Equine Massage by Jean-Pierre Hourdebaigt (1997, Paperback, Spiral)

Equine Massage- A Practical Guide by Jean-Pierre Hourdebaigt,RMT was purchased primarily for my daughter who is considering a career in horse massage therapy. However, as I am the owner of a particularly ornery horse, I am thinking that it might be something for me to get a smattering of knowledge of the subject! Perhaps it would work miracles for mine or at least give my daughter a subject to practice on!

Like massage therapy for humans, horse massage manipulates the soft tissue of the body to achieve either drainage, relaxation or stimulation. This is done by first knowing the anatomy of the horse which is described in chpater one, The Anatomy and Physiology of the Horse.

The book further delves into how the massage therapist's posture is important in order to achieve comfortable massage. It describes specific techniques using text and photographs. Hydrotherapy is discussed in chapter 4. In chapter 7, we learn about the kinesiology of the horse and how it moves by using its joints, ligaments and tendons.

Chapter 9 discusses a horse's conformation and gives examples of how to check for its soundness, conformation and action. A horse with poor conformation is more likely to have injuries. Body parts and stress points are discussed in chapter 10.

The book rounds up by going into specific stressors for each discipline and each breed. For example, there would be different stressors for a thoroughbred horse than a pony. Expectations for one breed may be quite different than for another. Some are far more demanding.

Record keeping is also discussed, showing how important it is to keep accurate records for every horse you treat.

I think that this book is a wonderful overview of what it requires for horse massage, both physically and mantally. It is not a beginner's manual nor is it an advanced course, but a realistic overview of the topic. Equine Massage- a Practical Guide, gives a horse owner something to go on and something to work on with their horse. The photgraphs and graphics and information are more than adequate to get you started.