Equine massage and Equine Sports Massage are powerful tools for identifying and treating various muscular skeletal problems with the horse.
Often times these problems are the root cause of many behavioral and training problems and respond well to the work.

The ability to properly locate and identify these problems is the key to any good therapists ability to bring about change in the horse.
However, sometimes massage is not the answer, especially when dealing with horses that have been abused. That's when educated touch comes into play.

I put various modalities under the educated touch byline.
Modalities such as Polarity, Cranial Sacral, and Therapeutic Touch come under this heading.
Also included are the numerous self named "soft" modalities by individuals teaching them.

All of these modalities have one thing in common, whether used on humans or horses,
the direct effect on the central nervous system through light stimulation of the Neuropeptides on a cellular level.

This light stimulation of the Neuropeptides, also known as "molecules of emotion", induces a change at a cellular level, assisting in affecting change at the emotional level. For most abused horses this can be some of the most effective work for bringing about a positive change in the individual.

Just recently we were called in to work with a young horse who fit that profile.
The trainer had rescued this sweet mare from an abusive situation and given her a home.
The previous owner had been told to "hit her in the head with a board" when she didn't listen.
Needless to say this horse was shut down.

After gently checking her over for any muscular problems I began to utilize some polarity, starting with the head and working to the hindquarters. Within the first 10 minutes, the mare was relaxed with a dropped head, licking and chewing, turning her head and reaching out to interact with me.
The trainer was amazed and said that that was the first time she had ever acted like that to an outsider since she had her. I showed the trainer a few techniques to use with her on a daily basis and bid farewell.

The trainer called the next day to say that both she and her husband had used the techniques and could not believe the difference in the mare in such a short time. She had actually come up to her husband after their session and that was a first.

She was excited that after months of handling, she finally felt she had a breakthrough with this horse. She couldn't thank me enough. I told her it wasn't just me, It was educated touch and her willingness to engage the horse with it.

That's the power of touch!