Equine massage: Horses love it

Even horses need someone to help them work out the kinks in tight or tired muscles. Lisa Albers, an equine sports massage therapist in Oregon, provides therapeutic massage for horses-and humans. According to an article at oregonlive.com, Albers has worked on horses at a therapeutic riding center and mounted patrol horses from the Portland Police Bureau. She sees horses with injuries, sore muscles from overuse, and even some whose owners just like to spoil them a bit.

Albers earned her massage therapy license for humans in 2004. Soon thereafter, she heard of a woman in the Portland area doing equine massage and was intrigued. She decided to take a 50-hour equine massage training course. And as it turns out, she says, human massage and horse massage are not all that different.

Sure, horses don't fit on a massage table, but the body and muscle structures are similar. Just like humans, horses get stiff necks, kinks in their shoulders, and tight hamstrings. And just like humans, Albers says, “horses groan, drool, and fall asleep” when they relax.

To read more about what it's like to be an equine massage therapist, click here.