So, why would you bother to use equine massage therapy or other alternative therapies on your horse?

In this section, I will discuss the benefits of equine therapy to your horse's mental, physical, and emotional health. I will focus mostly on the benefits of equine therapeutic massage. However, many of the alternative equine therapies will have the same benefits for the Equine Nervous System. The nervous system affects all three aspects of your horse's health - physical, mental, and emotional.

First, I will discuss the "Relaxation Response". This is when your horse moves from the Sympathetic (stressed state) into the Parasympathetic state (relaxed state).

Then, I will discuss the benefits of equine therapy in two sections.

• Physical Benefits of Equine Therapy

• Mental and Emotional Benefits of Equine Therapy

Please take some time to read the information on these pages. Even though this is actually a condensed version of the benefits of equine therapy, it will give you some ideas of how therapy can help your horse. Just know that there as many different benefits as there are horses. Each horse has it's own story. Each story has different needs.

I will tell you that I have NEVER applied therapy to a horse, dog or person that has not received benefit from it. Quite often I receive a lot of benefit from being the one giving the therapy. Therefore, I consider it well worth your time to learn some of these therapies and to start applying them to your horse. You won't regret it. And your horse will love you for it.

So, let's start by learning more about Your Horse's Response to Equine Therapy.