Barrett’s Equine Massage

06/25/2025

Penny and I hope y'all are staying cool in this insane heat bubble!

05/18/2025

Neve got her massage in today ❤️

11/11/2024

November has been a great month to help horses 🥰

Aren't these fellas adorable
✨Dutch the Halflinger & Lammert the Freisian

11/05/2024

❤️

If your rider does walk only for three months, barely trots, and never canters, it’s fine.
If someone wants to groom, do a little ground work, and an occasional pony ride, that’s great.

Let people enjoy horses at their level.

So many instructors only want the students that are going to buy a fancy horse, compete at rated shows, and be all in… that’s just not reality. It’s also NOT a more profitable businesses model!

If someone wants to pay you to spoil your older lesson horse, or if someone wants to learn the technical stuff at a walk, but their body just isn’t going to ride a real dressage test ever, then help them accomplish THEIR goals!!!!
*Too many instructors push their own goals onto students.*

(That said, most horses DO need to move out, and preferably should be moved out with a rider as a critical part of keeping them physically and mentally at their best- but another rider can do that. )

10/30/2024

Can we just take a moment to appreciate how beautiful Autumn is in North Carolina ✨

❤️🧡💛💚

10/27/2024

Massage can be integrated into almost every facet of health for the horse. Sure it seems like a luxury some days, but if you truly allow yourself to look into it you'll see the benefits are endless.

Here's peek into the many ways massage affects the muscles:

✅Relieving Muscular tension
✅Reduction in soreness, fatigue, trigger points
✅Creates separation of the muscle fibers, making them more flexible
✅Tones weak muscles (atrophy)
✅Improved circulation by dilating the vessels & mobilizing blood flow
✅Improved balance by stimulating the proprioceptors
💡proprioceptors tell the horse where its body is in the space around him
💣they can be altered by injury & improper movement
✅Improved range of motion
✅Increased mineral retention in the skeletal system
✅the nervous system: promotes relaxation, decreased pain sensation, activates sensory receptors.
✅Decreased blood pressure & heart rate
✅Improves skin & coat health
✅Reduces scar tissue and reduces formation of adhesions
✅Supports the urinary system by increasing output
✅Increases dopamine & serotonin while decreasing (stress hormones) cortisol & norepinephrine
✅Increases lymphatic system function, lymphocyte count, & the number of natural killer cells 💡Natural Killer Cells improve the immune system

What part of equine health intrigues you the most?

10/22/2024

10/15/2024

Yes yes yes!

I'm loving this explanation.

“The horse just has a little arthritis in his left hock, it doesn’t seem to bother him too much, he just gets a bit stiff!”

Horses are great compensators, and they will create alternative locomotive patterns to continue movement.

So, say this little bit of osteoarthritis causes a reduced range of motion of the tarsal (hock) joint. In an attempt to maintain stride length and hide this dysfunction to potential predators (because you never know when a lion could be waiting around the corner... or a flapping plastic bag!), the tarsal joint is rotated medially (inwards) during the swing phase of the stride. This results in asymmetrical & medial weight bearing through the digit. This places additional stress through medial hamstring muscles, resulting in muscle tension and trigger points. And this is all something that is potentially going on in the affected hindlimb.

A hip hike/drop can occur at corresponding phases of the stride, placing the sacroiliac joint under stress, resulting in paraspinal and asymmetrical gluteal tone/pain.

Decreased impulsion from the left hindlimb leads to increased weight bearing through the right forelimb diagonal. This can create tension and hypertrophy to the right pectoral muscles and related fascial planes.

The spiral of compensation could continue on further, affecting cervical muscles that become hypertonic as a result of weight shifting, digit shape and size, TMJ pain, head tiling, hyoid dysfunction, asymmetric tail holding...

Often it can be the case where I see a horse that is a chronic stage of compensation and it can be difficult to find the true cause especially when the horse may appear just overall “stiff”.

I liken the rehabilitation of chronic cases to peeling the layers off an onion; one layer at a time and piece by piece to unravel and rewind the compensation spiral. It is important to identify and manage the root cause, rather than just accepting it🐴

10/10/2024

What a beautiful Autumn day in Hillsborough, NC! I went out to my favorite horse riding camp at the Equestrian Program at Chestnut Ridge. Kodak & Candy received all kinds of love.

Kodak deals with a very common issue that many horse owners are familiar with. Cribbing. While cribbing can sometimes point to gut discomfort, in most cases it is simply psychological. Also known as “wind sucking” - this activity brings on a euphoric feeling to the horse and is addictive. Unfortunately, this is very common and it isn’t entirely without consequence. The surrounding muscles of the neck, head/face, shoulders, & even the back/barrel can be over taxed and provide uneven muscle usage…. All of these things equal out to improper usage of the muscles and compensatory movement. These things keep the horse from moving fluidly, correctly, & restriction free.

& Candy is just a joy to work with. She is so responsive to deep pressure and is so expressive in her release methods. As with all lesson horses, paying attention to the muscles involved directly under saddle and up the neck from withers to poll will help alleviate tension and resolve restricted motion within the body.

I just love working with these guys. They truly make my day ❤️ I hope these hilarious faces make your day brighter ☀️