Equissage V's Human Hand Massage...

[Llinos]

My pony has a muscular problem in her back behind the saddle, so I am going on a massage course to learn how to help her by use of massage. I'm interested to hear opinions on whether people have any preferences to using an Equissage over massaging horses by hand or vice versa?

[Lucy J]

the equissage is a complete different kettle of fish from hand massage. it has a deep penetrating vibration that is fantastic for deep muscle massage. depends on the particular problem though. if they weren't so expensive I would buy one and use on a weekly basis.

[Zingy]

The equissage works very well, but on advice from my chiro I'd be wary about using it on a back problem without professional advice first. The deep penetrative action is often a big plus point, but they said can be too intense for some kinds of back problems. I know that equissage would argue otherwise, but I do now use mine with caution on horses with back problems, whereas previously I didn't think it could possibly do any damage.

I have used it successfully after a course of hand massage on a very deep rooted problem - horse had physio 2 or 3 times a week for 6 weeks then I used the equissage daily after that for a month. And more recently used it after some ultrasound therapy.

So it's not always a case of one being better than the other. The equissage is very convenient and most horses react very positively to it. It massages deeper than any kind of hand massage you can do - as an example, with the back pad on, you can feel the vibrations in your horses bum, and if they're stood on rubber matting with the leg boot on, you will feel it through the floor. Horses with no problems at all normally love it and fall asleep. The ones with problems give varying reactions - often starting to relax then suddenly twitching, waving a leg about or stamping feet. Then they relax again. Equissage said to me that that kind of reaction meant there was some sort of muscle tension or something that was being sorted out. And certainly with regular use those reactions in my experience decrease and hopefully disappear completely. But I'm not now entirely convinced that it is the best form of therapy in these cases - my horse certainly didn't react in that way to the ultrasound - he just fell asleep, and it is easier for him to move away from a hand massage. For a bad problem now I'd be more likely to start with a less intensive form of therapy then move on to the equissage, or use the equissage with a lot more caution and on a much lower setting than the recommendation.

That said, I do think it is very versatile, my horses love it and I wouldn't want to be without it!

[Ginger Thing]

Well, as a massage therapist myself, I prefer a manual massage. We had a demo for Equissage and the girl was simply a salesperson, trying to get people to buy one, she had absolutely no idea of health and safety and din't even assess the horse first, just slapped the machine on it!

I have similar machines for use on people, they do have their place, but it's not a massage, it's just vibration, there are many other massage techniques a therapist can use with their fingers, thumbs, arms and elbows. If you offered me a treatment from a machine or a human, I'd go for the human every time.

We also assess the horse's conformation, see it moving, check it's saddle etc to build up a full picture of where the problems are and what might be causing them.

I know a dressage yard with very expensive horses where the owner has an equissage machine but still pays my friend to go and treat her horses regularly!

If in doubt, go and book yourself a sports or therapuetic massage, then use a machine and see which feels and work best! ;):D

[Lucy J]

i know a lot of racing yards use them to help loosen up the muscles before exercise. in my mare's case it was a deep rooted shoulder problem which the machine worked well for (although i'll stress this was performed by my mctimoney chiropractor in addition to a regular course of treatment. a lot of manipulation and ultrasound had been done prior.)

i wouldn't blame equissage too much for the quality of the demo - i believe all their sales people are self employed so probably desperate to make a sale!