Cindy McVey was walking out of a barn at Delaware Park last summer when Rick Porter approached her.

'"What do you do?"' he asked McVey.

After she explained that she is an equine sports massage therapist, and what that entails, Porter, owner of a Delaware automobile dealership, asked her to look at his horses, including 3-year-old Pennsylvania-bred Hard Spun, son of Danzig.

In case you haven't heard of him, Hard Spun of Fox Hill Farms is headed to the Kentucky Derby May 5 — and is among the favorites, with five wins out of six races. Kentucky Derby winner Smarty Jones was also Pennsylvania-bred.

Porter thought Hard Spun might benefit from some attention to his muscles. Race horses, after all, are hard-working athletes.

It was November when McVey of East Petersburg got to work on Hard Spun, right before he won the Nursery Stakes at Philadelphia Park.

"He's very dear," McVey said of Hard Spun's personality. "He's very likable and easy to be around, affectionate, appreciative and well-mannered in the stall."

McVey begins 90-minute therapy sessions on Hard Spun with percussion strokes to warm the muscles. The massage begins at the muscle that sits behind his ears, the rectus capitus lateralis, and ends, well, at the horse's rear.

The muscles of any race horse feel taut. Racing can take a tremendous toll.

The muscles quiver, she said, on a race horse. "It's like working on a jackhammer; the muscle is shaking and quivering in your fingers."

McVey delivers the massages at least 48 hours before a race in order to allow a day to recover. Rubbing the muscles releases toxins that can lead to stiffness.

"Hard Spun very much enjoys having his back ends done," McVey said, especially his gluteus and bicep femoris, the muscle that rests above the legs, extends along the hip, hock and hind leg.

In all, McVey has massaged Hard Spun before four races, including the Rebel Stakes in Arkansas, where he placed fourth, his only loss.

Hard Spun didn't take to Oak Lawn's dirt track, his trainer Larry Jones said. He labored heavily, and some in the racing world began to doubt his ability to win at Churchill Downs because, like Oak Lawn, it's a dirt track.

But Hard Spun proved that he is a real Derby and possible Triple Crown contender, when he won by 3 1/4 lengths at the Lane's End Stakes at Turfway Park in March.

McVey was there preparing Hard Spun for that victory.

After that, his trainer and owner pulled Hard Spun back from any more races and focused on preparing him at Churchill. Hard Spun breezed his way around the famous track.

"Everything went well," Jones said.

So all is set for McVey and her husband Dennis to arrive in Kentucky a few days before the Derby to work on Hard Spun.

"I'm very excited," said McVey. This is the realization of a childhood dream.

This wasn't her first career. She was a violinist who played in the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra and two other regional symphonies. Her degrees are in music education, music therapy and elementary education.

But she had always loved horses, racing and the outdoors. At 2, she could whistle the call of the races. Her grandfather and father loved racing. Her decision to switch direction in her life came after her husband gave her riding lessons.

She enrolled in Equissage, an equine sports massage school based in Virginia, about  four years ago. After graduating,  McVey began to build her business.

She walked into barns around Lancaster County and offered free massages, to prove their worth and to gain clients. Her company is called Happy Mare Equine Sports Massage Therapy.

She made quite the impression.

Her client roster today has grown to 100.

Three years ago, McVey made up her mind that she was ready to work in professional racing. She went through what she describes as a grueling process to earn a license that would allow her  behind the barn doors of the race tracks.

Once in the door, she approached trainers on the backside.

The very first race horse she massaged was Seeyouinthemorning,  at Delaware Park in Wilmington, trained by Michael Pino, coincidentally, the brother of Mario Pino, Hard Spun's jockey.

"He won his race two days later," McVey said. "I've been back there every single Friday since then, and just about every single horse I've done for him has been in the money."

Her local clients think no less of her.

Peter Beihoff, owner of High Index, who boards at Harvest View Hill in Manheim, said his former racehorse has benefited greatly from McVey's massages.

"She's got magic fingers, what can I say?" Beihoff said.

High Index thinks so, too. As she rubbed his neck Wednesday, High Index rolled his tongue out repeatedly, much like dogs sometimes do, too, when enjoying a good rub.

Another of McVey's clients, Noel Garman, of Lititz, was the 2005 International Professional Rodeo Association barrel racing champion.

Since 2004, McVey has worked on two of her quarter horses.

Massage "is a vital part of my program," Garman said.

Garman feels thrilled to see that McVey is now part of Hard Spun's road to the Derby.

Jones is sure glad to have her, he said in a phone interview Wednesday.

The massages are preventative, alleviating pain, Jones said.

"It helps keep him loosened up," Jones said. "He just drives better."

And Hard Spun likes them.

"Until she hits a sore spot," he said. "Then, she's not his favorite person."

Like people, horses will tell her when it hurts, McVey said.

"When his ears go back, he's annoyed," she said of horses in general. "Sometimes, he'll turn and give me a look."

Her training at Equissage served her well, she said.

"It takes a tremendous amount of concentration, stamina, strength, focus and discipline," to massage a horse.

"Because you are working with a large animal who is very unpredictable, and sports massage can be very painful," she said.

As a result, "you need to be on your toes; you can get kicked or plowed over."

McVey's duties are also diagnostic. She offers another opinion on the horse's condition.

She knows Hard Spun.

"She can fill me in whether he's different than the previous race," Jones said.

McVey will get to work on Hard Spun two days before the race. She will also talk to Jones about his condition.

She believes in Hard Spun and his chances for victory.

"Hard Spun is in very, very good shape," she said. "He's been in capable hands, and has been conditioned very well."

CONTACT US: rmeadows@LNPnews.com or 481-6025