Emily Cairns- Equine Massage Therapist

07/10/2024

Wow what a difference!

Back in January of this year was when Norman came back into work through rehab after his navicular lameness..
Fast forward the this morning when the bottom pic was taken, his muscle across his back has developed immensely, his glutes have rounded and his abdominal muscles have began to engage.
Norman is now back in work 3-4 times a week and is being ridden in walk, trot and canter, we have started to do more work to engage his hind quarters and get him to work in a frame.
The enjoyment that this horse has to work now has also increased and he is a pleasure to do, he’s now showing signs of not associating work with pain and is really having a good time. ☺️

02/02/2024

After 4 weeks back under saddle we had a few milestones this week.
• Hacked out for 45 minutes
• Hacked out by himself
• Had a small trot

After a few weeks back at work after Normans injury he has already had a massage from myself and had his hoof boots refitted.
Norman has shown willing and that he is really enjoying being back to work this week that he took it upon himself to throw a few trot strides in here and there. This being said myself and his owner decided that we would progress his rehab plan to adding short amounts of trot on a straight line. Norman loved every second of it 💕

10/01/2024

✨Introducing Norman ✨

Norman was bought by his owner in 2016. He has history in racing and horse ball before taking his new career as a ridden horse. After a few years of shows he began to refuse jumps, with a vet diagnosis of arthritis in the hocks he went out on loan as a happy hacker. After 2 years he came home with unmaintained hooves, a farrier was called out, he had shoes and wedges put on and was back out doing dressage. Unbeknown to his owner, at the time Norman was already over at the knee and with the added pads this made things worse.
One day out hacking Norman took a tumble on the road and ripped his knees! After months of healing he came back into work (although never lame whilst his knees were recovering) and the farrier changed his shoeing style, intermittent lameness then became apparent until he eventually became lame constantly. His shoes were then removed and he was put out to pasture. After no improvement with the farrier, Normans owner reached out to a podiatrist in May 2023 and put him on a fibre specific diet. A year after being diagnosed with Navicular in November 2023 Norman became sound and is still sound with a strict Rehab plan in place. Throughout his time from diagnoses to rehab he has been seen by a physio and podiatrist every 2 weeks.

I was asked by his lovely owner if I could help with bringing him back into work due to her own health not allowing her to give him the time he needs to restart.
Norman is the sweetest soul and doesn’t complain about much.
I will be documenting Normans Rehabilitation process ridden and through massage.

28/10/2023

When did carrots become the enemy of our horses 🥕???
Multiple times this week I’ve had owners apologetically tell me that their 🐴 gets a carrot. Be it in their bucket, for stretches or to assist with being caught etc.. carrots are predominantly water and fibre, with maybe 3-7g of sugar/starch - that’s an average of 0.000008% body weight. Even on a weightloss ration carrots can be included… it’s how they fit in the total ration and how MANY carrots are fed that makes the difference. If you are unsure how ‘treats’ are impacting your horses total ration, please feel free to reach out.

15/10/2023

A weekend of training.

I spent this weekend at doing my 2nd round of training for Equine Massage Academy.
It was an incredible (but cold 🥶) weekend learning lots and lots of new techniques as well as recapping everything from the previous training. (There is a LOT to process).

I cannot wait to get working through the case studies!!

30/09/2023

Excited to be joining Donna Barker Equine Therapy & Rehabilitation tomorrow

26/07/2023

a very informative evening

24/06/2023

Lovely afternoon at Equisign Tack and Feed watching a demo with Donna Barker Equine Therapy & Rehabilitation on the SURE footpads.
Such a knowledgable afternoon speaking to Keyflow Feeds and Linda from Omega Equine

02/06/2023

Bo a few months ago being a guinea pig and letting myself and LEW Equine Massage draw all the muscles on him.

28/04/2023

✨ Horses bear their weight on a single digit on each foot.✨

Around 55 million years ago, the first members of the horse family was the dog-sized Hyracotherium. For more than half their history, most horses remained small, forest browsers. But changing climate conditions allowed grasslands to expand, and about 20 million years ago, many new species rapidly evolved. Some--but not all--became larger and had the familiar hooves and grazing diets that we associate with horses today.

Over time the 5 metacarpals fused together to the hoof in the present day.

The metacarpal region consists of a dominant central bone (III) and two lateral bones (metacarpals II and IV), which are often partially or completely fused to the main digit.
Therefore, the horse bears weight on a single digit, the middle digit!

24/04/2023

✨massage myths✨

“My horse doesn’t need massage unless he’s injured”
🔹 Massage can help prevent injury.
The greatest importance of animal massage therapy, whether it is sports massage, acupressure, or craniosacral therapy is to prevent injury in both human and equine alike. equine massage finds and removes muscle spasms and painful knots before they can become a larger issue, affecting health or vertebrae of your horse.

“Only human athletes need massage”
🔹 Massage keeps muscles loose, flexible, and increases circulation and oxygen flow thus giving your horse additional energy and endurance. According to the Massage Therapy Journal, which published an article from The Jack Meagher Institute, after a 20-minute horse massage stride length increased 3.6% at a walk and 1.8% at the trot.

“Anyone can massage a horse”
🔹 Massage is not the same as grooming or petting, and you should only hire a certified and insured animal massage therapist.
Do your research and ask for recommendations.

23/04/2023