MASSAGE
Massage is a great way to help horses live and work in ease and comfort, whatever their lifestyle and workload. It reduces the risk of injury, helps to keep the body healthy and supple and is relaxing for the horse.
​
​
MASSAGE
£75 first treatment (includes consultation).
£65 subsequent treatments.
​
MASSAGE WITH ENERGY HEALING
£80 first treatment (includes consultation).
£75 subsequent treatments.
HOW CAN MASSAGE HELP HORSES?
Massage is a therapy that can be applied to any horse at any stage of his or her life and I customise the session to each horse's physique, life-stage, workload and situation. For example, a competition horse, a horse on box rest, an elderly horse and a family pony will all need a different approach, using different techniques and focusing on different areas (e.g. the back) or functional systems (e.g. lymphatic drainage) of the body. The techniques I use (combining sports and Swedish massage techniques and stress/trigger point therapy) can be used to aid sports performance, support rehabilitation, and improve general wellbeing.
In essence, the aim of massage is to keep the body in as balanced and healthy a condition as possible, so that the skeletal system is supported by the muscular system, the muscular system is supported by the cardio-vascular system and kept free of toxins by the lymphatic system, and so on. The poetry of the equine body is beautiful to work with and it's so good to see the benefits, both physical and psychological:
​
PHYSICAL BENEFITS:
-
the whole muscular system is treated from the fascia, through the superficial muscles to the deep muscles
-
it relieves muscle tension, tightness and spasms
-
it promotes good blood flow
-
it promotes drainage of toxins from the muscles
-
it helps to lessen the likelihood of muscular-skeletal injury
-
it helps to strengthen the muscles and maintain the health of the nervous system which controls them
-
it aids recovery and helps maintain muscle tone if the horse cannot be ridden or during box rest
-
it wakes-up 'lazy' horses before they are ridden by warming up the muscles before the rider mounts
PSYCHOLOGICAL BENEFITS:
-
it is relaxing and comforting
-
it calms a nervous horse
-
it helps 'touch-shy' horses become more accepting of handling and having tack and rugs put on
-
it helps the horse communicate where his sore areas are so that they can be resolved, which is a psychological and emotional relief for him
-
being touched in a constructive and healing way can replicate what the horse would experience from other horses in the herd in the wild​
WHAT TO EXPECT
As a guide, generally a massage session will consist of an initial consultation (first treatment only) during which I will be able to get a picture of the horse's lifestyle, workload and physical and psychological needs, an assessment of the horse's movement (walk and trot up in hand, if possible), an assessment of the horse's conformation, posture and musculature and then a full massage treatment by the end of which the horse's muscular system will be as supple, comfortable and spasm-free as possible. Depending on the horse, his or her workload and type of work, a follow-up massage treatment may be advisable.
MASSAGE WITH REIKI ENERGY HEALING
I also treat horses with a combined therapy of massage with Reiki energy healing, which is a deeply therapeutic treatment. Using Reiki whilst massaging means that I can give healing to an area as well as using massage strokes and deep fibre friction to relieve the muscle spasms. This means that energy blocks can be cleared at the same time and it also helps with communication, so the horse is getting a really deep, thorough and enhanced treatment which is helping his mind, body and spirit.
For further details about any of the above please do get in touch.
