Laura Stickley Holistic Equine Massage Practitioner

12/12/2025

Equine FascialEdge Tool in use during Billy's massage session today.

12/12/2025

Bladder meridian to start Mr B's massage session today. The power of the gentlest touch.

www.laurasequinemassage.co.uk

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11/12/2025

I love this discription so much 💗

Confessions of a Myofascial Trigger Point

I was never meant to be permanent. I began as a moment, a response, a slight tightening when holding felt safer than releasing. At first, it was subtle, just a brief pause in the tissue's rhythm. But the body asked me to stay. So I did. I shortened my fibers, thickened my layers, and held the chemistry still. I became a place where the river slowed and gathered its weight.

The body learned to move around me. Fascia stiffened along familiar lines, rerouting tension and sensation elsewhere. Pain drifted outward, tracing old pathways through the shoulder, jaw, back, or breath. I wasn’t creating chaos. I was containing it. I held pressure because something inside wasn’t ready to let go.

Then the hands came, not hurried, not demanding. They rested with warmth and attention, and I felt the first change before I understood it. Compression softened the alarm. The nervous system quieted its vigilance. Hyaluronic layers warmed and began to slide. A gentle current brushed past me as the fascial wave moved through the body, reminding the tissue of motion I thought had been lost.

When the wave reached me, it paused. I was seen. The hands didn’t press me deeper into holding. Instead, they slipped beneath me, lifting me gently toward the bone. The pressure shifted in different directions, changing the shape of everything I had been holding together. My fibers lengthened. Blood returned. Chemistry softened. I felt warmth where there had been tightness and a trembling where there had been certainty.

I tried to stay. Old patterns don’t dissolve easily. But time was offered instead of force. Breath moved. Electrical chatter quieted. The nervous system loosened its grip on the story I had been carrying. Slowly, and with only a little drama on my part, I melted. The dam cracked, and the water I had been holding found its way forward again.

As I released, the river surged outward, carrying the change through the fascial lines that connect the whole body. Where I once stood, there was space, warmth, and movement.

I was never the enemy; I was the pause that kept the body safe until it was ready. And when it was finally met with patience, presence, and understanding of a healer like you, I let go. The river remembered itself, and so did I.

09/12/2025

Yesterday I met Belle for the first time, Belle is a complex but lovely mare who is very reactive to touch.

To begin as soon as I put my hands on her she became very evasive so I spent some time giving her scratches. She enjoyed fairly firm scratches so I thought that sports massage applications would be more appropriate for her treatment. However, Belle certainly wasn't keen on sports massage.

After another period of time giving scratches to help Belle settle again, I gently rested my hand over her brachial chakra and she slowly started to soften. This allowed me to very slowly and very gently begin her massage.

Each time I moved to a different area of her body Belle became evasive but this lessened with each move until I needed to change sides. We were then straight back to how she started but I had expected this. I followed the same steps with scratches, brachial chakra and then gently and slowly into the massage and Belle responded well.

Belle softened so much during her session and went from evasive and a very worried facial expression to lowered head, soft facial features and so many yawns letting the tension be released from her body. She even wanted to check my notes 😂

Belle's session highlights just how important it is to treat each horse as an individual and be willing to adapt treatments accordingly.

www.laurasequinemassage.co.uk

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29/11/2025

Just your average Saturday evening conversation 🤣🤣

26/11/2025

Remaining appointments available before Christmas....

Tuesday 2nd
Thursday 4th
Monday 8th (WR6 area) - TAKEN
Tuesday 9th
Thursday 11th - TAKEN
Friday 12th - TAKEN
Tuesday 16th (WR6 area)
Wednesday 17th (Bromsgrove and Bellbroughton areas)

26/11/2025

❄️How Cold Weather Can Affect Horse Muscles❄️

🐴Muscle Tightness and Stiffness🐴

➡️Colder temperatures cause muscles to contract and become less flexible. This can lead to:

⭐Stiff movement
⭐Reduced stride length
⭐Difficulty bending or collecting during riding

‼️Older horses or those with prior injuries may feel this more strongly.

🐴 Increased Risk of Muscle Strain 🐴

➡️Cold muscles are more prone to injury. Without proper warm-up:

⭐Muscles can tear more easily.
⭐Tendons and ligaments become less elastic.

‼️This is especially important for performance horses.

🐴 Slower Warm-Up and Cool-Down 🐴

➡️ Horses take longer to get their muscles warm enough for work. If they cool down too quickly afterward, muscles can tighten again.

🐴 Reduced Blood Flow 🐴

➡️ Cold causes blood vessels to constrict, which can:

⭐Lower circulation in muscles
⭐Delay removal of lactic acid
⭐Lead to muscle soreness after exercise

🐴 Increased Risk of Conditions Like Tying-Up 🐴

➡️Horses prone to tying-up (muscle cramping and stiffness) may be more affected in cold weather, especially if:

⭐They are exercised without proper warm-up
⭐They have inconsistent exercise routines
⭐Their diet is not adjusted for winter

🐴 Compensatory Tension From Posture 🐴

➡️ Cold wind or icy footing may cause horses to brace their muscles, tightening:

⭐Back muscles
⭐Neck muscles
⭐Hamstrings

‼️Over time, this can lead to soreness and reduced performance.

🐴How to Help Protect Your Horse's Muscles in Cold Weather🐴

✅Warm-Up Thoroughly

⭐Walk for 10–15 minutes before trotting or cantering.
⭐Gradually increase work intensity.
⭐ Use Exercise Sheets or Quarter Sheets, especially for clipped horses or those prone to stiffness.

✅Keep Them Moving
⭐Turnout and light daily exercise help prevent stiffness.

✅Ensure Proper Nutrition
⭐Adequate electrolytes, vitamin E, and potassium support muscle function.

✅Massage or Stretching
⭐Regular massage and stretching can help older or stiff horses loosen up.

✅Maintain Appropriate Rugging (this will vary horses to horse, there is no one size fits all when it come to what rug to put on).
⭐A warm horse = warm muscles = less stiffness.

www.lauraequinemassage.co.uk

25/11/2025

How can equine massage therapy help shift a horse from flight mode (sympathetic nervous system activation) to rest and digest mode (parasympathetic activation)?

As an equine massage therapist, I use touch, pressure, and movement to calm the horse's body and reset the nervous system. Below is how it works….

🧠 1. Influences the Nervous System

Massage activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for relaxation. The results:
Lower heart rate
Slower breathing
Relaxed muscle tone
Improved digestion

These are all signs a horse is moving out of stress/flight mode.

🐴 2. Releases Muscle Tension

A horse in flight mode keeps muscles ready for action. Massage will:
Softens tight muscles
Releases trigger points
Improves circulation

As muscle tension reduces, the brain interprets the body as “safe”, helping transfer the horse into rest and digest mode.

🩸 3. Improves Blood & Lymphatic Flow

Long, rhythmic massage strokes:

Increase blood flow (bringing warmth and relaxation)
Improve lymph movement (reducing inflammation and discomfort)

This reduces physiological stress that can keep a horse on high alert.

🧩 4. Promotes Endorphin Release

Massage therapy stimulates endorphins—natural feel-good, pain-relieving chemicals.

This creates a positive cycle: Less pain → less stress → easier to relax.

🐴 5. Encourages Mind–Body Connection

The rhythmic, predictable nature of a gentle massage session:
Reassures anxious or hyper-vigilant horses
Builds trust
Gives the horse permission to release tension and let go

Horses often start licking, chewing, yawning, lowering their head, or softening their eye—their version of “rest and digest.”

🧘 6. Restores Normal Breathing Patterns

Stress causes shallow, rapid breathing.
Massage on the rib cage, shoulders, and neck helps:

Release the intercostal muscles
Improve diaphragmatic movement
Encourage deeper breaths

Deep breathing directly activates rest and digest mode.

📉 7. Reduces Cortisol

Regular therapeutic touch can help lower cortisol levels over time.
Less cortisol within the horse system means they are more easily able to enter a relaxed physiological state.

🐴 Noticeable signs that the horse is transitioning into rest and digest mode

Lowered head and neck
Licking, chewing, blowing out
Softening eye or “droopy” eyelids
Slower breathing
Relaxed stance, weight-shifting
Yawning
Gut sounds increasing

👍These are all good indications the massage session is successfully shifting the horse out of flight mode.

www.laurasequinemassage.co.uk

17/11/2025

The beautiful Gizmo had his first treatment with me today 💕

Gizmo's systems had been sent into a bit of a spin following an incident 18+ months ago 😢 so today we focused on a very gentle craniosacral treatment which he loved, followed by some self selection herbs 🌿

www.laurasequinemassage.co.uk

16/11/2025

I love this picture snapped by Dani earlier in the week whilst I was treating Leo. It was at exactly this point, as I stepped back into the puddle that I realised I really do need to get myself some new boots for winter.

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11/11/2025

I was pulled from my field, from my work, from my play,
Ne’er again to see England, in lands far away,
Through death and destruction, through blood sweat and tears,
I carried my master, along with my peers,
So I ask you to remember a while,
Along with the soldiers, in smart rank and file,
Remember our beauty, the strength of our kind,
As we galloped through danger, without care to mind,
For we were the horses thrust into war,
And we gave up our lives for your peace evermore.

The War Horse, 1914 – 1918

We will remember them.

07/11/2025

My Friday started with a trip to see the lovely Crumpet.

Crumpet is a beautiful golden oldie and loved her treatment. After a massage using traditional techniques, I used some extremely gentle craniosacral therapy. Crumpet melted into the craniosacral techniques and stood perfectly still with her eyes closed 🥰

Treating golden oldies is such a privilege. Horses give so much during their working lives and to be able to help maintain their comfort as they age is really special.

www.laurasequinemassage.co.uk