Welcome “Of Horse” audience to my blog explaining the benefits of Equine Massage. Let me reintroduce myself to you all. My name is Gucci and I am a quarter horse mare who loves to write about topics that help all of my equine friends. You might remember my last one on treating a hoof abscess. Well, let me tell you now about equine massage therapy. I am very fortunate that my person is a Certified Equine Sport Massage Therapist. And, needless to say, I reap all the benefits. Let's start with the muscles. Horses like me are made up of 60% muscle and we use them, strain them, and wear them out just like people do. This can cause us some pain and discomfort and on some sad occasions end our careers.

With that being said, doesn’t it make sense to maintain these muscles? They make up so much of our body and are our locomotion. Equine Massage is great for us mentally and physically. It increases blood flow, prevents stiffness, and increases mobility. Massage helps to increase our circulation and release endorphins to stimulate healing. And for me equine massage helps stimulate the removal of lymphatic fluid in my hind legs. The work us horses do can also make our necks tense and our shoulders sore-equine massage relieves these tight spots and breaks them up. However, and this is important people, Equine Massage should only be administered by a trained certified therapist. It is important to learn the proper way to administer an equine massage and to know when not to massage. A therapist must know all of our muscles and how to manipulate them properly.

I understand people read books and watch videos and think they can do this themselves. DON”T!!!! This can cause us great harm. Always have massages done by Certified Therapists. Ideally it helps us to have a massage at least once a month especially for equine friends in a training and showing program. Equine friends on a lay up and healing from an injury may need more or less maintenance, depending on the situation. I enjoy my massages and spending time in this way with my person. Another great benefit, it’s a way to bond and communicate. Make massage a part of your equine friends routine and be sure to tell them Gucci sent you!