Equine Massage – What is it?

A horse’s body works really hard.  It has over 200 bones, 700 muscles and can gallop at up to 45 miles an hour.  It’s lungs can take in 60 litres of air. It is a well adapted machine, a herd animal that can roam up to 20 miles in a day eating vegetation and avoiding lions.  And it can carry a rider and create bonds with a human being of mutual respect and love.

How do we know what is happening beneath the surface?   If a horse is lame we call the vet, who does various tests and can prescribe a course of treatment. What if we could look beneath the surface of it’s skin to the muscles which allow it to do all these amazing things.  Sometimes things go wrong.

Ways in which a horse can damage it’s muscles :-

Overwork without a warming up period or cooling down and stretching time.

Injury when working, in field, in stable.     Unbalanced shoeing

Poor saddle fit                                                Unbalanced rider

Poor ground or surfaces                               Conformation issues

Nervous tension                                             Dental problems                        

Once a muscle is damaged what happens?  The horse feels pain, so it changes the way it moves to avoid the pain.  Another muscle or group of muscles then has to work harder to help the weaker muscle and thus begins a chain of compensatory patterns in the musculoskeletal system that results in constant pain and poor performance.

How do we make this better?

As an equine sports and soft tissue therapist I assess your horse standing still and moving in walk and trot.  I take details of your horse’s medical history and vet practice.  I treat your horse usually starting with the neck, shoulder, trunk and hindquarters, both sides and may introduce some gentle stretches.  Then follows a record of any issues and a written assessment.  A routine massage usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour to complete.  If I have any concerns I will recommend you refer to a vet.

It is important to recognise when your horse would benefit from a massage treatment.  Sometimes only one treatment may be required.  If your horse has a lot of muscle core fibres that have created adhesions and spasms, it may be necessary for a course of three or four treatments to be effective.   This is because the damage has been present for a long time, gradually building up and it takes the bands of muscles time to adjust to function normally.

Some riders organise a regular “maintenance” treatment every few months or benefit from getting together with other owners for a block booking for their yard.  Get in touch for more details of how I can help you and your horse.

Facebook            Carole Ajinkya Equine Sports Massage

Mobile                07753  682048