Sunday 16 December 2018

Massage for My Horse? Absolutely! The Health Benefits of Equine Sports Massage


Who doesn’t love to treat themselves to a massage, right? After those long tremendous hours of work, a good ‘ol massaging definitely release the stress and tension inside one’s body. How much more for your hard-working equine companion, surely your horse would want to enjoy the healthy benefits of the equine sports massage. 

Your horse’s body is made up over 60 percent by muscles, which means that isn’t it just right to treat your horse to an equine wellness sports massage for being one of the greatest athletes out there at the tracks? Also, it would be an appropriate way to support your companion’s well-being especially if you’re thinking of joining any competition such as the Pegasus world cup.

Not convinced yet? Then here are the health benefits of equine sports massage that your pal would surely love. 

The Range of Motion Increases

Remember that a horse that moves better is much efficient in its stride. The wear and tear on your horse’s ligaments, joints, and tendons equate on your companion’s performance life duration. There are some disciplines that rely on a big moving horse thus enhancing the stride of your horse will improve the gaits. 

Additionally, a much more efficient and longer stride in a racehorse can make a great difference in lengths at the finish line. For example, a jumper horse uses a major amount of muscle during its jumping and landing, thus a flexible horse with strong muscles is a must to land with ease. 

Improves Disposition 

Notice that horses tend to be cranky —can’t blame them if they are not feeling well, can we? Just like humans who go cranky if feeling uncomfortable, the only difference is that horses cannot communicate through words thus the irate attitude. When you feel your horse is being difficult you should first look for the reason as to why your pal is acting up. 

Treat your horse to a massage therapy, one of the great tools in a horse owner’s proverbial belt which can be used to reduce the common reasons for your pal’s reason to be grumpy.

Improves Stamina

Massage therapy is sometimes one of the ways of warming up and stretching your horse’s muscles. Due to the increased range of motion because of the equine massage, you will find your horse working again in an efficient manner that is much better than before thus improving the horse’s stamina together with its performance. 

Provides Comfort to Muscle Injuries

It is not unknown even to the humans that massage therapy helps alleviate some muscle injuries that can be acquired through muscle-straining activities. This is just the same for the horses wherein a massage helps in rehabilitation of an orthopedic problem or an actual muscle injury which reduces the swelling in return. 

Take note that you should first let your horse have the appropriate time for healing before you massage, stretch, and exercise the horse since these activities only help the process by encouraging the scar tissue to be in a better pattern. When you reduce the scar tissue, this can help in restoring the muscle’s functional ability, improving your horse’s condition and well-being. 

Improves Circulation 

Massaging your horse improves blood circulation of your companion’s body this is because massage dilates the blood vessels and increases the blood flow to the area. This means to say that increased circulation may help speed the recovery of an injured muscle tissue, restoring your horse’s mobility. 

If you can see a horse after having been massaged, the horse would actually look like it has just been to the gym since the veins will be easy to see and the coat is glossy. Because of the circulation, the elimination of the waste products in the horse’s system can be easily done. 

Enhances Performance and Gait Quality

Because of the improved disposition and stamina, as well as the horse’s range of motion due to massage therapy, the horse’s gaits and performance also benefit from this. This is one of the butterfly effects of incorporating equine sports massage into your horse’s routine.

Reduces Stress

Horses experience stress and anxiety just like we do, thus just as what massage therapy does to us, it also does its thing to our equine companions. Massage relaxes them just as it does to us since there is a sedative effect on the nervous system when muscles are rubbed, that helps with the relaxation of the horses and improves your pal’s disposition. 


Takeaway 

Horses are your companion throughout its lifetime thus it is just right to take good care of your equine pal, and if you are thinking of joining a competition together with your horse then wouldn’t be a win-win situation for the both of you if you invest and give time to the welfare of your horse? A healthy horse would surely bag you out of wins, thus you should properly take care of your horse.