NFED Equine Health

The Jack Meagher Method of Sports Massage.

Does your horse resist your aids ?, Is he stiff for no apparent reason, switches leads, or has that inexplicable stop at fence ? Then sports massage, is what your horse or pony may need.

The Jack Meagher method of massage is one that incorporates deep tissue work in to specific areas of the animal (and on humans too !) to release knotted muscle fibres that quite often are no bigger than the end of your thumb. These knotted tissues can then inhibit an animals mobility by restricting other muscles around that area. This causes further restriction of movement and then possible gait irregularities, or it may appear to show the animal as being ‘off', or as having problems within their particular discipline , be it dressage, jumping etc.

To the trained Jack Meagher therapist we look for these imbalances in movement, and I stress here, not necessarily a Iameness. ( Which should always be diagnosed by your veterinarian first.) But, by watching a horse walk out, you can ascertain how each muscle group is working in conjunction with another, and therefore using Jack’s techniques restore the balance so that the horse may perform to the best of its ability. Also and more importantly ,that it may continue to work without injury, as by preventing it, the animal may remain in work, so whether you are a club rider or a top level dressage rider your horse will still be out there competing, or simply enjoying being ridden, .... and not left in its stable with perhaps a more serious problem developing.

The aim of a sports therapist whether they treat horses or humans is to keep them doing what they want to be doing ,and doing it to the best of their ability!

I spent 5 years massaging humans before going to America to learn the techniques taught at the Jack Meagher Institute.

The course was intensive and somewhat of an eye-opener as to how the Americans look after and care for their horses. Most of the horses we treated were show animals, show jumpers or used for dressage. They mostly lived in large indoor stabling, and were generally not turned out very often. We treated all shapes and sized horses and ponies and were taught how to look for imbalances in gait. The treatment can take about 30-40 minutes, and the whole horse is massaged using techniques that I had learnt. There are only a handful of students who have learnt Jack’s techniques in the USA, and I was thrilled to not only have been able to meet him and learn from him, but see him work too, as unfortunately his health has suffered in the last few years. There are only four people in this country qualified to use this technique, and able to use his logo of JMI, though there are plenty of therapists who have studied other methods of massage treatment.

If this article has interested you, I can treat your horse or pony for you, and show you how this technique and exciting treatment could really help your animals performance, reduce the risk of injury, and time off work, and keep you riding.

Remember ‘good motion is intuitive’.

Natalie Lascelles
Email: natalie@newforest.supanet.com