Equine Sports Massage Therapy
Equine Sports Massage Therapy is beneficial for
horses and ponies in all disciplines and levels
of work, competitive and non-competitive. Whether
your horse has slipped and strained himself in
the field, over exerted himself galloping and
jumping across country or requires an increased
level of fitness and resilience to injury. Equine
Sports Massage Therapy addresses the functional
needs of the equine athlete by preparing and
repairing the body from the stresses and pressures
placed upon them, restoring the health and function
of soft tissues and range of movement at joints.
Equine Sports Massage Therapy is more than massage. Cara gathers information from a full assessment and case history of your horse together with findings from each massage and information on your horses' lifestyle, care and training regime in order to tailor each massage with the optimum use of massage, stretching, mobilisation, magnotherapy and anti-inflammatory products and in order to seek out the cause of the injury, to prevent it re-occuring. Once the session ends the rehabilitation continues and Cara can advise you on all aspects of your horses' daily care and training regime.
Cara provides a mobile service available
to you at your choice of location, at home
or competition. Sessions last approximately
1 Hour to 1 Hour 30 minutes. Massage sessions
are tailored for efficiency, economy and
convenience.
When to massage?
Pre race/ competition
To release tension that has built up through
exercise in the run up to competition. To prepare
the soft tissues to be able to work up to full
capacity and decrease susceptibility to injury.
To give your horse the best chance on the day.
Post race/ competition
Accelerate the speed of recovery and get back
to the training routine quicker. Early detection
and rehabilitation of soft tissue breakdown.
At competition
To prepare the body for work. To enhance and
restore full muscle function and joint range
of movement. Delay the onset of fatigue and relieve
fatigue.
Maintenance
Maintain optimum health, function and performance
of soft tissues. Detect and resolve minor injuries
before they become chronic and lead to secondary
injury. Frequency of sessions depend on the individual
needs of the horse.
Box Rest
Relieve the building muscular tension and stiffness
in a horse where movement is restricted.
Racehorses
To get the best out of each Racehorse all season
it helps to know what's going on, on the inside,
to know the changes to the state of the muscles
and improve on them at every corner; before the
race, after the race, as work progresses. From
experience I know one horse doesn't come out
of any two races the same. Post race tweaks,
strains, fatigue and tension needs dealing with
in order for your horse to return to work at
a high level as quickly as possible and progress
in work with nothing holding it back. Post race
a relatively small strain that is not detected
and treated can become a real problem as the
horse returns to work. The body's' attempts to
heal itself with restricting scar tissue less
strong than the previous tissue can be slow whilst
under the daily strain and re-aggravation from
routine exercise, and inadequate to stand up
to the extreme pressures and stresses of competition.
Sports Massage Therapy also works to keep
your horse in peak condition longer and to
make plateaus and dips in performance shorter,
less frequent and less severe. Take your
horse to the top of its game and keep it
there healthy, happy and injury-free.
