Get your hands on our hands-on massage course!

We all love a massage, and our horses are no different. Massage is an excellent skill to learn and a great gift to give our horses. If you love learning from a book, buy Sue Palmer’s book Horse Massage for Horse Owners. However, learning from a book is complex and problematic for many people. More and more people have been asking for Sue to run a hands-on massage course to give them a chance to learn some valuable techniques to help with their horses.

So, why is massage so important? “Massage provides us with an incredible tool to bond with and understand our horses better,” says Sue. Imagine you woke up with a sore neck and couldn’t turn your head. You go to work, and your boss keeps asking you to look at something from an awkward angle. Your neck hurts, you’re grumpy, and eventually, you snap. But, because we are blessed with the gift of speech, you can explain why you are irritable and why your neck hurts and resolve the issue. Your horse can’t do any of those things.

However, imagine you get your horse in from the field, and he doesn’t seem quite right, and then he bites you when you put his bridle on. What happens next is up to you. You could assume it is “bad behaviour” and tell him off, or you could wonder what’s wrong with him. With some basic massage skills, you could massage his neck and see if you could identify some tight spots. Comparing the left to the right side can be an excellent way to locate hot spots. Suddenly you realise that there might be a reason for his behaviour. Maybe you keep massaging, feel the tension release, and watch his ears flick forward. Or perhaps you call your physio. What you don’t do is react to the behaviour.

Learning to massage is like learning to speak another language; it gives you a whole other way to communicate with your horse and for him to communicate with you. He can’t tell you he is in pain, but his muscles can show tightness, indicating possible discomfort; the information is there, lying under the skin, waiting for your fingertips to read it. On our massage course, we are helping you learn to speak that language.

Time spent with your horse will help you bond with him. You may not always want to ride, your horse may be injured, or the weather may be terrible! But there are many other ways to enjoy time with your horse. Riding is not the be-all and end-all of your relationship with one another. Being able to massage gives you another way to spend time together. No matter what stage of your relationship you are in, whether you have just got your horse or have had him for many years, improving your bond will help to improve your relationship.

If you enjoy riding your horse, you may have areas you would like to improve in your ridden work. Many horses feel different on one rein than the other. You may find getting a good canter strike off on the left leg easier. You may find the right leg yield easier than the other. Like us, horses will have imbalances between the right and left sides of their bodies. This can show up as weaknesses in specific movements. It is important to remember that if your horse can do something on one rein but not the other, then it is unlikely to be a training or understanding issue and is most likely to be a physical difficulty. Massage can help with issues. Massage shows us the differences between the sides. It shows us the points of tension, the weaknesses, or the lack of muscle. By regularly massaging our horses, we can have a good feel for our horse’s baseline and hopefully will notice changes in the muscles, which may tell us a story.

There are so many benefits to learning to massage for you and your horse. If you want to see what you can learn on your course, take a look at our quick promo video by clicking here. To book your place, click here. We have limited spots available as we like to keep the group size small so that everyone can receive plenty of input and opportunities to practice and learn throughout the day. Our in-person massage course is on Sunday, 13th August, from 10 am to 3 pm at Stourport Riding School. You don’t need to bring a horse; they have plenty! Just bring yourself and enjoy learning a new skill.

About The Horse Physio

Sue Palmer, aka The Horse Physio, is an award-winning ACPAT and RAMP registered Chartered Physiotherapist, an Intelligent Horsemanship Recommended Trainerand holds an MSc. Formerly a competitive rider and BHSAI, she works full-time treating horses. Sue shares her passion for ethical and harmonious horsemanship through multiple courses, books, and articles. Sign up at www.thehorsephysio.co.uk to be the first to hear about new releases.