FAQs
Q. What is massage?
A. Massage is the manipulation of muscle fibers and soft tissue. It has many benefits that include but are not limited to increased circulation, increased mobility and suppleness, promotion of injury healing and reduction of the risk of reinjury.
Q. What horses should be massaged?
A. All horses can benefit from massage. Its usefulnes applies to performance horses, trail horses, horses recovering from injury, horses on stall rest, senior horses...basically all horses! There are some times when horses cannot be massaged. Remember, massage does not replace veterinary treatment.
Q. What benefits does massage offer?
A. Massage offers many benefits to all horses whether they are competitive, injured or pasture pals. These benefits include but are not limited to:
Increased circulation
Promotion of healing
Reduced risk of injury and reinjury
Nourishes muscles and keeps them supple
Relaxes tension and relieves muscle spasm
Soothes sore muscles and improves movement/performance
Asissts in maintaining the body's physical condition and balance
Q. How do I prepare for a massage?
A. Make sure you have a handler with knowledge not just of horses in general, but the individual horse, available. There should be a clean, safe area to perform the massage and the horse needs to be groomed (not show-ready, but not just plucked out of the field). Please clear your plan to have your horse massaged with your veterinarian as certain situations cannot be massaged.
Q. What do you look for in the assessment evaluation?
A. During the assessment I accomplish a few things. First and most importantly, I form a bond with the horse. It's a getting-to-know you stage, convincing the horse I am not the vet or the farrier. It involves me running my hands all over the horse's body. While I am touching the horse I am deciphering the amount of pressure the horse reacts to. I am also picking up on the horse's reactive spots that I will pay special attention to during the massage.
Q. What happens during the massage?
A. When doing a massage I will use a variety of different strokes and techniques on the muscles to work on them. If I am doing my job and the horse is enjoying it, he will react to certain spots that I hit on that could be bothering him. Different horses do different things, among them yawning, playing with their mouth and tongue, stretching, sighing, dropping in males, sometimes even almost falling asleep! The entire time I am looking for these signs, as well as signs that a horse is uncomfortable being touched in some places or certain ways.
Q. What can I expect after the massage?
A. Each horse will react differently to a massage. Some become very lethargic while others are energized. Some horses may be a little sore, but that is very uncommon and will go away within a couple of days. In rare cases horses can get hives during the massage, but they will also go away quickly.
Q. How did you become a certified equine sports massage therapist?
A. I was certified through Colleen McDonald's Equine Kneads, LLC certification program and am fully insured.