To book an Equine Body Work session for your horse, please contact Sue to arrange a suitable date and time.
Sue will need your name, address, and phone number (landline and mobile). This is so that she can fill in some of the paperwork before she arrives, and can contact you if she needs to alter an appointment. She will also need the name, address, phone number and fax number of your vet, as well as the details of your horse / pony (name, age, sex, breed, height). This is so that she can contact your vet prior to visiting you, to gain veterinary consent and ensure that the vet does not know of any reason why Sue should not work with your horse. Sue will also need your stable address, complete with postcode if possible, and local directions to help her find you.
Your horse should enjoy his massage, and Sue will ask you if there is anything specific that she should be aware of (including safety issues). As an Equine Body Worker Sue works with soft tissue, including muscle, tendon, ligament, and fascia. She may offer you some suggested exercises to be carrying on with, such as a massage move, a stretch, or a mobilisation.
Sue will need your horse to be dry and relatively clean (it's difficult to feel muscle tone through lumps of wet mud!), and can massage in the stable or outside, wherever he is most comfortable and all are safe and dry. It would be best if there are not too many distractions, as your horse will get the most benefit from his session if he is relaxed.
The initial session takes around an hour and a half. Sue will ask you to walk and trot your horse up for first, and then again afterwards, so that she can see how he moves. She may also ask to see him lunged, or ridden. She will ask you some questions before she starts massaging, about the environment and management of your horse (for example feed, stabling, dentistry, saddlery), as these may affect her work. Depending on the findings from the Equine Body Work, Sue may recommend that your horse has a period of rest, or suggest a particular way of working him over the next few days. Alternatively, you may be able to ride your horse after his massage, indeed he is likely to feel as though he is moving more freely and his behaviour may be more compliant!
‘Just wanted to say a BIG thank you for yesterday’s course,
the feedback from my group was very positive and for me
superb…love the handouts’ Debbie
‘Huge improvement in D’s suppleness behind saddle. Very
happy boy!’ Tessa
‘Just to let you know T is doing really well. Softness in
canter very good. She won her first dressage test
yesterday’ Christine