Lately ads for a couple varieties of equine massage gun have popped up on my Instagram feed. I’ve got a mare with stiffness and tension from an old injury whom I suspect would benefit from massage like this. Anyone have one at home? Any brand recommendations? I’ve only got a couple horses and I don’t need anything super complicated or with a bazillion attachments.
Thanks!
Talked with my horses’ veterinary chiro about these. She strongly recommended against using these guns, because, as she stated, they’ve been bringing her lots of income. The reason: you have to actually know when, precisely where, with what intensity and for how long to use a massage gun. Not only the guns in these ads are simply too intense for a horse, but also well-intending owners just blast them all over the problematic zones of their horses’ bodies, injuring the tissues and making the matters much worse: cue suddenly a stiffer horse and the chiro gets an urgent call to repair the damage…
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A ha!
I was wondering about those same issues - would I mis-use this thing somehow and aggravate my mare’s aggravations?
Thank you!
Consider watching some of Jim Masterson’s videos on YouTube. The Masterson Method shows how to release tension in very gentle ways. My horses have loved his techniques and it would be almost impossible to cause injury (can’t see how you could, but never say never). I have his CD but he posts a lot of things that are freely available.
I have a massage gun for myself and it is a pretty intense experience!
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@Bogie, yes, I’m doing some Masterson on her already. Love it. Slowly getting better and better with it… I was just momentarily greedy for more improvement, faster. Ha!
I got a Bang gun at auction and discussed it’s use with both chiro and massage. I use it on Maggi’s neck ( a place she holds a lot of tension) maybe 2 times a week for just a couple of minutes. I use it set on 1 or 2 and she loves it. Moves into it and obviously appreciates it.
It’s been about 4 months and chiro and massage people both have commented positively on the difference.
I have one that I bought off Amazon. I get tension and knots in my neck and right shoulder from work, it only takes a few seconds a couple times per week for the gun to release it. I wouldn’t necessarily say that it feels good in that spot.
But it does feel good when I do my hip flexors and IT band.
For me it’s been more affordable and more convenient, with the same results as an actual massage.
I use it on two of my horses. One is a light cribber who carries a lot of tension through his poll. I usually ride, then do some carrot stretches, then massage his poll/neck with my hands, then the gun for less than a minute.
I never hold the gun on a spot for more than a second or two. The gun usually gets him stretching down and yawning.
The other horse has an old hamstring injury. I usually do some carrot stretches and then use the gun on his hind end. Again, I never stay in the same spot for more than a few seconds, especially if the muscles seem really tight. He’ll push into it if you get to a good spot, and when those muscles through his hind end relax he’ll relax through his whole top line and lower his head.
I certainly wouldn’t buy one to just run over the body Willy nilly. But if there’s an area you’d like to address than you can learn some basic massage and stretching for that specific problem, then use the gun to compliment it.
Admittedly there isn’t a lot of convincing research on percussion guns, but my neck and shoulder are proof to me that they can work if used correctly.
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I have had good luck with using SureFoot pads + Masterson. Bothy horses start releasing more quickly with the pads. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend attending one of the Masterson weekend workshops. Really helped me “get it” after starting with the book and video.
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So useful!
Saw the new chiro today and was impressed w her good work. I’m following her suggestion to hold off on a gun for now, but we may get a human one for ourselves.
Thanks everybody!
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