Horse feeling a bit peaky? Maybe a massage will help

SMALL PRINT:DUBLIN HORSE SHOW can be a stressful experience for a horse. There's the travel, the competition, the new stables, it all adds up. For some, Horse Shiatsu is the solution.

Veronique Vie, one of the few therapists working with horses in Ireland says: “There is nothing magical about it. The horse is standing up during the treatment. With young horses, they want to join in and will push back against the therapist with their nose.” The sessions aren’t a miracle cure but work well for horses with tension in the back, lameness or feeling tired for no obvious reason. Regular treatment has eased allergies to midge-bites for one of Vie’s equine clients. Any treatments are undertaken in consultation with the horse’s vet.

Now living in Kerry, the Frenchwoman started doing Shiatsu on humans but as a horse-lover soon saw the potential benefits for her four-legged friends. She says it’s easy to tell when a horse is not happy with a procedure. Therapists respond to a horse’s language when working out where the problem lies. “I spend an hour first with the owner, getting the history of the horse and checking the saddle-fit,” says Vie. “Then I sweep the horse’s body to see where the hot and cold points are. They would lean into the pressure when you work on a tender point.”

Amateur dressage rider Sally McGuinness discovered the value of Shiatsu when her horse, Greville Run, was treated by therapist Ainé Corcoran. “He is an ex-racehorse with all of the wear and tear that that brings with it. He has injuries from racing and problems with his back have built up,” says McGuinness. “The vet couldn’t identify it.” She says she had no worries about the treatment as she could see Greville was loving the attention. Describing it as a light massage, she was surprised at how gentle the stretching movements were. But the best part of the treatment came two days later. “We had a competition and he got the best score he’d ever had in dressage. I put it down entirely to Aine,” says McGuinness.