EQUINE MASSAGE

 

WHAT IS IT?  WHAT CAN IT DO FOR A HORSE?

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Massaging the body to reduce pain and increase comfort is an ancient form of health care that has been used for thousands of years in cultures throughout the world.  It lost favor in our culture when antibiotics and other "miracle" drugs were introduced in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

 

Even as recently as 1980, massage was still being thought of as an enjoyable, relaxing experience indulged in by people who went to spas and resorts; it was not considered to have health benefits.  But today the health-care community recognizes massage as an effective option for many of the aches and pains that afflict a large portion of our population.

 

As massage benefits have become better understood, acceptance of massage has enjoyed resurgence, and massage has been shown to be especially effective with horses.

 

A horse’s primary value today is in its performance ability—whether breeding, competition or pleasure riding.  The majority of our horses, therefore, are asked to carry riders or pull weight.  These activities increase the chances that they will suffer from muscular and skeletal aches and pains just as we do.  If a horse can’t perform, then most horse owners don’t want to keep them.  Something needs to be done to allow them to perform, and massage offers a way of making horses comfortable, enhancing performance and prolonging their “useful” lives.

 

This course provides students with a greater understanding of the wide variety of massage techniques that can be successfully used on horses.  The course covers different kinds of massage, when to use it, when not to use it.  We will also look at the equine anatomy and gaits, and the stresses and pain that can be caused by the different types of riding we do.

 

Finally, you’ll learn how to do a full body massage, gaining a complete understanding and knowledge of the important areas of the horse’s body to be massaged and the specific techniques to be used.

 

 

DEFINING EQUINE MASSAGE

 

Massage is a broad term for a process of using our hands to loosen tightness and relieve tension and soreness within the muscles of a body (horse as well as human).

 

Massage accomplishes its effects without the use of drugs, medical procedures, machines or needles.  Massage uses the human hands to achieve its results.  Massage loosens and releases tension in muscles and facilitates the repair of muscle damage.  As muscles relax there is a reduction of the pain and discomfort that occurs when there is cramping, tightening or tearing in muscles.

 

But massage can also be done with a more specific intent when the person doing the massage has greater in-depth knowledge of how the individual muscles work, how the entire muscle system works and what kinds of problems can occur within the muscles.  Throughout this course you will be learning massage that has the “specific intent” of rebalancing the entire muscle structure and bringing it into anatomical balance as well as relieving tightness and soreness in the muscles.

 

Successful massage applies the most appropriate of the many techniques available for treating specific muscle problems while understanding how the massage will also affect other systems of the body.

 

There are many ways in which massage can contribute to the health and comfort of a horse.

 

It can either be relaxing or energizing in its broad applications, or it can be very specific in intent (as when working on scar tissue, pain in a specific area or joint constriction).

 

Heat generated by massage will increase blood flow in an area, thereby helping in improving circulation and correcting metabolic imbalances.  This, in turn, speeds the removal of waste products such as carbon dioxide, lactic acid and other by-products of metabolism.

 

Massage can also assists in the release of mental tension as body tension is decreased.

 

When you complete this course you will know how to evaluate the condition of a horse and how to use the most effective massage techniques for the greatest benefit to the horse.

 

 

THE GOALS OF EQUINE MASSAGE:

 

The basic goals of equine massage therapy are:

 

1.     Decrease pain and discomfort in the horse’s body that is caused by tension, stiffness and tightness in the muscles.

 

2.     Aid in the healing process in injured muscles.

 

3.     Allow the body to move without pain and with greater efficiency.

 

4.     Return an injured horse, or one that is not working to its full potential, to full function.

 

5.     Prevent injuries from occurring or re-occurring.

 

 

HOW MASSAGE ACHIEVES THESE GOALS

 

1.     Massage releases cramping and tightening in the muscular system, thereby reducing pain.

 

2.     As muscles relax, there is a release of endorphins that help reduce pain.

 

3.     Massage increases the blood and lymph supply to an area, bringing oxygen into the area and carrying away metabolic waste such as lactic acid and carbon dioxide.  This increased blood and lymph flow promotes healing of an injured area.

 

4.     As massage loosens tight muscles, there is a corresponding ability for correct, comfortable movement in the muscular system.

 

5.     As muscles loosen, constriction around joints is released.  This allows greater mobility and better movement in the skeletal system.

 

 

 

DIFFERENT TYPES OF MASSAGE THAT CAN BE USED EFFECTIVELY ON HORSES

 

There are many different types of massage that can be used to elicit specific results or responses within a body.

 

1.     Swedish, or relaxation, massage.  This type of massage has the primary intent of relaxation and improved circulation.  It has a calming, soothing effect.  The techniques used involve long, smooth, gliding strokes that follow the contours of the muscles.  The pressure is firm, but gentle, constantly adjusting to the horse’s responses.  It resembles a good, deep grooming, but there are two important differences.  You will have a knowledge of the anatomy beneath the skin and will be will be able to feel what is normal and not normal, so you’ll know when more specialized types of massage are appropriate.  And you will be capable of applying the more specialized forms of massage.  This type of massage would be appropriate for high-strung, nervous horses that need to relax, or for competition horses needing to relax between classes or at the end of a long day.   Relaxation massage is the foundation for all other types of massage.

 

2.     Sports Massage.  This is a branch of massage that has had a significant impact on human athletes and their attitudes toward conditioning and training.  It has also had a great impact on the training and conditioning of horses.  Sports massage goes beyond just massage and involves itself with all phases of a horse’s training.  In addition to general massage training, you need more specialized knowledge of horses—their anatomy, their gaits and movement and the physiology of muscles and how they work.  You need to understand the total concept of athletic training, not just how massage can facilitate and complement training.  Sports massage is a powerful tool to mitigate the effects of the stress of athletic training and bring muscles back to a healthy state.  The massage can be used for maintaining flexibility and good health in the body’s tissues, in the prevention of injuries and in rehabilitation if an injury should occur.

 

 

3.     Stimulation massage.  This is a type of sports massage that is most often used on athletes just prior to competition; it is usually referred to as “pre-event” massage.  While most massage is used to loosen and relax the body, stimulation massage is used to energize and bring horses to a keen edge in anticipation of activities that involve significant, forceful expenditure of energy.  The strokes used in such a situation would be quick, brisk and energetic.  The intent would be to increase circulation and sensory stimulation and warm up the muscles in preparation for athletic events.

 

4.     Injury Rehabilitation.  This is an area of primary importance in both human and equine massage.  Injuries to horses are something that all horse owners have to face at one time or another.  Some of these injuries will be minor, some may be severe enough to require medical treatment, but there will come a time when healing is complete and the rehabilitation process is ready to start.

 

         With a minor injury, often just going back to the normal work routine will be all the rehabilitation that is necessary.

 

        Serious injuries will require much more, and the timing of when the horse is started back to work can be crucial in determining how successful the horse will be.

 

         Massage can significantly reduce the time involved in rehabilitation. Anyone doing injury rehab work will need knowledge of correct movement patterns and anatomy, as well as a wide variety of massage techniques for dealing with the muscular problems.

 

         Injury rehab work may also involve developing specific exercises, either from the ground or under saddle that will address specific movement and gait problems resulting from the injury.  With good horse skills and experience, you have an advantage in this area.

 

         In addition to the primary injury site, you may also have to deal with some special processes that can occur in the body when dealing with a painful injury.  Two major ones are “compensation” and “splinting”.  I will describe these in a later section.

 

5.     Performance Enhancement.  By loosening muscles and freeing joints for better movement, the performance of the horse can become more fluid.  The horse will show greater flexibility, suppleness and agility, and the horse’s responses to the rider’s aids will be quicker due to better nerve responses.

 

6.     Injury Prevention and Maintenance Massage.  Some injuries develop slowly.   These types of injuries are usually the result of poor or incorrect use of a horse’s body, rather than a fall or other accident.  The rider is seldom aware of the subtle early signs of this incorrect use; they are not usually aware until the problem becomes more advanced and the horse is beginning to react openly—either in a physical way (going unsound) or in a mental way (attitude and behavior problems).

 

        The same basic process of loosening muscles and freeing joints by using performance enhancement massage can be a major factor in preventing muscle injuries.  Massage performed on a regular schedule can detect and resolve muscle imbalances before they become problems. 

 

          Many top competitors use a regular schedule of maintenance massages for their horses and have assistants skilled in equine massage that travel with them, monitoring their horses on a daily basis. 

 

          Maintenance massage on a regular basis can be very beneficial to older horses that often suffer chronic health problems.  Such massage can aid stall-bound horses where circulation problems are common.

 

7.     Structural Massage and Rehabilitative Exercises.  Every joint in a body (horse, human, other vertebrate animals) is designed to work in specific ways.  Some joints can only move in one direction—the knee of the horse (carpal bone of the horse’s front legs) is one of these.  Some joints can move in multiple directions—the horse’s neck vertebrae and the human shoulder joint are good examples of this.  Muscles allow and control the movement of joints.  Structural massage balances the muscles in such a way that the joints can work to the maximum of their design.  It is a highly specialized area of massage whose aim is the re-balancing of the entire muscle structure of a body.  Performing such massage requires systemically going through the entire muscle structure, balancing the different muscle groups and pairs and balancing the different areas of the body (head/neck, torso and haunches) in relationship to each other.  Such study can pinpoint the areas where the rider will meet resistance in the horse’s body.  The massage can release that tension and resistance.  This type of massage can be especially valuable when working with crooked horses, and in injury rehabilitation.  It is a more involved process than other types of massage and is usually done in a series of sessions combined with Rehabilitative Exercises.  Rehabilitative Exercises are closely associated with Structural Massage and they involve using specific exercises performed from the ground or under saddle.  Its primary emphasis is movement—evaluating the gaits and developing the appropriate exercises to correct specific muscle dysfunctions after the massage has loosened and prepared the muscles.

 

 

WHEN NOT TO USE MASSAGE—CONTRA-INDICATIONS

 

This course is all about the ways in which massage can be of great value in affecting changes in a horse—in physical comfort, mental attitude and improved performance.  But it is also important to know what it cannot do, when it is inappropriate to use it and how to recognize a situation or condition that will not respond to massage.

 

Primary contra-indications.

 

1.     Massage should not be used during the acute stage (first 24 to 48 hours) of an injury or illness.

 

2.     It should not be used when there is heat, inflammation and swelling present.

 

3.     It should not be used in the presence of a fever.

 

4.     It should not be used when there is bleeding.

 

5.     “Nodding” lameness.  Nodding of the head and neck, as the horse is moving is usually a sign of some kind of lower leg or foot problem.  This should be checked by a veterinarian or farrier.  There is one situation in which “nodding” when moving could be from a muscular condition and I will describe this in the section on Body Reading, but it is best to have it checked first.

 

All of the above conditions indicate a medical problem and should be treated as such by a veterinarian.

 

 

RECOGNIZING A VETERINARY PROBLEM

 

All of the contra-indications listed above are pretty easy to distinguish and understand, but there are other times when there may be a veterinary problem and the signs are not so obvious.

 

How can you know if massage is appropriate or if there is a subtle, undiagnosed veterinary problem?

 

Massage, when used in appropriate situations, will produce improvements in a horse’s comfort and movement with each session.  If, instead, the horse begins to look more uncomfortable or the movement problem becomes more obvious, this would be a signal that a veterinarian should be called.

 

Does this mean that the massage caused the problem or injury?  No!  Massage is a non-invasive; it will not cause unsoundness, but it can expose an undiagnosed medical condition. When faced with an injury or painful situation, a horse’s body will begin to cope with the discomfort or pain by tightening muscles and shifting and reorganizing its weight; when the massage loosens the muscles, the protection is taken away and the injury can become obvious.

 

There are two primary ways that the body can provide protection to an injured area.

 

One is know as “splinting”, the other is “compensation”.

 

Splinting happens when the muscles around an injury tighten in order to support and protect the injured area, in much the same way that we put a splint or cast on a broken bone to protect it.

 

Compensation is the process of shifting and reorganizing the weight or changing movement patterns in order to relieve the pressure on an injured area.

 

Splinting occurs around the injury, compensation occurs in other areas of the body away from the injury.

 

When muscles tighten and go into spasms in response to an injury, either as in splinting or in compensation, it is an automatic process.  But there is no automatic process for the muscles to release that tension, after an injury has healed; they stay that way until there is some kind of intervention that releases them. This is a condition where massage is an appropriate approach for loosening and rebalancing the muscles.  If the injury has indeed healed, you will quickly see an improvement in the horse’s level of comfort and his way of moving.

 

But suppose the injury has not healed and the splinting or compensation is what has allowed the horse to function sufficiently well that it is difficult to detect the exact problem. In this case, if massage is used to loosen and rebalance the muscles, the sudden loss of support to an injured area that had been depending upon that support will quickly cause the horse to show signs of pain and discomfort.  The injury has been exposed and this is the time to call a vet.  If nothing is done, the muscles will gradually tighten and readjust again in order to protect the injury, and again it will become difficult to detect the problem.

 

 

CASE HISTORY EXAMPLES

 

Cherry was an eight-year-old TB mare.  In the previous year she had had a foal and there was a problem during the birthing.  The foal’s hoof tore the membrane between the rectum and vagina.  Fortunately, the tear was close to the outside and the veterinarian was able to repair the damage.

 

But a year later the mare was not moving as well as she had before having the foal.  Her trot was stilted and she could not hold a right lead canter.

 

Massage sessions, plus some simple exercises under saddle, produced significant improvement.

 

Cherry’s problem was a good example of splinting.  All of the muscles around the rectum and vagina had gone into spasms in response to the pain of the birthing injury.  This injury had had medical attention and was fully healed, but the muscles were still in spasms.

 

When the spasms were eased, the mare was able to resume normal movement.

 

George was a completely different situation.  He had an undiagnosed tear in the ligament that supports the fetlock joint of his right foreleg.  In response to the pain he tightened the muscles in the right shoulder in an effort to keep weight off the right fetlock.

 

The problem was seen as tightness in the shoulder, while the fetlock tear went undetected.  After massage, George looked worse and seemed more uncomfortable.

 

The owner took George to a university veterinary school where radiographs and testing discovered the true problem and appropriate medical care was started.

 

In George’s case, loosening muscles that were trying to protect an active injury made the condition appear worse, which indicated massage was not the answer and further diagnostic work was needed. 

 

George’s torn ligament did mend and with appropriate massage for the compensations he went on into his late 20’s as a fully sound riding horse.

 

 

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