Kelley Walker of Performance Horse Therapies Pty Ltd is a qualified EMT masseuse (Equine Myofunctional Therapy) and also treats horses with BioScan Light Therapy.  Here she talks about why massage should be a routine part of horse care and maintenance.

 

How many times have you heard someone say that they have worked their horse through a slight lameness, or have you ever come across someone who was pushing their horse so hard to achieve those higher points in dressage, paying for lesson after lesson, but wouldn’t even consider some sort of bodywork to maintain the muscle suppleness required for the work being asked of that horse?

 

Ever considered how many horses out there would have a case of “Monday-itis”? 

 

The owner arrives at the paddock on a Saturday, after not riding all week due to many reasons, but does not even stop to consider the fact that the horse is physically not in shape or in good muscular health to deal with a lengthy hack out or an fairly intense lesson with an instructor.  Perhaps he is ridden two days in a row, only to be put back in the paddock Sunday afternoon for another week of no work. 

Monday-it for the horse is that dreadful feeling of muscular tightness, so stiff that the first couple of strides, before the blood begins to circulate and flow, are incredibly painful.  Meanwhile the owner is somewhere commenting on how stiff THEY feel and that they could do with a “good old massage” but don’t even stop to consider that it may be desperately needed by the horse that has carted its own weight and that of the rider around for the entire weekend.

 

We should briefly (and basically) look at the skeletal and muscular anatomy of a horse.

The skeleton of the horse supports soft tissues, providing the framework of the horse’s body.  It protects internal organs such as the heart and lungs, it is the leverage that provides for the attachment of ligaments, muscles and tendons.  It provides mineral storage, particularly that of calcium and phosphorus, and it enables blood cell production in the marrow of many of the bones.

The front legs of a horse carry 75% of a horse’s weight and they are not attached to the skeleton via bony attachments.  Amazingly the front legs are purely held there with ligament and tendon attachments.

 

Muscles are of course the engine to all movement and total up to approximately 40-50% of a horse’s body weight.  Muscles attach to the skeleton via tendons and movement occurs when the muscles contract which causes the bones and bony parts to move. 

Muscles are made up of millions of fibres.  When they become damaged, they contract and lessen the blood flow into the muscle.  Over time, the injury can worsen, until movement is lessened and lameness becomes visibly noticed.

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