Spring/Summer Equine Massage Class Dates

A quick note to let readers know we’ve added new spring and summer class dates to our website at http://www.equitouch.net.

As always, we at EquiTouch look forward to working with you and other new students coming to us from all over the country and from varied backgrounds this spring and summer.

Because our students get such great results during their hands-on training, some of our past “horse teachers” are becoming “maintenance massages” and have few muscle issues to present to our students. To correct this problem and to make sure you receive a great educational experience, we’ve added several new stables to our working list. As a result, we have even more horses available for you to work with as you continue increasing your massage skills.

Although we still work with many of our past “horse teachers,” working with new horses is always a great learning experience for both the students and our instructors. It gives us even more horse personalities to work with as well as horses that have varied muscle issues and problems. The change also gives us well over 50 horses of varied breeds and riding disciplines from which to choose. And, it allows us to more easily match your horse handling skills, massage educational needs, and personality to the correct horses.

Visit the EquiTouch website today and join us for a class or seminar this spring or summer!

Extra Service Can Help Boost Your Equine Massage Business

Providing an extra service that costs you little to nothing in time or money can go a long way with your equine massage clients. One extra service you can consider is dealing with blankets in the winter months.

For example, on a day when the temperatures were to reach 52 degrees, I noticed that some of the horses I had scheduled to massage were wearing what I call “polar wear.” These are blankets designed to keep the horse warm into the negative temperatures. Unfortunately, at 52 degrees, the horses in question were sweating underneath their warm winter wear.

I generally like to discuss blanketing/un-blanketing policies with my regular clients during the colder months. So, if I’m scheduled to massage their horse on a warm day, I often offer to leave the horse un-blanketed or change the blanket out to a lighter one after I finish the horse’s massage. If the horse was one of my first clients for the day and it’s on or near the route I take home, I can offer to stop back and re-blanket the horse. If the horse is not on my route home, the owner will need to be available later in the day to exchange the lighter blanket for a heavier model if temperatures are going to plummet. As you can see from the examples, exchanging a blanket or leaving the blanket off must always be arranged in advance with your client.

In some cases, leaving the horse with a mid-weight blanket might be fine for several days, so your client might not need to worry if they can’t make it to the barn later on. For example, today’s temperatures in my area will reach a high of 53 degrees drop to a low of 27 degrees. In this case, the horse should probably be fine with the medium weight blanket throughout the night, so the horse’s owner would not need to change the blanket out in the evening. Also, since temperatures are to reach the upper 40’s for the next few days with abundant sunshine and lows ranging from 26 – 28 degrees, a mid-weight blanket should suffice for those days as well.

My personal preference at 50 degrees and above, especially on a sunny day, would be to leave the horse without a blanket post-massage. This gives the horse’s skin a chance to breathe and the horse can enjoy soaking up all that marvelous sunshine.

Naturally, this choice requires permission from the horse’s owner. And, as mentioned above, the horse owner may need to be available later in the day or evening to re-blanket the horse, so this may affect their decision. This is especially important if the horse has a full-body clip or even a trace clip. If the owner cannot make it to the barn that day and the horse has a body clip, it is always best to leave the horse with at least a medium weight blanket.

Changing out blankets or leaving the horse without a blanket is just one of those little extra services you can provide for your equine massage clients. It really costs you nothing in time or in money and most horse owners will really appreciate you considering their horse’s comfort.