EQUINE SPORTS MASSAGE THERAPIST

The first step on the road to becoming a professional equine sports massage therapist is learning to become comfortable with horses. Spend as much time around as many different horses as you can, and learn to ride them, groom them, and care for them. Become familiar with how they move and how they react to your movements. Learn what it takes to get close to a horse without spooking it, or making it nervous.

You can learn all of these skills by working at a local stable. At first you might have to volunteer your time, cleaning stalls or brushing down horses that have just been ridden. Ask any trainers and riders you work around lots of questions. The more you inquire, the more you'll learn. Later, if you're lucky, you might be paid for your help. Either way, the experience you gain will help you later. As you gain horse experience, you should also read books about horses, watch instructional videos, and read any horserelated articles you can get your hands on. The more you learn about horses, the better off you'll be.

Eventually you'll be ready to take an equine sports massage therapy certification course. The course will teach you everything you need to know about how to massage a horse. You'll learn equine anatomy and physiology, how muscles work, how to recognize specific problem areas and injuries, and how to apply special massage strokes where they're needed most. Most of all, you'll learn more than you ever thought possible about horses. By the time you're through, you'll understand horses inside and out.