There are lots of Equine Massage techniques you can do at home, some of these include the brilliant belly stretches. These are a great way to strengthen your horse’s back and they work a little like doing a sit-up or a crunch does for us. They work the horse’s pectorals, or ‘abs’ which then leads to a stronger back. There are two different ways to perform these stretches and I’ll talk you through each one.
Please only do stretches when your horses’s muscles are warm. This can be after being ridden, when first coming in from the field or after any in hand work.
Equine Massage Technique 1: Traditional Belly Stretch
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Stand to one side of the horse level with his girth area. Place both hands, palms up at the lowest point of their girth underneath their belly.
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Use your finger tips to place pressure in the groove you find there that runs laterally on the underside of the belly (you may also have to give them a bit of a wiggle). Please be careful at this point, if the horse doesn’t like to sensation they might kick.
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The horse should lift his belly, and lift his back at the same time. You sometimes need to use quite a bit of pressure to achieve this and some people find using a tool such as a brush or the rounded end of a hoof pick useful.
Equine Massage Technique 2: Bum Tuck
This is a stretch that also strengthens the back muscles and focuses on the hind end. Be cautious and don’t try this with a horse that’s prone to kicking and always make sure you stand to one side of the horse and not directly behind.
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Stand to one side of your horse’s hind quarters, facing their head. Place both palms on your horses croup with your fingers pointing towards their ears.
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At roughly a hands width from the base of his tail you’ll feel a groove in the muscles at both sides.
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Press your index fingers and thumbs tightly together and press into this groove.
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Slide your fingers along the groove towards the tail.
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You horse should tuck their bum in and hunch their back upwards.
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As soon as they tuck release the pressure and perform this stretch about 5 times.
Why Isn’t my Horse Stretching?
If you have tried several times with no luck, then there are a few reasons why your horse won’t do the stretches:
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The most usual reason is that they are stiff or in discomfort and be in need of a massage session to ease their muscles.
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You may need to adjust your technique.
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You may need to try a different technique such as carrot stretches.
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