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Hello and thank you for visiting my web site. In this section I will be addressing some of the questions that many people have asked me. If you still have more questions please feel free to e-mail me under the “contact” section of this web site.
Surely you are a single gal gallivanting across the country…
Nope, I am married to the best fella in the world for me. Our children are all grown up and we are the proud grandparents of 3 beautiful additions to our romping, active family. Speaking of Jack, I wanted to give a very special thank you to him! All the work on the farm rests on his broad shoulders when I am gone for 6 months of the year – along with fending for himself and dealing with all the daily challenges, chores and running about that we all must do each day. This is a lot to ask, and he has borne it so very well along with giving me all the support that I am so very grateful for each and every day. Jack recognizes the passion I have to teach people about the power of a compassionate, gentle, educated touch. Behind this woman stands a man that holds her up when her strength flags, encourages her when she needs to be prodded, challenges her to ‘find a way’ when roadblocks appear and loves her enough to be willing to share her time with others. I’m always coming home to you my love!
Back to business…
How can I learn enough to become an equine massage therapist in such a short time?
Well, through our advanced hypnosis techniques…….no, just kidding. In this course you will
learn a competent, fully body massage, along with all the theory required to attend an injured
horse from the acute stage of injury to the care of a chronic injury, work on the equine
athlete, hacking buddy or the old retired horse that needs some tlc!
There are many courses available to take all across North America and beyond, those
that are much longer and teach much more information to those that are interested in learning
deeper physiology and anatomy. Some of the courses will teach all skeletal landmarks, origin
and insertion of all muscles along with nerve innervation. This alone can take upwards of 6
months to absorb. This course strips massage therapy right down to the basics. Major muscles
are all covered, along with how they can become injured, and what we are supposed to do to
aid the horse in regaining supple muscles and full range of motion in their joints.
The things that I feel, as an equine massage therapist, are important to know and understand
are all covered in this course. The intensity of the days in succession helps to keep my
students minds only on massage. The repetitive nature of my teaching style ensures that the
information is readily available, and practice put to purpose while we work on the horses on
the first day of class only reinforces the reason why people take this course–to learn hands-on
work that can help horses recover from injuries, help our equine athletes gain their full potential,
and to develop a deeper bond between us and our horses!
Is there an age limit?
Yes, there is an age limit of 16 (within the calendar year that the course is being taught).
The reason for this is two fold. The language in the course is challenging, as I use the proper
medical terminology when speaking in terms of anatomy, physiology and massage therapy.
The range of ages of the participants of the courses vary from course to course, but usually
range from 20-65 (yes, 65 and up!). I like to see full interaction of all of my students, and encourage
discussion within the group as it pertains to the course material. Although I have personally found
that many people involved with horses are quite mature for their age, I would not like to see any
students not participate as fully as others, possibly due to shyness, or lack of confidence,
hence the age minimum of 16.
What are the physical requirements of the course?
This course is a hands-on learning course that teaches both theory and massage. In the barn,
students are required to stand while massaging, but may sit when they are not working. A good
rule of thumb I like to use is this: If you can muck out a 10 stall barn, you can do this course.
Massage requires feet, legs, hips, shoulders, arms and hands (listed in importance), and not just
arms and hands. The pressure we generate comes from the proper positioning of our feet, driving
up the legs to put the power into our hips. From here the pressure goes into our shoulders,arms
and out through our hands. (very much like mucking!). I do bring stools with me to classes, and
the students may sit when they are not massaging.
There are also daily chores of cleaning stalls, cleaning and filling water buckets, sweeping and taking
horses in and out of the barn. Facilities have opened up their barn doors to allow us the privilege
to work with their horses – real, working farms – so we help out with the daily chores in order to be
able to work with them in a clean barn.
Who takes an equine massage therapy course?
Not all of my students take my course for the purpose of working on other people’s horses
or starting an equine massage therapy business. We are a broad and varied group! Many people
reconnect with the horse world after many years of raising their families, and may choose to either
repurchase an older friend, adopt from the track, begin to do volunteer work at a rescue or therapeutic
riding association, or start a whole new adventure with a new horse and discipline!
Many older horses can have issues with arthritis and old injuries that should be addressed.
As riders and loving owners, we seek for our horses to have the smoothest gait possible. If my
horses are having issues, it will translate into an uneven (and uncomfortable to sit) gait.
With regular massage (about 1 time per week, then graduating down to once every four weeks), we
can help horses with any aches, inflammation, lack of extension and extensibility, which in short is
the lack of a muscle to reach it’s full potential in either extension or flexion which translates into
missed jumps, slow painful movements, lack of speed, inability to maneuver around barrels smoothly etc.
These issues can be addressed and helped through massage, which will make the horse more
comfortable, also helping the rider in the process by having a much smoother gaited horse to ride!
For those people in the competitive circle, whether it is with dressage, racing, barrels,
endurance, hunter, jumper, roping etc., we can all help our athletes reach their full potential!
Tight muscles are prone to injury ,whereas soft, supple, extensible muscles are much less
prone to injury. Any and all competitions (and yes, just pleasure hacking too) will put strain and
stress on the muscles and joints of our horses. Massage will help keep both of these components in
smoother working order. Will your horse now place first in all competitions? Of course not, but
what a thrill it will be not be in last place, or to see your horse working more easily with less injuries!
Massage can never take the place of proper training, and any horse in any venue of competition
must be conditioned properly in order to gain it’s full potential. (I strongly recommend the
Exercise Physiology course from the University of Guelph in this area!)
Can I get the massage manual in advance?
No, I do not send the manual in advance. The manual is specific to the teaching of the course,
and rather reads like stereo instructions and would not make sense alone.What you do get in
advance is homework! I have on line homework available. When a person has registered for
the course, they will then receive the pass codes to download the homework.
Do I get a certificate?
Yes for both massage courses:
Short massage course: Certified Equine Massage Therapist
6 week course: Certified Advanced Equine Sports Massage and Vertebral Realignment Therapist
Can I just sit in on a class and just watch? (Audit)
No, I do not allow auditing of my classes. It is important that each student receive my
attention not only with the theory, but also with the hands on portion of the class too! My students
check with me on their pressure, posture and massage manipulations during the class; this cannot
be accomplished or learned by anyone just watching.
Can I do this course on line?
Absolutely not! In this new, on line, computer driven world, there are loads of courses that can be
taken on line, but massage just should not be one. The nuances of pressure cannot be checked by
the instructor, the responses of the horse cannot be gauged by the instructor, and if a student finds
something that requires identification – again, it requires an instructor.
We do not learn how to ride on line so why would anyone think that learning how to massage on line-
or exclusively through a book – is acceptable.
I receive multiple requests each year regarding on line instruction, and frankly I could have created
a really amazing course content as I have very exclusive information regarding horses. I have had
the privilege of actually working hands-on with horses for over 25 years; but I will not disrespect the art
of massage, nor the over 2000 students I have personally met and taught, nor try to short change the
horses by ‘graduating’ people I have never met, never seen what their hands are doing, their attitude
towards the horses, and how the horses have responded to their touches.
What is the course schedule?
The Equine massage Course is from 8am-5pm daily with the last day concluding no later than noon
The Professional 6 week Program: 8am-5pm Monday-Thursday, Fridays, no later than noon. There is
one long weekend off at the end of week 5 and beginning of week 6 as there are presentations to prepare
for the final week. It also gives students a chance to catch up with any homework and study for the final test.
This is the approximate schedule and may/will be modified according to the availability of the
horses. Feeding schedules and barn cleaning schedules vary, along with any previously booked
appointments (farrier) and the weather too. If it is to be very hot, then I will try to have the massage
work in the am and book work in the pm. In the cold, the book work is broken up even more such
that we can work with the horses in shorter, but more numerous times and have time to warm up
in the classroom with book work.
Although not stated, each day every horse will have a health check and we will do clean up work
prior to leaving the barn for the day.
The final day of the class, we work with the horses, clean the barn and sanitize all of the equipment
prior to the end of class.
Our day is finished no later than noon on the final day
When do I receive my certificate?
Certificates are presented on the last day of class. Receipts will also be provided for all students
on the final day of class.
What do I need to bring with me to the course?
A hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, weather smart clothing including gloves if it is cold, (I prefer to
work outside if weather permits), steel toed shoes if you have them, a cushion for sitting upon
as I provide stools and they can get a bit uncomfortable – or you can bring your own chair, and your lunch.
Pencils, paper, highlighters, the course manual (which is yours to keep-that I wrote) are all provided.
Most importantly, an open mind that is ready to learn! I do things quite differently than others, and you will learn all
sorts of new information about horses, so be prepared to change the way you work with and see these amazing creations!
What is the minimum number of students required?
There is a minimum of 6 students per venue. This is not the maximum – the maximum is usually 20;
however in Edmonton, this number may be slightly more as the facility is designed to
accommodate more horses and students.
It should be presumed that the course will move forward. If a course is cancelled, each person
will be informed via e-mail. All monies will be returned in their entirety.
If I work, what should I charge for my services?
This varies from area to area; however, a generally accepted rate is between $60-$75 per
session plus mileage for the Equine Massage Course grads. This is an individual decision – beware of charging too little, as people
will not see the value in the work and may question why something is so cheap!
For the Professional 6 Week Program grads, typically they charge between $125-$175 per session plus mileage.
How long are massage sessions?
In my practice, I try to keep my hands-on time to roughly no less than an hour and a half.
beware of therapists who spend less time on horses!
What I teach is that equine massage is a session and never has a time limit.
How long before I can actually charge for my services?
Right away! I am a firm believer in not selling myself short. If you are performing a task, you
should be paid for your work!. Do not sell yourself short! Always charge for your time. A valuable
skill has been learned, and working people deserve to be compensated for their knowledge
and skills!
I strongly recommend to all of my students to do 10 massages – get those hands busy! – after
the conclusion of the course to solidify the information.
Why? Within the shorter course, a competent massage routine, assessment of common issues
along with the massage solution that are unique to this course course, along with all of the
stretches is taught. On the last day, all of my students must complete a full assessment of the
horse and do the massage work including any applicable stretches.
Many of my students have come back to me and told me that they feel much more confident in their
ability to do the full routine by this last day. But, it takes time to develop the skills, the feeling of
the tissues and to get very comfortable with doing the massage. I have been in practice for 34
years and I still am learning new ways to use my hands to reduce spasm and tension in muscles!
Learning how to massage is no different than learning any new skill. No one learned how to canter,
find their diagonals, stops, turns, jumps or any other aspect of riding in one session or for that matter in
a week. Everything in life takes practice and with it comes confidence.
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The information below covers specific questions people have asked me
about the industry, regulations, organizations and opinions.
I have posted this information so that people can see that I have done my
homework and that I have been open in all areas of concerns.
Certainly if you have more questions, please do feel free to e-mail (best) or call
and leave a message and your call will be returned.
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What is the difference between your course and that 2 year program?
I have been asked this specific question a lot. As stated above, each course focuses on different
things. The two year program in London, ON from which graduates can use the term “Registered Equine Massage Therapist”, focuses on anatomy – lots of it. From the skeletal system and all the boney landmarks, to every muscle with origin and insertion points, action and nerve innervation..
This is a tremendous amount of information, and takes a great deal of time to absorb – I should know – as a human RMT, I had to learn it all- and more as we have The Massage Therapy Act that outlines our scope of practice and the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario governs our actions! – Their focus continues in physiology and micro anatomy with action potentials (diffusion of Na (sodium) across a membrane), motor end units (the connection between the nerve and the muscle), etc. This is all fascinating information, but it will never make a person a better hands-on therapist.
I believe that the focus of a massage course should be massage. This course is designed with that in mind.
There are also distance courses that can take 2 years to complete. The courses are usually taught as a weekend course, then a month at home in practice and reading material, then another weekend get together- and this goes on for 2 years (and typically the summer months do not have any class time). In short, people teach themselves the information and pay to be told what to read and check in once a month. This is not a criticism, it is only the truth about distance courses. Be sure to do your homework and find out everything about a course prior to registration.
I myself have spent thousands of dollars in education via distance (on line courses with the University of Guelph), but I also understand that I am literally paying a university to tell me what to read in exchange for a piece of paper at the end of my efforts.
I am not picking on the longer program, but this question has been asked so many times that it really needed to be addressed. For any program, get the facts before you sign up. How much hands on time is in the course? How many actual hours of time will you have with the instructor? When do I get to start working with the horses? Is the course in class or is it a distance course? What are the credentials of the instructor? Is the course actually about massage or only just a few days of massage? What is the student to horse ratio? This is a crucial question! In my courses, the student to horse ratio is never more than 2:1. I have had students from other courses contact me (not sure why…) to complain that their ratios are 5:1 (poor horses!). Imagine the horse that has now had many hands touching, assessing, massaging etc. and how irritated that how may now be and possibly non-compliant to be touched any longer.
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What are your credentials?
I have been a human Registered Massage Therapist since 1990.
That’s over 34 years of hands on work with loads of soft tissue injury experience under my fingers.
My schooling as an RMT is 2200 hours at an accredited school, and I am in good standing
with my board (CMTO). In 2007 I retired from active practice in order to teach these courses full time.
I have actually returned to part time practice as a human RMT in Active Practice.
A muscle is a muscle is a muscle. Injury leads to spasm, and spasm leads to a lack of range of
motion. In a muscular injury, spasm will lead to a chronic tension in the muscles along with trigger
points (are fully explained in the course!). In tendon and ligament injuries, muscle spasms are
also present, but our focus leads to work on the tendons, along with scar tissue (also covered in
the course!). These injuries are the same for a human, horse, dog, cat – even a guinea pig!
The ability to assess an injury, apply the correct massage technique and reduce spasm and
tension in a muscle is the purpose of massage – no matter the species we are working with
at the time.
I took an equine massage therapy course in 2001 and learned a basic massage routine. Since
that time, I have developed my own unique techniques that I shared with the horses and requested
their feedback. The courses I teach are an ongoing conversation with the horses – asking them
what works for them and what does not and I share this valuable information that I have gathered
from the horses with my students.
I saw the need for more people to lean this valuable tool, so I wrote my own original equine
massage manual based on my experience, research and the fundamental basics and principles
of massage therapy.
As a practicing RMT, we were required to collect no less than 30CEUs (credit units) every 3 years in
order to maintain licensing. I had taken quite a few courses through the years when I was in human
practice.
I have taken not only my personal work, but also techniques meant for humans, transposed them
into working with the horses to create new, unique massage techniques that are safe and effective.
No one else can offer this as this is based on my work and the courses that I have taken.
The information I provide cannot be learned from a book.
I also hold a Diploma with Distinction from the University of Guelph in Equine Health Sciences,
which covers equine: nutrition, functional anatomy, physiology, management of the equine
environment, health and disease prevention and growth and development, equine behaviour and
genetics.
My education has continued with EAGALA in equine assisted psychotherapy. I hold a level II Certification with
“Equine Expert” designation with their organization. (no less than 600 hours of equine experience is required for this designation).
I also hold certification with the Certified Coaches Federation and am a Certified Coach Practitioner. This is a life coach and is not
to be confused with an equine training coach.
Who regulates the industry of equine massage therapy?
The equine massage therapy industry has absolutely no Provincial or Federal legislation that specifically oversees this profession in Canada, (there are no animal massage therapy Acts) and therefore, there is no one group/association/school that can claim that they have exclusivity to teach or have their graduates practice equine massage therapy.
This means that from the perspective of who can practice, there is ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENCE between a “Certified” or “Registered” Equine Massage Therapist. Both can practice. Both can charge for services.
There are some provinces that have within their veterinary acts very broad descriptions of
the practice of veterinary medicine, so there may be some Veterinary Colleges that may
challenge individuals wishing to practice. For example:
In the Province of Manitoba, C.C.S.M. c. V30, the Veterinary Medical Act states:
2(1) The practice of veterinary medicine means the branch of knowledge that relates to maintaining the health of animals and to preventing, diagnosing and treating diseases of and injuries to animals.
The act further outlines included practices as:
(b) administers a drug, veterinary biologic, medicine, appliance or treatment of whatever nature to an animal;
The wording in the act may be interpreted to encompasses the practice of: massage therapy, chiropractic, homeopathy, reiki, healing touch, health touch, laser therapy, T-touch, magnetic therapy, ultrasound, aromatherapy, physiotherapy, the administering of poultices, sheath cleaning and any other treatment.
The Act includes “veterinary supervision”; however, it does not state what “veterinary supervision” encompasses, so there is indeed quite a bit of room for a person to work in equine massage therapy.
The act does not prohibit owners from learning or carrying out any of these modalities for use on animals which are owned by them:
Exemptions:
3(2) Subsection (1) does not apply to prevent a person from
(b) administering a drug, veterinary biologic, medicine, appliance or treatment of any kind to an animal if the person is
(i) the owner of the animal or an employee of the owner,
(iii) a person or a member of a class of persons specified in the by-laws while acting under the supervision of a member;
Regarding section 3(2)(iii) what this means is that a person may indeed practice in Manitoba; however, legally, it must be done with a veterinarian’s supervision. What does ‘supervision’ encompass? The act does not spell this out, as as such, it can be interpreted in a variety of ways. To date, not a single grad from my program has been pursued by the Manitoba College of Veterinarians.
Each province has their own definition of the practice of veterinary medicine, and the college of veterinarians of each province may or may not view the practice of individuals as contravention of the act or may allow the practice under the supervision of a veterinarian.
Please be aware of this, and feel free to:
Google the provincial veterinarian act (eg: Manitoba veterinarian act) and look under the Practice of Veterinarian Medicine for the complete definition.
Contact your local veterinarian and inquire as to whether they offer massage and where they received their training.
Contact your Provincial Member of the Legislative Assembly if your local veterinarian does not offer this service as the act (that can be changed by the introduction of an amendment to the governing statute) provides veterinarians only to practice in fields of study that may or may not have been included in their training.
Persons enrolled in the Manitoba classes must be owners of the horses in order to participate in the hands on segment of the classes. Graduates will still receive a certificate.
How many credit hours does each massage courses have?
Some other massage courses have indicated that they have significantly more credit hours for their grads. These extra hours are given to them post graduation in unsupervised massage hours. The only credit hours that are unsupervised in this course is the homework.
The short course breakdown is as follows:
39.5 hours of in class training
12 hours of homework during the course
28.5 hours of homework prior to the course
Total hours: 80
Certificate: Certified Equine Massage Therapist
The 6 week course breakdown is as follows:
270 hours of in class training
55 hours of homework during the course
25 hours of homework prior to the course
Total hours: 350
Certificate: Certified Advanced Equine Sports Massage and Vertebral Realignment Therapist
Why have credit hours?
Some people may request of their regulatory body credit for their ongoing education units.
If you have a regulatory body and would like for me to submit an application, please contact me with all the information required to make application to your governing body.
There are some organizations that people may wish to join in the future and the course itself must have the minimum number of hours. Some courses that do not have the actual hours available to their students will include post graduation, unsupervised massage hours in order to plump up the number of hours for their courses so that they can be approved.
I will not do this as I cannot in good conscience approve hours that I did not supervise.
Why would I want to join an organization?
Some people like the idea of belonging to a group, others do not. The choice is up to the grad. There is no particular organization that I support. In time, I will be creating an organization for my grads so that they will be their own group – everything in time!
Some organizations offer group insurance. In Canada the insurance is exorbitant while in the USA, the insurance is quite low for members of organizations. At this time, there is no particular benefit (from an insurance standpoint) in belonging to any particular organization.
What about other organizations?
There is an organization called the International Federation of Registered Equine Massage Therapists.
The people that belong to this group are Registered Equine Massage Therapists who have
completed a 2200 hour program at a privately owned facility. They are a self regulated
association, and do not fall under the jurisdiction of any body of law, Provincial or
Federal legislation (as again, there is no Animal Massage Act in any province).
I have had a few people contact me asking questions about this organization, and for this
reason I have included this information in this forum. It is my intention to educate people that
are interested in this field, whether they wish to learn equine massage therapy for their own horses,
or to work as Certified Equine Massage Therapists.
Here are some differences between equine massage and human massage.
As an RMT (human registered massage therapist) practicing in Ontario, we are provincially
regulated under The Massage Act. We have a governing board that oversees our practices.
(CMTO – The College of Massage Therapists of Ontario). In human massage, insurance
companies offer massage benefits to members (paid by companies) for their employees.
As horse owners, many of us have insurance on our animals, but even with the insurance, it
does not cover many vet bills, many diseases, chiropractic, and certainly not massage therapy
treatments.
Human massage (in Ontario and British Colombia), is a very tightly regulated profession, and
yet, there are many massage parlors, esthetics, spas etc. that do not have RMT’s working at
their facilities. It begins a very long game of semantics.
The term “massage therapy” is copyright protected in the province of Ontario and British
Columbia, and only RMT’s may make use of this term, and yet, there are many people that
do “body work”, “myomassology”, “body balancing” etc., and our governing bodies cannot
do anything to regulate these people working in this industry.
So what does this mean in the horse industry?
Just this, if people can do massage and body work on humans and there are no regulations for
these people, then it would be logical to assume the work that is done for horses will also fall
into this particular area that my brother (the lawyer) calls the ‘Bermuda Triangle” as it has no
regulatory overseer.
There is no single organization, group or practicing body that has more right to work with
horses through massage than any other in Canada.
***I have permission from the College of Massage Therapists of Ontario to use their term
“massage therapist” when we put the word “equine” in front of it: “equine massage therapist”.
What about insurance coverage for the Certified Equine Massage Therapist?
If I had a dime for every time I was asked this question ….
CEMTs Do Not have to have liability insurance coverage in order to practice.
There is insurance available, but at this time, it is extremely expensive, and the scope of the
coverage is very small (what they will cover for and the circumstances that surround the incident).
Let me give you the human side of insurance: Every practicing RMT in the province of Ontario
is mandated to carry 2 million dollars of insurance. In the province of Ontario, in the past 30 years, only 1 person has been successfully
sued for causing soft tissue injury. Yes, RMTs have been sued for slip and falls on site, but only
1 person has been able to prove that their RMT caused them harm.With regard to equine
massage, it would be next to impossible to prove soft tissue injury has occurred during the massage.
If I take both the massage and vertebral realignment courses, do I receive a discount?
No, as each course is taught individually, they are separate from each other.
Are there discounts if I want to retake a course?
Yes, if a grad from my massage program wishes to retake the massage
course, within 3 years of graduation, they will receive a discount of $300.
If a grad wishes to retake the VR course, then they too may do so with a $200 discount.
As a returning grad, is there a discount for the 6 week course?
Returning grads from my massage course who have graduated within 3 years will receive a $300 discount.
Returning grads from my VR course will receive a $200 discount.
Returning grads from both the massage and VR courses receive a $500 discount.
If I tell others about the course, can I get a discount?
Thank you for telling people about the course, but everyone pays the exact same fee for all my classes.
The paperwork involved in keeping track of who told who and the tug of war when two people tell
the same person about the course is not something that I wish to involve myself.
When people find out that they paid more for a course than their fellow student, they get annoyed.
This course is a certification course. Think of it as University or College (trust me, the
information is at that level!). As a parent of two boys that attended College, we never
received a discount for sending them to the same college.
I want to be respectful of everyone’s time, and the money that they had to earn in order to
take this course. As I value this and their efforts, I show all my students that everyone is exactly
the same by charging the same fee for everyone.
When people tell others about the course, then they are only helping themselves – this is a good thing!.
If more people know about the course, then more people can sign up. If more people sign
up then the class can move forward.
If a person can split the expense of gasoline and hotel with someone that they have told about
the course, then their word of mouth has helped themselves – and another person too!
Is equine massage therapy accepted by owners?
I believe that with so many people using massage therapy for their own health benefits, that equine
(or in general animal) massage has been growing in acceptance. If I feel better after a massage, then
my horse should feel better too! I have seen a leap in acceptance by owners as a viable, natural
therapy for their horse’s benefit.
Is equine massage therapy accepted by veterinarians?
Veterinarians are people too – and many go to their own massage therapists for their needs. These
people would have an experiential acceptance of massage therapy and would be more open to the
idea. Others may be open to the idea, some guarded and some just non accepting.
As a human RMT, I went through all of this on the human side when MDs, chiropractors and specialists
were skeptical, guarded and some flat out rejected massage as a viable, non medicinal therapy.
Thankfully, there were those that either accepted massage, or would recommend my services to a
patient that was taking pain relief medication and where surgery was not an option. Basically, I was
given their toughest cases. When the doctors saw that the amount of pain medication taken went
down, this gave them actual quantitative results and a reason to recommend massage therapy
for more of their patients. This was the progression of acceptance of massage therapy for my
business. In fact, the response was so overwhelming, I had a closed practice after only 10 months of
becoming an RMT.
I see the same thing happening in the equine (or animal) massage therapy field. But, there is one
difference between humans and horses: insurance.
Many people have insurance coverage for massage therapy – and it requires a doctor’s prescription
before the insurance provider will reimburse for the amount paid for the therapy.
There are zero, none, nada, insurance companies for animals that will cover massage therapy,
chiropractic, physiotherapy, ultrasound therapy, laser therapy, aromatherapy etc. on an ongoing/preventative basis.
Insurance that we purchase for our animals is for basically two things: my animal causing harm to
a human and/or property, and coverage of veterinary bills should my animal come to harm – this
includes mortality insurance. .
For example: my horse escapes from the paddock, runs into the street and is stuck by a car.
The driver of the car is injured. I am sued. I have insurance. I am covered.
My animal is injured. I have purchased additional insurance for massive injury and mortality.
I am covered for the veterinary bills for that incident or sadly, mortality if the animal is killed.
Each insurance provider has a long list of what is covered and what is exempt. If you have this type
of coverage, please read your policy thoroughly.
Just fyi, each province has a federation (see links page for the complete list of federations in Canada).
As a member, there is automatic insurance for accident coverage- this does not cover for any veterinary
bills, but rather for property or human injury- again, please read the policy carefully to see what is,
and what is not covered.
So the bottom line, in my opinion, is this: If there is no insurance coverage for massage, then I do not
need to have my veterinarian’s approval.
An open mind is something that I value in a person – and most especially in the people I rely on
for my, my family’s and my animal’s needs.
If one person on this team is closed minded, then they are not on my personal team.
The well being of those that I love (and yes, this does include members of my four legged family) is
at the top of my wish list and daily prayers.
I value the opinion of professionals – they are professionals for a reason and their years of schooling,
experience and know how should be respected – although not revered.
I worked with human specialists for many years – with and never for – they specifically wanted my
services as an RMT for their patients. We were each but one part of the healing team for a person
that needed our expertise. We were all valuable to that person! If a person is a professional and they
allow a personal opinion based on no solid evidence to cloud their judgement, then their opinion that
I once valued is now gone. I do not mean to say that these people have to jump on every wagon that
passes in front of them. There are loads of things that we just do not understand. It is the respect of
another therapy that interests me. I do not understand exactly how acupuncture works, I have no
particular interest in becoming an acupuncturist, but I do respect the work that people do in this field.
When something works, does no harm, and the professional opposes this … well, time to get a
different professional on the team.
How do I register for the course?
Go to the “application form” tab located at the top of this page. Within this area you will find the application form along
with a waiver/release form. Follow the instructions on the application form page.
How do I know where the course is being held?
Every single course location and date is posted on the: Homepage, Course dates page, and the Cell Phone Friendly page
Problem accessing the information?
If you are having problems with opening the drop bar, or the page will not open for you, please
e-mail (through the contact section of this web site) or call me, and I will send you the information
(it will be a print out of this web site) by either e-mail, or regular post.
Can I bring my video camera and video tape segments of the course?
No, I do not allow video taping of the course. You may bring your camera on the last day and take group
photos or a photo with the horse you were working on if you wish. If you wish to have someone in the course
take a video of you working, you can do this, but you may not take any videos of the instructor or other students.
_________________________________________________________________________________
If you are interested in more information about the University of Guelph Equine
Science Certificate program, please feel free to click on the link below:
http://equinesciencecertificate.com
I do not have any affiliation with the University of Guelph, but I have had only good experiences
with their courses, and do recommend their on-line programs.
The link is by permission from Gayle Ecker-University of Guelph