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Equine Sports Massage Therapist

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If you think horses can't talk, Stacey Bailey begs to differ.

Bailey is an equine sport massage therapist in northern Ohio, and she'll tell you horses use body language to communicate: they tell you where they hurt by their actions and their posture.

"People think because a horse has more legs and it's an animal, their muscles don't hurt," says Bailey.

A horse is much like a human being in that sense. Bailey uses this analogy to explain: "Horses get sore just like you. If you've hiked for four hours, are you sore the next day? Sure. But you can take a nice hot bath, put a little heat on your body, a little liniment.

"A horse's only way of telling you they're sore is refusing to work. They may stop eating. Their body language tells you they're unhappy in their work and they don't want to go on. If you watch them, they'll tell you what's wrong.

"If they have a sore shoulder, sore buttocks or back, they shift their weight -- and when they do that, they become out of balance and then the other leg or hip becomes sore."

Bailey readily admits that equine massage may sounds a little bizarre. "If you heard that your girlfriend was getting her horse massaged, you'd think, 'Oh, please!'"

But it doesn't seem strange to horse owners and trainers who've seen the results of massage therapy. The whole idea is to head off a small problem before it becomes a big one.

Jean-Pierre Hourdebaigt is a pioneer of equine massage. Ironically, he got into the area purely by accident. A licensed human massage therapist, Hourdebaigt was working on a client one day.

"She was happy with the results and said she wished I could fix her horse's back." He decided to give it a try.

Soon, he had a small set of four-legged clients, mostly horses belonging to friends and acquaintances of his original customers. Many people wanted to know how they could apply massage therapy techniques to the animals themselves. He began offering training seminars. But he didn't stop there.

"I looked, but I couldn't find any reference material on equine sports massage they could use."

It was then that Hourdebaigt decided to write a book. Equine Massage: A Practical Guide was released in 1997.

"I got into this area basically because I had the professional ability and a great love of animals," says Hourdebaigt.

In non-racing states, equine massage hasn't been as readily accepted. When Bailey first finished her training, she gave away a lot of massages -- just to keep in practice. "It's not something you can stop doing," she says.

It's been difficult to get her business off the ground. Like any new business, marketing strategies play a major role in success or failure. Most of Bailey's business comes from getting out there and talking with people.

"You have to do a lot of handshaking and handing out flyers at horse shows. I talk to people. It's a lot of word of mouth. A lot of times I've gone to the track and made deals with trainers saying, 'I'll do it free three times and if it doesn't work, you don't have to pay me.'"

So far, the strategy has worked well for Bailey. She can't make a living entirely by equine massage -- yet. But she's working hard toward that goal.

Bailey has been in love with horses since she was five years old -- riding and training her whole life. Today, she has two horses of her own and a daughter who is starting dressage. It's something Bailey can't really afford -- so she trades. She exchanges massage therapy for her daughter's training.

"I'll tell you one thing," says Bailey. "You have to believe in what you're doing. And you have to like it. You have to honestly believe this is helping and really, really be dedicated."

Bailey does believe in her work. "I've never had anyone say to me they haven't seen improvements -- whether the horse was more relaxed, more cooperative, or whether they were happy in their work, there's been improvement."

It's hard and hot work. A horse's body temperature runs between 99 and 101 F. When you've been standing next to a horse for an hour, you get pretty warm yourself, especially in hot weather. Adds Bailey, "I never get cold in the winter. I love it, but I suffer."

It's also expensive work. Bailey's biggest overhead comes in the form of wear and tear on her vehicle and fuel costs. She drives 1,000 miles a week back and forth to different barns and the track.

Bailey charges $50 per massage. If she charged any less she'd go in the hole. But starting any new business is difficult, and Bailey is willing to put in the time to get her business going. In the interim, she hauls horses and even does massage therapy on show dogs. "Dog people are very into holistic medicine. Much more so than horse people."

But in the bigger racing states, equine massage has been more readily accepted and in time, it will take off across North America. In the meantime, Bailey gets to do what she loves best: working with horses.

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