Have you ever used a massage therapist for your horse?

[Holly B]

I am currently at school doing my A-levels and I'm really interested in being a equine complementary therapist of some sort. Equine massage really appeals to and I would like some questions answering if possible? Just answer as many as you can, anything you put will be helpful to me. Thankyou! :)

Have you ever used a massage therapist for your horse?

If not, why not? Would you rather use someone else instead, and if so, who?

If you have had one treat your horse, why did you choose a massage therapist over other types of therapist and what was wrong with your horse?

Was it a one-off/occasional thing, or do you have a massage therapist out regularly?

Do you know which qualifications they had, and do you look for specific qualifications or simply the fact that they are qualified?

Were you happy with the results?

Roughly how much did they charge and how long did a session take?

Do you know of many people who use massage therapists, or do you think they struggle to find enough work?

[connieD]

i had a sports massage lady come and see my mare as she was bucking going into canter. she spent about an hour with her and cost £30 she found a problem area and showed me how to massage it to relax her muscles.

had a good idea it was muscular hence didnt get osteopath etc. horse then went out of work due to illness so havent had her out again but when she is back working and competing again i will probably have her out every 3 months

hope that helps:)

[Holly B]

Thanks very much- it seems to be becoming increasingly common that people are getting sports massage therapists out regularly (every 3-4 months or whatever). I would do the same if I had the money but I am on a very VERY tight budget since I'm still at school and parents don't have much money to give me to help me out!
Because people are starting to see them regularly like they would a farrier or dentist, that hopefully means that they get a decent amount of work (and therefore income). :)
Anyone else?

[NoviceNic]

I would highly recomend a McTimony Practitioner at least annually for check ups. If anything comes up on the routine check the practitioner will advise you how often their visits should be. Captain had never had a back person out. I got his checks all up to date this Jan and the practitioner gave him a clean bill of health so to speak and advised an annual check up unless anything comes up which concerns me. She was very pleased with his overall condition for a hack and light jumper. :D

[Giveitago]

It's difficult to find the right person for the job.

I've had good results with Mc Timothey, shiatsu, massage, chiro, spooky stuff too etc but as an owner it's really difficult to choose the right person when you have a particular injury.

I found the shiatsu works well for laminitus sufferers. Once the Mc T guy said that their was nothing he could do with my lame horse (he was very good with others on the yard) and I had to get a massage person- so on the whole it can be expensive trying out these therapies until you find the one that works.

In Surrey, everyone is £35 upwards an hour but that includes the travel normally.

[eventerbabe]

i regularly have a rolfer therapist out to toby (its a kind of massage/soft tissue manipulation). because of his back/saddle problems a few years ago i like to make sure he's ok so she comes out to us every 3 months. She's £40 per session and i don't get billed travelling as we are only a few miles from her house :)

[Jenni]

im on my way to becoming and equine sport massage therapist (and an equine bowen therapist too:D )

i think with any kind of complimentary therapy its good to be trained in more than one therapy. You can then assess the needs of the client (horsey in this case) and recommend the best possible treatment for them.

if that means the best treatment is something you are not trained in then you have to send them elsewhere.

But if you train in more than one aspect then you have all the strings on your bow so to speak, you can maintain your client base and build trust with your client.

Good luck with your studies and complementary therapy is becoming so much more popular now.

You will have to train as a human therapist before you start your equine course so you can treat your horse and riders for maximum benefit and also increasing your earning potential. When the horse side is slow you can take on some human non horsey clients :D

[Showjumper]

Both me and Dolly get regular Bowen sessions. Works wonders for both of us :D

[Holly B]

Again, thanks everyone for your help. Jenni- being both a sports massage therapist and a bowen therapist is one of the things I've been considering as, like you say, if I'm trained in more than one thing I'm more likely to get enough clients and be more successful with the horses I work with. Which courses are you doing for the bowen and massage? I've had a look at a few websites but I'm unsure which courses are best...

http://www.thebowentechnique.com/
Are you training via one of these courses? They look good, especially as they do them all over the country, but how would you progress to being an EQUINE therapist after qualifying as a human one?

[doris]

And don't forget, some therapists will recommend futher or other therapies too. I've had a equine massage therapist recomment ttouch/tteam to a client. So sometimes, there can be a certain amount of 'networking', which is good all round.

[Jenni]

you have to have an anatomy and physiology qualification to get on the human bowen therapy course. I will be studying with the people you mentioned, european college. then once you have done part one and two (i think, need to recheck the website) you move on to studying with beth darrell
http://www.equinebowentherapy.com/

To be an equine sports massage therapist you have to have a qualification in human anatomy and physiology and massage. then you can do the ITEC equine sport massage course. But there are other sports massage/bodywork/equine energy bodies you can stufy with but i have choosen ITEC for my human massage and equine.

I am almost finished my human massage and anatomy &physiology course, i start my human bowen in june, then i want to do my equine bowen before my equine massage.

it is quite pricey. My human massage, anatomy & physiology course was £1000. My human bowen will work out at £1200, equine bowen £2000 and equine sports massage £2350 so a total of £6550 plus travel and accomodation costs for the equine massage and equine bowen therapy, so probably in the region of £7500.