OLDS, Alta. – When Judy Patry goes to work, her tools are a stool and a bag of carrots.
The diminutive equine sports massage therapist from Olds travels central Alberta giving horses relief from aching backs, sore shoulders and pulled muscles.
The need to nurture is a major part of Patry’s life. When she isn’t rubbing down horses, she works as an emergency room nurse at a Red Deer, Alta., hospital.
Patry worked as a nurse for more than 20 years when she wanted to branch into something different several years ago. A love of horses lured her into the world of equine massage. She went to the United States to learn the technique in 1995.
Read Also
VIDEO: British company Antler Bio brings epigenetics to dairy farms
British company Antler Bio is bringing epigenetics to dairy farms using blood tests help tie how management is meeting the genetic potential of the animals.
She is also studying Japanese Shiatsu therapy in Calgary – an acupressure technique that uses fingers rather than the needles of acupuncture. This technique can work for horses and their riders.
When she first started horse rub downs, the massages were free to show people what she could do. Now she has a slate of paying customers in a busy season that runs from spring to late fall.
Her clients range from private horse owners to trainers who hire her to work at shows where she can give a before and after show rub down.
“It increases their performance by up to 20 percent because you’re increasing the blood flow to the muscles, warming those muscles, getting them more elastic and stretchy,” she said.
Equine sports massage is similar to the therapeutic sports massage programs developed for human athletes. Patry emphasizes to clients that she only evaluates muscle problems. She is not a veterinarian and doesn’t diagnose health conditions.
“If you have a horse that was fine yesterday and lame today, then your veterinarian is the person that you call,” she said.
She works with performance and reining horses, hunter-jumpers and pleasure horses.
The most common complaints for horses are muscle spasms in the shoulder that affect how the horse rides. This may be caused from running or repetitive work.
“The number one cause is an ill-fitting saddle and an unbalanced rider,” she said.
Standing on her stool, she works the horse’s muscles from head to toe to increase circulation and diminish muscle spasms. Stretching exercises are also part of the treatment. This is done by offering the horse a carrot from behind or from the sides. As it reaches around she can check the animal’s flexibility. She picks up feet and rotates legs.
She works at a gentle speed the horse can tolerate, partly to avoid getting kicked if she touches an extremely sore spot.
“Usually they’ll look at you or they’ll come around and sort of threaten. The more polite ones will just swish their tail or stomp their foot,” she said.
Horses visibly react to Patry’s massage. They start to yawn and drop their heads as they relax. Their eyes get soft and sleepy.
It takes at least an hour to properly massage a horse. If the animal has one sore spot, it may be compensating elsewhere to ease the pain.
A horse’s shoulder is entirely supported by muscle so when one muscle goes, there is potential for the entire shoulder to develop trouble.
“It’s just like you and I. One muscle tightens up and everything protects it. They do the same,” she said.
She also offers clinics where she teaches people how to warm up, stretch and cool down their horses.
Horse massage is considered an alternative treatment for otherwise healthy horses but has no formal veterinary approval.
A spokesperson from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon said since no one knows for sure how a horse feels, it’s difficult to measure effectiveness. Further, a horse owner may fail to get a problem checked out by a vet, thinking a light manipulation of sore muscles will be enough.
“The only concern would be in dealing with an animal with a problem, there is a possibility the owner might be diverted from doing something more appropriate,” said Jonathan Naylor, of the large animal clinic at the college.
