I have had a long break from blogging, and have been on a reduced massage schedule for the last 6 months or so…those that follow my blogs might have wondered where on earth I went!

Since I qualified, Equine Massage has always been a side-line career for me. It has not provided me with my main income. Partly this is because I was just starting out, tentatively building a client base as my confidence steadily grew. But also it was because I recognised fairly quickly the heightened energy levels required to really engage with a horse and tap into where they required my work. These energy requirements started out as physical ones, but as I strengthened and built stamina, my energy deficit shifted to predominantly a mental one. I found myself drained after sessions where I really felt in tune with the horse, where they’d really communicated their soreness and allowed me in, aiding the release of tensions some had held onto for months or even years. Being predominantly of scientific mind and education, this realisation of course came as a surprise to me! But it soon became clear that it was an aspect of my role as a therapist that I needed to take into account… I knew at this point that completing multiple sessions in a day was not going to be conducive to effective therapy from me – those that I worked with straight after a real ‘breakthrough’ one were getting an energy-sapped version of my services, and I wasn’t enjoying taking on multiple bookings in a day knowing this reality.

I accepted pretty quickly that whilst I loved my therapy work, in order to continue to love it and make a difference to these animals, many of whom I was developing close bonds with, this would need to remain a side-line career…

But a horsey-mad lady I remain, and my second job outside of my equestrian passion just wasn’t quite filling the hole. That’s when I took the plunge! When a job came up caring for a small herd in a beautiful setting, with potential to grow into an exciting new equestrian facility for both rentals and events, it felt like fate. Despite being an initial physical shock to the system at my age(!), I am now able to work with horses in both a therapeutic and in a much less mental energy-sapping care role, and am loving my lifestyle change. I have moved house, dropped my previous 2nd job which had been dividing my attention, and am now finally ready, post-lockdown at least, to get back out there with my massage therapy!!

For those of you who I provide massage for regularly, I can’t wait to get started again – I am missing my equine clients so much! I will be in touch…

For those that may read this and feel that now is the time to get those ‘niggles’ explored, those who are curious to find out the performance enhancement that massage can provide, or those who just feel like their equine partners could use a bloody good pamper after this stressful period(!), please don’t hesitate to get in touch as soon as restrictions are lifted. I have increased my availability to a limited number of slots on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and some  Saturdays, all now bookable via my Facebook page or website. I can’t wait to get going…