Managing Equine Arthritis With Massage

So your horse has arthritis - can massage help?

ABSOLUTELY! I'm so glad you asked…

First: what is arthritis?

Arthritis is a disease that damages and deteriorates joints. It can occur from repetitive overload, injury, improper farriery, poor conformation, and age. Arthritis causes pain, stiffness, reduced range of motion (ROM), sensitivity, and even warmth around the joint. Arthritic joints, even when being supported through injections, require more than "routine injections" to stay healthy and continue supporting a horse. In fact, the more you do with management and exercise to support the joints, the longer those injections will last, and the better your horse will feel overall.

One way you can support your horse's arthritic joints is with massage. That sounds wild, I know, but stick with me. When a horse has arthritis in a joint, it is NOT solely the joint that's affected, but the entire musculoskeletal system. Why? Let's break it down real quick…

As we've talked about before, horses are masters at compensating. As prey animals, they instinctively mask discomfort as best they can, as long as they can. Unless you've got a horse who has little to no survival instincts and refuses to hide any discomfort eve, it's only when they absolutely can't manage it anymore that we as riders or owners will even begin to see symptoms! That's actually a huge reason having your horse on a routine massage schedule is important! Your massage pro will be able to not only maintain a baseline of your horse's "normal" soft tissue feel, but they're also going to be one of the first to notice when there's a compensation pattern starting, or defensive tension.

Often before a rider can feel it, there is physical tension building to protect a "problem area" within the body. This causes tension, spasms, and/or reactivity that your massage pro is trained to pinpoint and help with. Maybe your massage pro noticed your horse is a bit tense around C5-6 on one side, and recommends some in-hand or ridden exercises to implement. Next visit, if the same tension persists and it seems your massage pro is starting the loop all over again, they may recommend you investigate with a vet.

Massage can help you manage equine arthritis in a few ways:

• Increasing circulation

• Improving ROM

• Easing muscular tension

• Improving lymphatic drainage

• Impacting the nervous system

• Decreasing joint stiffness

Maintaining your arthritic horse with massage will absolutely improve their overall health, while allowing your horse to move as freely as possible. It's also important to remember that the joints are supported and protected when our horses have strong, soft muscles. This doesn't just mean locomotion muscles - the big, meaty ones we often focus on - but also the finer, smaller muscles used for stabilization and balance.

Maintaining the health, and strength of these muscular systems will not only keep your horse more comfortable overall, but will allow them to move with less stiffness and compensation, and properly use the arthritic joints. This means that not only is massage helping to maintain your horse in the bigger picture, but also maintain the arthritic joint and prolong any injections administered by your horse's vet.

Stiff joints will always lead to defensive, tense muscles and compensation patterns. Always. And what helps ease and soften tension while helping to improve symmetry? Massage. This is why I get so bummed out when I hear owners say their retired horse "doesn't do anything, and doesn't need a massage" - because that horse is probably one who could use it the most! Retired, and especially arthritic horses ABSOLUTELY need massage and bodywork. So, if you're trying your best to manage your arthritic 4-legged bestie, find them a bodyworker. I promise they'll benefit!

*Massage pros and bodyworkers are legally not allowed to diagnose your horses. While we can explain how the muscle chains, biomechanics, or compensation indicate your horse is hiding something, we cannot tell you "your horse is reactive around C5-6, they have arthritis" or anything of that nature.*