Equi massage - the good, the bad, your experiences please ;-)

[cyberhorse]

My OH signed us up for a demo when we were at HOYS for what sounds like some kind of electronic massage therapy rug??? Didn't see the stand myself so not sure what we are in for. It is an eqine physio that comes out.

I was wondering what peoples experiences of this kind of thing are? generally the yard we are at and all the folks we know would be very suspicous of this sort of thing, being of the school "if your horse is not broken don't try and fix it or you'll have problems".

Personally I go to my physio when I have a strain and do the acupuncture and anything else I can get hold of. My horse has got certain conformational issues and is slightly stiffer on one rein but we direct our schooling to work on this and he is also on oils etc and by most standards it is VERY mild.

I guess I just want to know if it will do any harm given what all my friends are saying...My OH is very keen on any form of gadget he can get his hands on. I would rather have got an independant physio out who was recommended (but have been told repeatedly this is not necessary). How do I know the demonstrator is actually experienced/qualified? as surely they will just be a sales person on a commission. Causing arguments at home as I am sure you'll realise.

ETA: sorry for the ramble but I am a bit overprotective of our boy and get stressed with the thought of people messing with him...

 

[NELSON11]

Personally I believe massage therapy/pulsed magnetic therapy rugs can work very well alongside your physio. Obviously I wouldn't be advising them to be used soley if there was a suspected veterinary problem which needed diagnosis. But in my experience they can be an excellent addition to any horse treatment plan if they are explained correctly and the effects of them are cascaded effectively. If I were you I would go for the demo and see then decide after.