Horses have over 700 individual muscles in the body to support the skeleton and create motion. These muscles can become tired, tense and sore which can lead to painful muscle spasm and tension. This can cause over-compensation elsewhere in the body creating imbalances and misalignments throughout the musculoskeletal system. Discomfort will restrict the horse's range of movement, flexibility and engagement and will therefore negatively affect performance. Massage is the therapeutic application of specific massage strokes and compressions along with passive stretching which are applied to the body to alleviate this soreness and improve suppleness.

There are many ways in which massage may be of benefit to your horse:

• Treatment of muscular tension, spasm, and trigger points
• Minor injuries and adhesions through overuse can be efficiently broken down
• Improves muscle tone
• Improves suppleness, flexibility and elasticity of the muscle fibres
• Improved coat/skin condition
• Increases circulation and lymphatic drainage
• Promotes relaxation
• Assists in the removal of waste products such as lactic acid from the muscles
• Aids recovery from an injury
• Increased range of movement

This names just a few of the ways in which Equine Sports Massage can help your horse become more relaxed, happy and healthy.