I’ve been seeing handheld massagers on FB and wondering if in unskilled hands, would it do more harm than good. The price is good and the comments are positive but I’m a skeptic and wondering if anyone here has one and if it’s worth looking into.
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I talked to my horse’s massage therapist about this. She said she doesn’t typically recommend it because it can do damage. But that being said she said it’s kind of common sense. She said she felt safe for me to be able to do it, as I have a good understanding of horse anatomy and less is more. But that means said I would look at it more as just a nice feel-good thing and nothing to use intensely for fixing anything.
I haven’t tried mine yet though.
It definitely isn’t a substitute for a proper massage. However, I have one that I use on myself, and occasionally on the horses.
If I’m not good about posture, stretching, and keeping my back/core/glutes strong than I end up with referred pain in my right shoulder/neck. If I don’t have time to go for a massage I can use my “gun” to work out some knots and loosen things up. Paired with stretching it can often get things back to normal within a day. Works better than stretching on its own.
It also does a good job on my hip flexors. I can stretch them on my own, but it’s hard to do any trigger point by myself.
On the horses just be careful not to overdo it in one spot. One of my horses is a cribber, so I sometimes use it around his neck and poll.
My other gelding has weak suspensories which has been causing more soreness through his hind end as he gets older. His hamstrings can get tight as a guitar string, so usually I’ll start with a walk, then some manual massage, followed by a short/gentle percussion gun session. They usually seem a bit looser by the time we’re done.
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I have one for the bigger muscle areas, my guy loves his Cranial Sacral massage but if I can help in between I will. I would avoid any small muscles or areas I do not understand well enough to apply the thumper to.
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My mare seems to really enjoy it. I don’t go for long though, because I’m not trained with it.
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Consider using a “gua sha” tool on your horse as part of your grooming routine. My mare loves it. I also use an acupuncture laser. The massage tool I use costs about $15. I use it on myself, too (I do own a massage gun for use on myself, but I haven’t tried it on my horse as it can be quite intense).
