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Horse In Hand - Equine Sports Therapy

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Wyong Creek, NSW
Horse In Hand - Equine Sports Therapy

Certified Equine Sports Massage Therapist. Level 1 Equine Tensegrity Balancing Therapy I am a certified Equine Sports Massage Therapist.

All my life, I have loved horses. Everything about them brings light and love to my soul. I love being able to help horses perform at their best and feel better overall. Massage is an amazing way to rejuvenate the muscles, and assist the horse in performance and every day life. Services offered include full evaluation, massage and red light therapy. Remember: soft supple muscles make a soft supple horse .

23/03/2026

How to Help Your Horse Recover After Hard Work

A tough session doesn’t end when you hop off.
What you do after the ride plays a huge role in how your horse feels, moves, and performs next time

Recovery isn’t just for high-level athletes, every horse benefits from thoughtful aftercare.
✨ 1. Don’t Skip the Cool Down
Allow your horse to gradually return to a resting state with active walking
💡 Helps with: circulation, preventing stiffness, and clearing metabolic waste
👉 Wait until breathing and heart rate come back down before untacking

✨ 2. Rehydrate & Refuel
Offer fresh water straight after work and ensure access to forage
💡 Helps with: muscle recovery and overall hydration
👉 A small feed or electrolytes can be useful after intense sessions

✨ 3. Check the Body
Run your hands over your horse’s body
Look for:
• Heat
• Swelling
• Sensitivity
• Changes in muscle tone
💡 Early detection = easier management

✨ 4. Gentle Movement Next Day
Light work like walking, turnout, or stretching-type movement
💡 Helps with: reducing stiffness and maintaining mobility
👉 Avoid going from hard work to complete stillness

✨ 5. Support the Nervous System
Give your horse time to relax and come back to baseline
• Quiet time
• Grooming
• Calm environment
💡 Helps with: full-body recovery, not just muscles

✨ 6. Bodywork & Soft Tissue Support
Light, gentle touch or booking in regular bodywork
💡 Helps with: releasing tension before it becomes restriction
👉 Even small amounts of intentional touch can make a difference

✨ 7. Legs & Hoof Care
Depending on workload:
• Hose legs if needed
• Check hooves for heat or soreness
💡 Helps with: managing inflammation and preventing issues

⚠️ Signs Your Horse Needs More Recovery:
• Stiff or short-strided
• Sensitive to grooming or touch
• Dull or “flat” in behaviour
• Holding tension in neck/back

These are signs to listen, not push through.

Recovery isn’t about doing more —
it’s about doing the right things at the right time.

Because a well-recovered horse doesn’t just perform better…
they stay sounder, happier, and more willing in their work.

22/03/2026

🐴 Simple Movements You Can Safely Do With Your Horse

Not all “stretches” are actually helpful — especially if they’re done to the horse instead of with them.
A more effective approach is to create small, gentle invitations for the horse to move and release on their own 🤍
✨ Skin & Fascia Slides
Using soft fingers, lightly move the skin over the muscle (rather than pressing into it)
💡 Helps with: releasing superficial tension and improving body awareness
👉 Think slow, melting movement — not pressure

✨ Wither Holds (Stillness Work)
Rest your hand softly at the withers and simply wait
💡 Helps with: nervous system downregulation and full-body release
👉 You’re not “doing” — you’re allowing
Watch for: blinking, sighing, head lowering, soft eyes.

✨ Ribcage Awareness Touch
Light contact along the ribcage, following the breath or creating tiny oscillations
💡 Helps with: breathing, rib mobility, and relaxation
👉 Stay subtle — this is about awareness, not force

✨ Weight Shift Invitations
With gentle touch or presence, invite the horse to shift weight between limbs
💡 Helps with: balance, proprioception, and postural release
👉 Even a tiny shift is enough

✨ Head & Poll Softening
Soft contact around the halter area or poll, allowing the horse to release downward
💡 Helps with: releasing bracing patterns in the poll and jaw
👉 Never pull — wait for the horse to let go

⚠️ Key Principles to Remember:
• It’s not about stretching — it’s about listening
• The horse leads the process
• Subtle > strong
• Release comes from the nervous system, not force

If your horse walks away, braces, or disengages — that’s valuable feedback.
This kind of work might look simple…but it can create profound changes in how a horse feels, moves, and responds 🤍

Because when we stop trying to “fix” the body and start listening to it that’s when real change happens.

22/03/2026

Gut health & bodywork — more connected than you might think 🐴✨

When we think about a horse’s gut, we often focus on feed, ulcers, or digestion… but the story doesn’t stop there.

The gut and the body are constantly communicating.

A horse with poor gut health may show:
• Tightness through the girth and ribcage
• Resistance to bending or under saddle
• Sensitivity to touch or saddling
• Changes in posture and movement

Why? Because discomfort in the gut can create protective tension patterns throughout the body — especially through the diaphragm, abdominal muscles, and thoracic sling.

And it works both ways…

Restricted movement, poor posture, or chronic muscular tension can also impact how well the digestive system functions. If the body can’t move and breathe freely, it can affect circulation, motility, and overall comfort in the gut.

This is where bodywork plays a valuable role 🤍

By helping release tension, improve mobility, and support better posture, bodywork can:
• Reduce compensatory patterns linked to gut discomfort
• Encourage more efficient movement and breathing
• Support overall relaxation — which is essential for healthy digestion

It’s not about replacing veterinary care or nutrition — it’s about supporting the whole horse.

Because when the gut feels better, the body often moves better…
And when the body moves better, the gut can function better too.

Everything is connected ✨

20/03/2026

✨ Why Regular Equine Bodywork Matters (Before There’s a Problem) ✨

We often call in support after something goes wrong — lameness, behaviour changes, loss of performance…

But what if we flipped that approach? 👇

Regular equine bodywork isn’t just reactive — it’s preventative.

Here’s why it matters:

🔍 1. Small restrictions don’t stay small
A tiny area of tightness today can lead to compensation patterns tomorrow. Horses are masters at adapting — until they can’t.

⚖️ 2. Balance affects the whole body
When one area isn’t moving well, another area takes on extra load. Over time, this can contribute to strain, soreness, and uneven wear.

🐎 3. Performance starts with comfort
Whether it’s under saddle or in the paddock, a horse that feels good in their body can move more freely, engage better, and perform with less resistance.

🧠 4. Behaviour is communication
Subtle signs like girthiness, head tossing, or reluctance to move forward can be early indicators of discomfort — not disobedience.

🛠 5. It supports the whole care team
Regular bodywork works with your farrier, vet, dentist, and trainer — helping maintain alignment, mobility, and function between visits.

💛 6. Prevention is kinder (and often cheaper)
Addressing minor restrictions early can help reduce the risk of more significant issues developing down the track.

✨ Think of it like this:
We don’t wait until we’re in pain to look after our own bodies — why should our horses?

Regular check-ins help keep your horse comfortable, moving well, and supported in everything they do.

Because a horse that feels good… can give their best 🤍

19/03/2026

Naughty… or uncomfortable?
Not all “bad behaviour” is a training issue.

We’ve all heard it…
“He’s just being naughty.”
“She’s testing you.”

But what if that behaviour is actually communication?

Buck = discomfort?
Refusal = restriction?
Head tossing = tension?

Not always…
but often enough that it deserves a second look.

Horses don’t behave “badly” for no reason.
They respond to what they feel — physically, mentally, and emotionally.

When something doesn’t feel right in the body, it will show up somewhere.

Tight muscles
Joint restriction
Saddle discomfort
Compensation patterns

These can all affect how your horse moves…
and how they behave under saddle.

What looks like:
• Stubbornness
• Laziness
• Resistance

…can actually be your horse trying to say:
“This is hard”
“This hurts”
“I can’t do that comfortably”

Of course, not every behaviour is pain-related.
Training, clarity, and environment all play a role too.

But ruling out the body first?
That’s where true partnership starts

Because when we listen instead of label…
we give our horses a chance to feel better, move better, and perform better.

Before correcting the behaviour,
ask the question: why?

A lot of horses aren’t being difficult —
they’re doing their best to cope 🤍

18/03/2026

Why is my horse tighter on one side?

• Biomechanics: Every horse has a natural way they move, and subtle imbalances can develop from riding position, saddle fit or uneven ground.
• Rider asymmetry: If a rider and horse aren’t perfectly in sync, the horse may compensate, pulling tighter on one shoulder or hip.
• Past injuries or strains: Old bumps, sprains, or stiffness can leave one side stiffer as the body protects itself.
• Everyday habits: Feeding, turnout, and even veterinarians or farriers’ routines can influence how muscles carry tension.
• Fascia and connective tissue: Tension isn’t just in the muscle bellies—the surrounding fascia can “stick” and limit mobility on one side.
How equine bodywork can help
• Targeted release: Gentle soft tissue work to relax tight muscles and reduce compensatory patterns.
• Fascia balance: Clear sticky fascia that can pull muscles out of alignment, improving overall movement.
• Range of motion: Gentle stretching and mobilization to restore symmetry and ease of movement.
• Pain and stiffness reduction: Often a reduction in pain-related guarding, allowing freer motion.
If you’re concerned about your horse’s symmetry, reach out to myself.

17/03/2026

What Happens During a Bodywork Session?

Every session starts with getting a good understanding of the horse as an individual.
First, I like to watch the horse move at the walk so I can assess their movement dynamically. I’m looking at things like stride length, symmetry, posture and how comfortably the horse is moving through their body.
I’ll also assess the horse standing still. Looking at posture can tell us a lot about where a horse may be carrying tension or compensating.
From there we have a chat about the horse’s history and what the owner has been noticing. I like to understand the bigger picture around the horse, including things like their diet and nutrition, hoof care, dental care, saddle fit, fitness routine and the type and amount of work they are doing.
Once we have a clear picture, I begin the bodywork.
I work with my hands rather than tools so I can really feel how the horse’s tissues are moving and responding. This allows me to adjust what I’m doing based on what the horse is telling me through their body.
Each session is tailored to the individual horse and what they need on the day.
I also like to give owners exercises and simple techniques they can use between sessions to help support their horse and maintain the improvements we’ve made. After the session I often send through follow up information, including resources around nutrition where it may help support the horse’s overall wellbeing.
It’s always rewarding to see horses soften, relax and start to move more comfortably as the session progresses.

16/03/2026

I had an incredible weekend with Kathryn from Firenza Park Equine Services, Ivy from Harmonious Hoof Care, and Lisa from The Glorious Hoof. We spent our time sharing knowledge, learning from each other, and diving deep into everything equine. Collaborating with such passionate and skilled professionals is one of my favorite ways to grow and broaden my understanding. It’s amazing how much we can achieve when we come together to share our expertise and support one another in this incredible field! Looking forward to many more weekends like this

16/03/2026

Meet Michelle Horse In Hand - Equine Sports Therapy

I’ve always believed that when a horse’s body feels better, everything else improves too. Their movement changes, their posture changes and often their behaviour does as well.
Horse In Hand grew from a genuine love of helping horses feel comfortable in their bodies and supporting the teams who care for them. Many horses carry tension from training, travel, saddle fit, injuries or simply the demands we place on them. Bodywork can help release that tension and allow the horse to move more freely and comfortably.
My goal with every horse is to work with the whole team around them. Owners, trainers, farriers, saddle fitters and vets all play an important role in the horse’s wellbeing and I love being part of that collaborative approach.
Based on the Central Coast, I work with horses across a range of disciplines from pleasure horses to performance horses. Every horse is different and each session is tailored to what that individual horse needs.
If you’re curious about how bodywork may help your horse, feel free to get in touch or follow along as I share more about what I see and learn while working with these incredible animals.

15/03/2026

Due to increasing operating costs, there will be a small price adjustment from April 1. Session prices will increase by $10 per horse.
I’ve done my best to keep this change as minimal as possible while continuing to provide the time and care each horse deserves.
I’m also updating payment procedures going forward. Payment for services will now be required on the day of the appointment, either by cash or card. Bank transfers will no longer be accepted. If payment cannot be made on the day, card details will need to be kept on file so payment can be processed following the session.
Thank you to everyone who continues to support Horse In Hand and trusts me with the care of your horses.

02/12/2025

When your horse has a sore back, how can you help?

Equine massage is a powerful way to help horses with sore backs feel better and perform at their best. Just like humans, horses can develop muscle tension and stiffness from work, training, or even just everyday movement. Massage helps increase blood flow, reduce inflammation, and release tight muscles, promoting faster healing and greater comfort. It also improves flexibility and range of motion, which can prevent future injuries. Treating your horse to regular massage sessions supports their overall well-being and can make a noticeable difference in their attitude and performance. If your horse seems stiff, uncomfortable, or less enthusiastic, an equine massage might be just what they need to get back to feeling great!

30/11/2025

The funny faces of Bello! I just wanted a simple face on photo but of cause I got Bello flare. He is never shy in telling me exactly how he feels.

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Our Story

I am a certified Equine Sports Massage Therapist and have been working with horses to create comfort, suppleness, injury prevention and range of motion for 3 years.

Equine massage is a none invasive effective treatment which horse really enjoy. Massage creates soft supple muscles which can reduce the risk of injury , assist in recovery if an injury has occurred, improves range of motion and I find horses really enjoy it.

I love that I can make a positive impact in a horses life. And i love chatting about how we can work as a team to achieve this.

Horse In Hand - Equine Sports Therapy

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