How to prepare your horse for an Equine Musculoskeletal Therapy Session

After booking an appointment with Jacinda for the first time she will email you a ‘Horse History’ form, please complete this and email back prior to the booked session or hand over to Jacinda in person at the time of your appointment.

Ensure your horse is as clean & dry as possible with any mud, dirt and other debris removed & hooves picked out. Why is this important? If your horse has a wet coat, or a lot of dirt caught in their coat, the action of massage, trigger point therapy and other manual therapy techniques can aggravate the skin causing a burning sensation.

Please ensure that your horse has not eaten (grazing is ok) or been exercised within an hour of the appointment.

Find a relatively flat, shady location (and shelter if it is raining) for the assessment and session to take place. The biomechanical assessment requires an area that your horse can walk & trot a straight line, perform tight turns, backing up and potentially lunged on a circle (see below video for more information).

Contraindications of any form of body work:

• Skin conditions such as rainscald
• High temperature
• Infection
• Illness
• Pregnancy

If any of the above occurs after booking an appointment please contact Jacinda as soon as possible to rearrange a time once your horse has recovered.

Jacinda normally recommends that your horse has a minimum of 24 hours off ridden work after a session to allow the body to ‘re-calibrate’. Please take this into consideration when booking, especially in competition season.