It was a hot, dry summer’s day. I had just done three horses that morning and was on the way to a therapeutic riding stable to massage my fourth client.
Earlier that week I landed myself a volunteer position as a massage therapist for Healing Winds, a therapeutic riding stable. The instructors had never heard of Equine massage so they asked me to come out and try it on their horses. I walked into the barn and introduced myself as the therapist. The instructors showed me the horse, a 15 hand mare, who they wanted me to massage.
“Had she been showing any problems or behavior issues?” I asked as the mare sniffed my outstretched hand.
“Yes, a matter of fact she is showing some behavior we are unsure of. She does not like being saddled and this is a recent problem.”
I started massaging the mare’s neck while I pondered my next question.
“Does she have any ulcers?” The instructors didn’t think so. One of them did step forward and started looking for sores.
“She has an ulcer on her front, right leg. It looks to be a cinch sore.”
Yes! That was indeed part of the problem. They were thankful that I pointed this out to them and started applying ointment right away. Thank goodness!
The mare’s neck was rather tight requiring me to spend a good amount of time on it. As I worked along her body I paid close attention to her reactions and muscular layout. The mare started to doze under my working hands.
“At least she is enjoying it.” I thought to myself as I massaged her near foreleg. “I’m glad.”
As soon as I touched her back the mare woke up and looked back at me. Oh no! That meant trouble! And indeed it was trouble for as I gently pressed down I could feel big, lumpy knots. They were the biggest knots I’ve seen in a very long time.
I started off with light massage to help the mare know that I was not trying to hurt her. She was not convinced. Who can blame her? It occurred to me that this would require the most attention and time. OK, so let’s put the rest of the body on the back burner for a while, no rush. Moving carefully, exploring with my fingertips, and slowly applying pressure I started the most aggressive deep tissue massage I’ve done so far in my career.
The mare was handling the massage quite well and moving only when she needed to. The knots, some as big as baseballs, slowly reduced to the size of a quarter and right down to the size of a dime. Finally the knots were mostly out if not completely gone. I explained to the instructors that this horse should be check regularly to insure comfort.
I finished up the massage without further concerns and hugged her at the end. She nuzzled my hand and as I stroked her forehead and massaged her ears the mare dozed off again. The instructors asked me to come back in a week to do multiple sessions. I agreed, shook hands and left, the horse watching me with a smile in her eyes.
The next day I received a note from one of the instructors. The once sore and unhappy mare was now playing in the field and acting filly like! Well shucks, she is eighteen years old after all but comfort goes a long ways, don’t you think? |