'Equine massage is the manipulation of the soft tissues of the body'
Equine sports massage is a therapeutic application of sport massage techniques to the horse's body. To treat a horse correctly there must be a thorough understanding of the horse's anatomy and how the bones, joints and muscles interact as well as a profound knowledge of their behavior.
The horse has over 700 hundred muscles in its body and they should work together to produce smooth, pain free movement, sometimes this is not the case and the muscles become tense, tired and sore.
Where horses become tense, tired or sore they cannot work to their full potential and this can lead to:
- Poor performance / reluctance to work correctly
- Uneven muscles development
- Knocking poles and possible refusals when jumping
- Lameness / An altered gait / reduced stride length
- Tension / stiffness
- Muscle atrophy
- A change in temperament
- Restless when being tacked up or mounted
- Bucking / rearing / napping
- Lack of flexion / engagement
- Cold backed
- Dental and saddle fitting issues
Massage has many benefits for you horse:
- Treat muscle tension and spasms
- Improves muscles tone
- Improves flexibility and suppleness of muscle fibres
- Improves skin and coat condition
- Aids recovery for injury
- Increases the horse's movement range
- Promotes relaxation
- Helps the removal of waste products such as lactic acid
- Improves circulation and lymphatic drainage
- Enhance performance
- Improves the overall health and well being