Equine Massage Therapist

Race or jumping horses are serious Athletes. And just like serious human Athletes, they occasionally get aches and pains that need some love and attention. An Equine Massage Therapist uses adjusted sports massage techniques on horses to lessen their pain and increase their athletic abilities.

As an Equine Massage Therapist, you spend your days doing different types of massage in order to lessen muscle fatigue, stress, or tension. You can use techniques like tapping, compression, tension, or kneading to soothe painful knots and relax tight muscles or ligaments. The massages that Equine Massage Therapists do can shorten injury time, improve endurance, and strengthen muscles.

Obviously, the big difference between a horse and a human client is that the latter can tell you where and when something hurts. Since your horse can’t talk, you start each session with it by doing a thorough evaluation. You look at different muscles, watch the way it walks, and observe symptoms of pain. Once you know what you’re working with, you want to gain the horse’s trust. This ensures your safety as well as theirs. From here, you can begin your massage session, paying close attention to their reactions to know if you’re causing pain.

Just to warn you, this is a new career. So job options aren’t exactly everywhere. However, with this type of training, other doors get opened. For example, you can work for a veterinary office, a professional racing organization, or a Horse Trainer.