I am interested in becoming certified as an Equine Massage Therapist however the coursework seems a little…ambiguous. I came across a great sounding online course Angel’s Animals at Holistic at Holistic Animals Courses. I say it sounds great because it requires 10 case studies, everyday access to a horse, 100+study/classroom hours, and is NCBTMB, IAAMB, IVCA, ACAN certified. It IS an online course, which results with you being certified in the above listed organizations, and I’ve heard a few on this board saying they wouldn’t let someone who took an online course near their animals. There is no way I would ever purposely deceive a client but I’m just saying you receive the same certificate of certification from IAAMB as you would from a course at an institution… Another course of action would be the Rocky Mountain School of Acupressure and Massage, a bit more pricey but it is school after all, the only thing that bothers me is that you can get the certification done in 3 weeks. I am also planning in becoming human certified in future.
Yes, you should be careful about the program you enroll in. In some states, anyone can call him/herself an equine massage therapist, but any “school” that purports to certify you in a short time–and with exclusively an online course–should raise red flags. The program my daughter certified in required an online course of study divided into units: anatomy and physiology, equine kinesthesiology, behavior and handling, first aid…and only after passing tests on each of these was the student considered ready to begin learning basic massage strokes. At the end of the online portion of the training, a paper responding to one of several relevant books was required, along with 10 case studies, each of a different horse. Finally, students had to travel to a one-week, forty-hour “practical,” where they attended lectures and worked on horses under the supervision of the experts. After passing a test based on the one-week “practical” experience, they were certified–at first level. After that, students were encouraged to specialize: treating the performance horse, rehabbing, etc. Examine the curriculum very carefully! Explore the national certification requirements and compare them to the curriculum a given program is offering. Will the course actually prepare you to study for the national test? A valid certification in equine massage requires hundreds of hours to complete, not a mere week or two or three.
HP’sblueskyenterprise, my daughter certified through the Northwest School of Animal Massage. Their website details the qualifications of instructors and courses offered. As the name suggests, it’s based in the Pacific Northwest, but there are other good programs based in different parts of the country.
