A.B. Equine Massage

A.B. Equine Massage Fully certified ESMT (Equine Sports Massage Therapist) covering Surrey, Hampshire and West Sussex.
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Also fully insured freelancer offering yard cover, clipping, teaching and exercising.

Only a few days to go before this lovely local show 🌟I’m really pleased to be a sponsor this year, and will be supportin...
30/06/2025

Only a few days to go before this lovely local show 🌟

I’m really pleased to be a sponsor this year, and will be supporting and spectating on Sunday so please do say hello and if you are interested in finding out more about what I do/want to book a session then don’t hesitate to ask!

And remember to support these fabulous local shows, they are so important for the local riding community and are heaps of fun πŸ₯°πŸ€©

Another vital piece of CPD completed with Wolds Equine Sports Massage Approved Courses, this time focusing on how best t...
29/06/2025

Another vital piece of CPD completed with Wolds Equine Sports Massage Approved Courses, this time focusing on how best to support laminitic cases.

It is so important as a massage therapist to be able to adapt your treatment to each individual horse, taking into account past and present medical history. Laminitis comes with a whole bundle of compensatory issues, all of which can be rebalanced using massage πŸ™ŒπŸΌ

If you have a horse who is struggling with the effects of laminitis, don’t hesitate to get in touch ☺️ but remember to always speak to your vet and farrier also!

πŸ“ž 07805290586
πŸ’Œ [email protected]

Backing up πŸ”™πŸ”™πŸ”™βœ… Lifts and flexes the back- lower head carriage allows more liftβœ… Stretches muscles along the toplineβœ… Ab...
28/06/2025

Backing up πŸ”™πŸ”™πŸ”™

βœ… Lifts and flexes the back- lower head carriage allows more lift
βœ… Stretches muscles along the topline
βœ… Abdominal muscles contract to raise the back
βœ… Pelvis tilts, mobilising the lumbosacral junction and stimulates the sacroiliac area

✨ Working simple movements such as backing up into your daily routine can make all the difference, and only take a matter of minutes to perform ✨

πŸ’ͺ🏼 Strengthens muscles vital for supporting rider weight and engaging: Thoracic sling muscles, hip flexors, abdominal muscles
πŸ’ͺ🏼 Improves mobility of the back and in turn improves posture
πŸ’ͺ🏼 Encourages the horse to sit behind which will help with collection and engagement

As we are experiencing warmer temperatures, you may find massage sessions look a little different β˜€οΈDuring warmer weathe...
20/06/2025

As we are experiencing warmer temperatures, you may find massage sessions look a little different β˜€οΈ

During warmer weather, it’s important that we don’t overwork muscles that are already coping with heat, and could become fatigued and overheated πŸ₯΅ Prolonged sessions working in one spot or using deeper massage techniques could add to these stresses ❌

Lighter superficial techniques are much more beneficial, as they aid relaxation whilst encouraging heat dispersion, circulation and lymphatic drainage; all of which will help support the horses body in coping with hotter temperatures, without over working the muscle 😎

So if your session looks slower paced and has a softer approach during the summer period, it’s for good reason! 😌

❗️ Remember to keep your horses well hydrated at all times, especially during hot weather. Dehydration can lead to muscle fatigue and damage, and means the essential systems working in your horses body can’t function fully ❗️

Fascia β›“οΈπŸ•ΈοΈ Fascia is the web of connective tissue that surrounds muscles, bones and organs, providing support and prote...
18/06/2025

Fascia ⛓️

πŸ•ΈοΈ Fascia is the web of connective tissue that surrounds muscles, bones and organs, providing support and protection 🀝🏼

❀️ Healthy fascia should feel loose and mobile, allowing free movement through the body πŸ’ƒπŸ»

β€οΈβ€πŸ©Ή Damaged or dysfunctional fascia becomes restrictive and tight, losing its elasticity. Because fascia is a giant web covering the whole horse, damage or strain can have an impact on areas of the body away from the initial site. Imagine being covered in a giant net, and gathering it in one spot. You will feel the restriction across the whole net! πŸ‘ŽπŸΌ

πŸ‘πŸΌ On palpation, it should feel flat, smooth and mobile πŸ’ͺ🏼 Restricted fascia will feel like just that- restrictive! It can also feel a little like corrugated iron, uneven and bumpy 〰️〰️

πŸ‘€ Can you spot in the photo the area of tight fascia?

Poll extension πŸ§˜πŸΌβ€β™€οΈπŸ˜΄Lovely Marco was showing some tension around the TMJ and poll area, and totally melted into this mo...
31/05/2025

Poll extension πŸ§˜πŸΌβ€β™€οΈπŸ˜΄

Lovely Marco was showing some tension around the TMJ and poll area, and totally melted into this mobilisation 😌 It works by stimulating the Atlanto-occipital and Atlantoaxial joints and the muscles around the poll, and as the horse relaxes they will sink deeper and deeper into the stretch.
It isn’t every horses cup of tea, but Marco absolutely loved it and could have quite happily stayed up on my shoulder all day! ❀️

If you are struggling with a horse who is on the forehand, reluctant to accept contact, head shy, or has an uneven gait, they may be feeling some poll tension that massage and mobilisations such as this one could help to alleviate! Pop me a message to help your horse feel and perform better πŸ’ͺ🏼🫢🏼
πŸ“₯DM
πŸ“ž 07805290586
πŸ’Œ [email protected]

GOOD FARRIERY πŸ‘Ÿ πŸ”¨ πŸ’…πŸΌ We have all heard the saying β€˜no hoof, no horse’, and there has never been a truer statement.It is ...
14/05/2025

GOOD FARRIERY πŸ‘Ÿ πŸ”¨ πŸ’…πŸΌ

We have all heard the saying β€˜no hoof, no horse’, and there has never been a truer statement.

It is so important as horse owners that we surround ourselves with knowledgable experts πŸ€“; from farriers to vets, body workers to dentists, all of who can work together to keep our horses fit, sound and healthy πŸ’•

As a body worker, correct shoeing/trimming is imperative to ensuring there are no imbalances, gait/movement abnormalities, lameness issues and tension stemming from hoof issues. Therefore having a good farrier on your team is vital πŸ‘ŒπŸΌ

Poor hoof care and foot balance doesn’t just stop at the hoof, it will send a ripple effect through the horses whole body and put strain on muscles and joints. My job as a massage therapist is to assess the horse from head to hoof, taking jnto account the horses hoof and limb conformation, how they are shod, any uneven wear on the shoe/hoof, analysing their gait and movement, to better understand what the horse will need from the upcoming treatment πŸ§ πŸ‘πŸΌ

I’m very lucky that for the last 10+ years I have had Sam Dracott - Farrier take care of my mares feet, keeping her sound and comfortable from day dot and always on hand with advice and support 🌟

πŸ‹πŸΌβ€β™‚οΈ THORACIC SLING πŸ‹πŸΌβ€β™‚οΈYou may have noticed there has been lots of conversation following the trot up at Badminton, r...
12/05/2025

πŸ‹πŸΌβ€β™‚οΈ THORACIC SLING πŸ‹πŸΌβ€β™‚οΈ

You may have noticed there has been lots of conversation following the trot up at Badminton, regarding the muscle condition of some of the horses and thoracic sling strength.

So WHAT is the Thoracic sling❓

Horses don’t have a collar bone like humans do. So the thoracic sling is a group of muscles, ligaments and fascia responsible for suspending the rib cage between the front legs and lifting the thorax. When these muscles contract, the trunk and withers lift between the shoulder blades. The primary muscles of the thoracic sling are:
πŸ”΄ Serratus Ventralis
🟒 Descending and transverse pectoral
🟑 Ascending pectoral
πŸ”΅ Subclavius

Signs of weakness 🫩

❌ Working on the forehand
❌ Hallowing
❌ Inability to maintain balance
❌ Struggling to bend and perform lateral movements
❌ Reduced stride length
❌ Standing with front limb behind the vertical
❌ Poor topline
❌ Dip infront of withers

How can we strengthen the thoracic sling? πŸ’ͺ🏼

βœ… Regular massage to detect any problem areas, relax muscles, alleviate pain and keep the body functional
βœ… Ensure you have correctly fitting tack
βœ… POLEWORK POLEWORK POLEWORK ⭐️
βœ… Hill work
βœ… Backing up πŸ”™
βœ… Stretches and mobilisations

πŸ’Œ Message me if you have any concerns about your horse or would like to book a session to help them perform at their best πŸ’«

πŸ”˜ Can you spot the differences between the top and bottom photo? πŸ”˜βœ–οΈ The top photo shows a hallow extended spine, where ...
24/04/2025

πŸ”˜ Can you spot the differences between the top and bottom photo? πŸ”˜

βœ–οΈ The top photo shows a hallow extended spine, where there is little lift and engagement from the core and abs, and a downward pull at the withers

βœ… The bottom photo shows a more lifted back in flexion- helped by core engagement, and less tension and drag around the withers

πŸ’ͺ🏼 A strong back and good posture is vital for our ridden horses and even those not in work, and you can see from this picture how within one session this can be improved!

✨ If you want to keep your horse feeling great as we move through spring and into summer, pop me a message to make an ap...
22/04/2025

✨ If you want to keep your horse feeling great as we move through spring and into summer, pop me a message to make an appointment! There’s nothing better than seeing horses thriving after having a massage session πŸ˜ŒπŸ¦„

πŸ¦„ NEW OFFER πŸ¦„Pleased to announce I am now offering a NEW package offer. This will include:4x 30 minute lesson slots. Thi...
02/04/2025

πŸ¦„ NEW OFFER πŸ¦„

Pleased to announce I am now offering a NEW package offer. This will include:

4x 30 minute lesson slots. This can be a mixture of ridden and groundwork, catered to the needs of your horse 🐎

1x massage session to be completed half way through the package. We will treat any key areas that have been highlighted from the previous ridden/groundwork sessions, complete a FULL body massage, and work through stretches and mobilisations that will benefit your horse πŸ’ͺ🏼

The package will be priced at Β£150- giving you a Β£20 DISCOUNT from the usual combined price for 4x 30 min lessons and 1x massage πŸ€‘

Message me for bookings or any further questions! 🫢🏼

Something to take note of!
28/03/2025

Something to take note of!

Thought i would reshare this from last year as updating pictures

We must remember that horses didn't begin doing something because they could "get away with it", most issues start with the horse fearing something and often the fear part never gets addressed and then we only see a habit, we have to try and get away from thinking every fear in the horse is down to one traumatic incident as often it can be something simple as their personality may not deal with someone's training method or even the interactions with the human and we very rarely change our ways to accommodate these type of horses because we are so stuck on something that works for the majority and why would we want to change our way just for one horseπŸ˜’
Yet often it's those horses that eduucate us a little more ###

So I thought I would share this post again after seeing some horrendous headcollar being sold as "safe", to tie a horse up that basically tightens up as the horse pulls and the horse has to figure it's way out of pressure it does not take long or much force for tissue to be damaged

Pull back is more than just a poll issue

In my younger years I remember seeing a horse tied to a tree looking pretty miserable and later learned it was being swung and had been there for 3 days for me that was barbaric, basically tied short and left until it learned to stop pulling and although the horse will have learned no matter how hard it pulled it would never get free, what about the damage to those young horses bodies were being done in the process of learning to tie up correctly and while a horse may stop once it realises it is stuck its all the movements that happen before the stillness which may affect your horse later in life, especially as we often begin the process on young immature horses with the delicate structures not formed or fused yet.

I thought I would write about pull back and the consequences as was asked what I thought about it, and it most definitely is not just the poll what is affected when a horse pulls back, as the horse doesn’t just pull back with their head their whole body will be involved

Now we have the horse that has learned to do this, but I always want to know why It did it in the first place and usually fear is the main factor in the beginning, and often bad training in the early days will lead to bad association with being tied up, horses in fear do not think first they act on instinct and will keep pulling until it can no more and the tighter the pull the more pain the horse is feeling so it cannot escape the pain unless it stops but is has no rationale at this point, are we leaving it to the horse to figure it out, would you learn while in pain and how would you feel about doing it again

Remember bridles and headcollars sit on the very sensitive parts of the horses head they are designed so we can have control, however ergonomically designed it still has to have an affect or else what is the point of using them

Bits; if you horse pulls back with a bridle then that bit is going to clatter the teeth as it comes away

Nasal bone; this is a very thin fragile bone where the noseband sits a sharp pull could have affect on this

Poll; we have lots of little gaps filled with soft tissue, bruising cannot be seen but the more thinner the tack the more it is going to dig in and cause more damage and remember a horse may not just pull back but also wrench side to side which could result in muscle tears or damage to the nuchal ligament and or in more severe cases fractures to the bone and most tying up training is done early in the horse training while growth plates are still fusing and the body is still forming

The pull will be felt all the way down the spine and strains can occur much lower down into the neck and further back through the withers, back and lumbar especially if the horse pulls side to side jack knifing torgue throughout the whole body

If the horse falls back then potential injury to the si, pelvis and hamstrings are more than likely and scrabbling with its hind limbs underneath will often damage those soft tissue structures in the lower limb

Horses will only stop struggling when they realise its futile and before then they will fight to get free so we must make sure we train our horses with supervision and calm confindent handling when introducing tying up

Things happen and sometimes accidents happen, but it is always important to call your vet to give your horse a check over as it may not be apparent that your horse has a deeper injury, and if your horse has a habitual ritual of doing this then basically it needs retraining with a good behaviour consultant as its both dangerous for the horse and the handler In this situation, and remember pull backs do not only happen when tying up we must be careful as handlers not to yank the head with to much force, if you yank a horses head you are basically giving it whiplash

So lets not just think of the head as always whole horse, let's not make horses fight what they fear until there is no fight left for the body and mind will carry the damage long after the horse is quietly stood still

Address

Bordon

Telephone

+447805290586

Website

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