Amanda Rockley - Equine Sports and Rehabilitation Massage Therapy

26/03/2025

15/03/2025

Finally managed to harrow the winter paddock today 😁

06/02/2025

A cold but sunny day spent treating at the RDA ❤️
These hard working ponies really are special 💕🐎

23/12/2024

Merry Christmas to all my clients 🎁 Thank you for supporting my small business ❤️

11/12/2024

A maintenance session for Caramac today 💕 a couple of little niggles but otherwise feeling great! We even managed to do hind limb stretches for the first time! 🎉🦄

08/12/2024

27/11/2024

Great start to my morning 🙄 whoever said working with horses is dangerous obviously never had to deal with bin lids in the wind 😂

17/10/2024

A maintenance session for the lovely Caramac today 🦄
This little pony has certainly been through it over the last couple of months but she never loses her sassiness 👑😂

03/10/2024

“He gets his back done one a year” 🗯
This comes from a place of love and education but please let me go a bit deeper into this statement I hear a lot 🙏

So it might seem indulgent or excessive to arrange a massage and bodywork session for your horse more than once a year, but the truth is that a single session once a year is not enough to sustain them.

Incorporating regular bodywork can have a transformative effect on your horse’s health and performance. After all, they are always in motion, running, turning, and let’s face it, occasionally finding themselves in tricky situations!

By establishing a routine of consistent bodywork sessions, you are not only addressing any current issues or imbalances but also taking proactive measures to stop future problems. Just like humans, frequent bodywork helps your horse maintain the best flexibility, range of motion, and muscle tone, which leads to enhanced performance and less risk of injury.

Please keep in mind that a single bodywork session won’t provide a lasting fix for an extended period.

Chat with your bodyworker to create an effective schedule that meets the individual needs of “your” horse!

💖
www.woldsequinemassage.co.uk

01/10/2024

Double tap if you agree - clients become friends faster than friends become clients...

12/09/2024

I think one of the most potent forms of gaslighting we see in the industry is the following:

“This horse couldn’t perform at this level if they were stressed or in pain.”

This single sentence justifies any means of getting a horse to perform at the upper levels on the basis that if they are there, they can’t be in pain.

That it’s impossible to get a horse to work at the upper levels without having a fully willing, pain free and stress free companion.

Despite the overwhelming evidence suggesting it’s not true.

This excuse is then combined with many others:

“If you haven’t ridden at this level, you can’t judge.”

(Ironically, these same people are okay with the judges who hand out scores not riding at the same level.)

“If the horse didn’t want to, they wouldn’t.”

(Meanwhile, the same people will have tons of reasons as to why their horse needs XYZ bit or equipment for control or why the horse can’t be allowed to get away with “naughty” behaviour.)

“These horses receive the best of the best care, they live like royalty.”

(If royalty was locked up into small little jail cells and isolated for much of their life outside of work…)

All of these excuses are attempts to “other” those who question the status quo while elevating upper level riders to such a point of perfection and knowledge that they’re free from criticism.

Ironically, anyone of any caliber can compliment these riders and comment their ability but as soon as you breathe a word of criticism, you’re unqualified to do so.

Shouldn’t it go both ways if it’s about experience before judging? 🤔

Also, that aside, if people are judging purely on horse welfare and not how to ride a test or jump a large course, why is it that we are shooting down expert opinions from behaviourists and equine scientists because they haven’t ridden at that level?

Why does one need to compete to speak on horse welfare?

To answer all of these rhetorical questions:

This is merely a feeble attempt to continue the status quo by alienating those who question it and implying they’re simply less educated and less talented riders despite the lack of evidence for such.

If this is the only defence we have for the actions occurring in competition, they’re not really defensible.

I’ve yet to see an argument in defence of the sport staying as is, with no welfare improvements whatsoever, that isn’t riddled with logical fallacies and personal attacks.

There’s a reason for that.

The research is not on their side and so they have to rely on intimidation tactics and gaslighting to try to silence discourse.

Don’t stay silent, there’s a growing number of people who are frustrated with the lack of change.

No amount of gaslighting will silence the movement.

We stocked up on gas beforehand, so miss us with that gaslight attempt.