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Connecticut Equine Massage
Horses benefit from loving, hands-on care
By DIANA CARR, Middletown Press Correspondent
03/08/2005
"What people like about this," Caine tells us, "is that it’s all-natural. There are no tools or gismos or
gadgets. There’s no medicine. It’s completely non-invasive. You’re using what God gave you. Nothing
could be more natural than that. A wide range of people are interested in equine massage --
everybody from the backyard horse owner to the high-end dressage and show barns, from people with
young horses to people with elderly horses. And as time goes by, you’re going to see even more
acceptance of this. Over the past 10 years, people have become much more open to natural methods
of healing."
Caine and Rivers met when they were boarding their horses at the same stable. Both had horses with
Lyme disease, and they felt there were other things they could do for their horses that would
compliment traditional medicine. Their research on natural therapeutic remedies for the disease led
them to the discovery that massage would be of great benefit.
Caine knew they shared a similar philosophy regarding the care of horses, and that they both wanted
to have their own business. So one night about a year ago, she called Rivers with the proposal that
they join forces and do equine massage for a living.
Rivers shared her enthusiasm. Connecticut Equine Massage was birthed following a seven-day
accelerated course (requiring 12 hours of training a day) at the Equissage program in Round Hill, Va.
Someday they hope to have a barn for their business, but for now they have an office in Caine’s
Guilford home. "It’s really a mobile business," they say. "Clients call and we go to their barn and do a
massage."
A lot of their time is spent educating the "horse public." They hold clinics, speak at horse associations,
and do demonstrations for 4H clubs, the Girl Scouts, and farm associations. They also go to horse
shows to set up exhibits and provide services for the people there. Clients find their way to them by
means of brochures, referrals, and the Web site.
They have had wonderful results with older horses -- like the 28-year-old Appaloosa with a host of
problems. "It was a very tough case to start with," says Caine. Working closely with the owner, they put
him on an exercise regimen in addition to the massage. Within three months, he had improved 80
percent, and was once again able to be ridden after a four-year "sabbatical."
"He was a completely different horse. The owner was thrilled. She had a horse who was happy and
healthy and invigorated. We have cases like this where we’re just thrilled with the outcome."
And, of course, their own horses are the happy recipients of regular massage. Caine has two horses --
Sadie, a quarterhorse mare, and Dude, a paint gelding. Rivers has a paint gelding named Four Winds
Banjo. These are the horses who had Lyme disease. "We learned this too late for them," says Caine.
"By the time we learned this, they had already recovered. The massage would have helped them."
Jenn Sisk, the owner of Crystal Wood Stables, along with her husband, Robert, was an eager student
that day. With five horses of her own, she runs a boarding stable and a therapeutic riding program for
people with special needs. The horses have to compensate when they are being used in these
lessons, and it takes a toll on their bodies. The massage will help soothe aching muscles.
"We ask a lot of the horses," Sisk says. "If we can give a little back through massage -- well, this is
what we want to do for them. And I have a horse who doesn’t want anyone but me to touch him. I want
him to have the benefits of massage. Now I can practice the techniques I learned on him."
Caine speaks for her partner as well when she says, "The rewards are immeasurable. We feel blessed
to have met such wonderful people who really care about their horses. And, of course, we get to work
on what we really love, which is the horses.
"The best reward is the reaction we get from the horses. And they show us in so many different ways
how much we’ve helped them, such as nuzzling us when we’re working on their hind end, or the look in
their eyes, or the tenderness they show toward us when we’re working with them. The biggest thing is
the trust. We start out with them not knowing us, and within minutes they trust us. When we gain their
trust, it’s worth every minute that we’ve worked toward it."
For information, go to www.ctequinemassage.com. Contact Caine and Rivers at
ctequinemassage@yahoo.com.
©The Middletown Press 2006
By DIANA CARR, Middletown Press Correspondent
03/08/2005
"What people like about this," Caine tells us, "is that it’s all-natural. There are no tools or gismos or
gadgets. There’s no medicine. It’s completely non-invasive. You’re using what God gave you. Nothing
could be more natural than that. A wide range of people are interested in equine massage --
everybody from the backyard horse owner to the high-end dressage and show barns, from people with
young horses to people with elderly horses. And as time goes by, you’re going to see even more
acceptance of this. Over the past 10 years, people have become much more open to natural methods
of healing."
Caine and Rivers met when they were boarding their horses at the same stable. Both had horses with
Lyme disease, and they felt there were other things they could do for their horses that would
compliment traditional medicine. Their research on natural therapeutic remedies for the disease led
them to the discovery that massage would be of great benefit.
Caine knew they shared a similar philosophy regarding the care of horses, and that they both wanted
to have their own business. So one night about a year ago, she called Rivers with the proposal that
they join forces and do equine massage for a living.
Rivers shared her enthusiasm. Connecticut Equine Massage was birthed following a seven-day
accelerated course (requiring 12 hours of training a day) at the Equissage program in Round Hill, Va.
Someday they hope to have a barn for their business, but for now they have an office in Caine’s
Guilford home. "It’s really a mobile business," they say. "Clients call and we go to their barn and do a
massage."
A lot of their time is spent educating the "horse public." They hold clinics, speak at horse associations,
and do demonstrations for 4H clubs, the Girl Scouts, and farm associations. They also go to horse
shows to set up exhibits and provide services for the people there. Clients find their way to them by
means of brochures, referrals, and the Web site.
They have had wonderful results with older horses -- like the 28-year-old Appaloosa with a host of
problems. "It was a very tough case to start with," says Caine. Working closely with the owner, they put
him on an exercise regimen in addition to the massage. Within three months, he had improved 80
percent, and was once again able to be ridden after a four-year "sabbatical."
"He was a completely different horse. The owner was thrilled. She had a horse who was happy and
healthy and invigorated. We have cases like this where we’re just thrilled with the outcome."
And, of course, their own horses are the happy recipients of regular massage. Caine has two horses --
Sadie, a quarterhorse mare, and Dude, a paint gelding. Rivers has a paint gelding named Four Winds
Banjo. These are the horses who had Lyme disease. "We learned this too late for them," says Caine.
"By the time we learned this, they had already recovered. The massage would have helped them."
Jenn Sisk, the owner of Crystal Wood Stables, along with her husband, Robert, was an eager student
that day. With five horses of her own, she runs a boarding stable and a therapeutic riding program for
people with special needs. The horses have to compensate when they are being used in these
lessons, and it takes a toll on their bodies. The massage will help soothe aching muscles.
"We ask a lot of the horses," Sisk says. "If we can give a little back through massage -- well, this is
what we want to do for them. And I have a horse who doesn’t want anyone but me to touch him. I want
him to have the benefits of massage. Now I can practice the techniques I learned on him."
Caine speaks for her partner as well when she says, "The rewards are immeasurable. We feel blessed
to have met such wonderful people who really care about their horses. And, of course, we get to work
on what we really love, which is the horses.
"The best reward is the reaction we get from the horses. And they show us in so many different ways
how much we’ve helped them, such as nuzzling us when we’re working on their hind end, or the look in
their eyes, or the tenderness they show toward us when we’re working with them. The biggest thing is
the trust. We start out with them not knowing us, and within minutes they trust us. When we gain their
trust, it’s worth every minute that we’ve worked toward it."
For information, go to www.ctequinemassage.com. Contact Caine and Rivers at
ctequinemassage@yahoo.com.
©The Middletown Press 2006
DURHAM - Recently, horse lovers from as far away as
New Jersey gathered at Crystal Wood Stables in
Durham. Halide Caine and Wendy Rivers, the owners
of Connecticut Equine Massage, were teaching them
the techniques for soothing away the aches and pains
of their beloved steeds.
Caine demonstrated the strokes during the classroom
portion of the day, and then it was out to the barn
after lunch to practice what they had learned. "Always
maintain contact with the horse," Caine told them. "It’
s a fluid motion. It becomes a sort of dance with the
horse."
Equine massage therapy is the "therapeutic
application of hands-on massage techniques for the
purpose of addressing muscle injury." Dating back to
ancient times in China and Egypt, it was introduced to
the racetracks in this country in the mid-1970s. A
valuable tool in both prevention and treatment, it has
a myriad of benefits: it stimulates circulation by
increasing blood flow and oxygen to the muscles; it
enhances muscle tone and increases the range of
motion; it balances the whole body; it promotes the
healing process by increasing the flow of nutrients to
the system; it relieves soreness and stiffness; it
improves attitude; and it aids in solving problem
issues, such as a choppy gait, head tossing, and a
reluctance to move on.
New Jersey gathered at Crystal Wood Stables in
Durham. Halide Caine and Wendy Rivers, the owners
of Connecticut Equine Massage, were teaching them
the techniques for soothing away the aches and pains
of their beloved steeds.
Caine demonstrated the strokes during the classroom
portion of the day, and then it was out to the barn
after lunch to practice what they had learned. "Always
maintain contact with the horse," Caine told them. "It’
s a fluid motion. It becomes a sort of dance with the
horse."
Equine massage therapy is the "therapeutic
application of hands-on massage techniques for the
purpose of addressing muscle injury." Dating back to
ancient times in China and Egypt, it was introduced to
the racetracks in this country in the mid-1970s. A
valuable tool in both prevention and treatment, it has
a myriad of benefits: it stimulates circulation by
increasing blood flow and oxygen to the muscles; it
enhances muscle tone and increases the range of
motion; it balances the whole body; it promotes the
healing process by increasing the flow of nutrients to
the system; it relieves soreness and stiffness; it
improves attitude; and it aids in solving problem
issues, such as a choppy gait, head tossing, and a
reluctance to move on.
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