a racehorse, easing muscle tension – and mental tension – can make a big difference in demeanor and purse.

“I think she’s probably going to go from being noncompetitive to being very competitive, which could make a $20,000 to $30,000 difference in earnings,” Cushing said, noting that Fancy also has had a round of acupuncture. “When they’re going for that kind of money, you’ve got to try every method that’s at your disposal.”

By the looks of it, Fancy doesn’t seem to mind.

On a recent morning, Lord led Fancy into her stall, where the horse is apt to feel the most comfortable. Starting with the pole, the area between the ears, Lord pressed lightly with her fingers, then moderately, and finally with heavy pressure.

“At first, I don’t go very deep,” Lord said. “Then I go in a little bit deeper, hold and release. Then I go in deeper. Imagine if you had a really tight muscle and someone went in and poked really hard. Your muscle is going to fight it.”

Lord then ran her hand down Fancy’s mane, pushing in with her thumb, feeling for muscle spasms and watching for any visible reaction. Halfway down, the skin starts to twitch.

“Right in here, she had a little twinge,” Lord, 51, said, rubbing her fingers across the muscle fibers in the horse’s neck. Fancy dipped her head and opened the area to Lord’s touch. “This is feeling really good to her. She’s relaxing her neck muscles more.”

Relaxation is the name of the game for a horse like Fancy. She has attitude – a good thing for a racehorse, but sometimes it’s too much of a good thing. She also has a fair amount of muscle tension, but nothing that the vet has been able to diagnose. And she doesn’t particularly like to be touched, which doesn’t really help when she needs to have her blood drawn after each race.

During last week’s massage, the transformation in Fancy’s demeanor was visible. Over the course of an hour and a half, she went from high-strung and skittish to calm and sleepy.

As a longtime horse owner and former exercise rider for thoroughbreds, Lord understands the physical demands racing can place on a horse. When she reached Fancy’s shoulderblade, she let her elbow slide into the groove and then leaned her body into the pressure. She could feel Fancy’s muscle fight the pressure, then relax.

“Especially in trotters, I think this is a pretty tense area,” she said, explaining how the gait of a pacer differs from that of a trotter, and how that affects the muscles. “In the training, we learn where all the stress points are on the body. I’m not just doing this randomly.”

Lord ran her hands over Fancy’s body, stopping whenever she encountered a knot, which she compares to a speed bump. A knot will halt Lord’s fingers in their tracks. Every now and then, Fancy’s muscles quivered and twitched as Lord hit a tense spot.

When Lord reached a particularly sensitive area behind Fancy’s ears, the horse shook her head. Lord stopped probing and began a series of light touches – using the Tellington T-Touch method – to put Fancy at ease. Lord, who also worked as a zookeeper for 12 years in Florida and Colorado, was attracted to T-touch because she could use it effectively on all animals.

“I just love working on their bodies, helping animals feel better and have healthier, more positive lives,” Lord said.

Neither T-Touch nor equine massage is a substitute for veterinary care, but when used in conjunction with traditional healing methods, they can yield positive results. Some horses with certain health conditions shouldn’t be massaged. And people who haven’t been trained in massage should never try to do it themselves.

“You can adversely affect a horse during a massage if you don’t know what you’re doing,” said Lord.

There are currently 1,234 members certified by the International Association of Animal Massage Therapists, which represents six countries. All of those members are Equissage graduates. For racehorses, the program recommends three treatments over a three-week period. If the horse doesn’t respond positively by the third session, a vet should be called in.

By week two, Fancy already showed improvement.

“She was pretty good last week, but she’s more into it this week,” Lord said.

Her trainer agreed. Before the massage, during her first race of the season, Fancy went off stride and finished last. Last week at Bangor Raceway, she finished fifth, but Cushing said other factors came into play – she had been sick, as well. This week’s race, at Scarborough Downs, could be Fancy’s coming out party.

“I think she’s probably going to go Friday,” Cushing said.

And she’ll have a new pair of shoes – or two – for the occasion.

Cher Lord charges $50 per massage, and she also does canine massage. She can be reached at 285-7329. For information on the International Association of Animal Massage Therapists, visit www.iaamt.com.