equissage does anyone have one

As far as Im concerned a warm under a decent rug does much the same job.

I dont want to get into the ins and outs but there really is no way you can influence deep tissue with what is basically a motor that produces vibrations.....its transitory at best.

If the OP is genuinely that keen I would find someone who has already laid out thousands ona system and then hire it instead!! Failing that Boots have some similar bits of kit at a far cheaper cost!
 
We have one on our yard, both the hand held and the full back machine.

Firstly, my horse doesnt like it, so be aware that I havent used it as much as some people. Using it before riding seems to cut down on warm up time - which does make sense. The machine is good for increasing circulation and my horse always feels quite nice if he's had it on before riding. BUT, he'll feel exactly the same way if i dont use it and give him a decent warm up.

I spoke to both our yard physio and chiro about the equissage as I did consider buying one just before christmas. They both said exactly the same thing which was that the equissage is good at increasing circulation and anything that does that can be a good thing but beyond that, in their opinion, they didn't do anything. They both said they couldn't "cure" aches and pains and nor could they replace the work of a good physio / chiro / ostio or good overall back management (they were referring to riding the horse correctly here).

I use magnotherapy products for the increase in circulation they give and I went on to ask if they would be of any benefit at all to me personally. Both said that magnotherapy was sufficient to increase circulation and while the equissage machines are nice "toys", they wouldn't personally recommend them as an essential piece of kit as they didnt actually do much to justify the price.

The machine has been on our yard about 6 months now... when it first arrived everyone was queueing to use it... now I'd be surprised if the battery packs are even charged.

Certainly quite nice to use the back pad before riding if you're short on time as it does seem to warm the back up nicely, but not sure that justifies the price tag
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Just my opinion / experience of course!
 
agree with spans here - warm up in a rug, then take the rug off once horse is relaxed, this will warm the horse up quicker. i do this all the time with bloss and it reduces are warm up time to around 10mins. imo a waste of money, sorry......
 
Well, i will probably be shot down in flames, but i have one and its great!! It has significantly helped my new horse. who was very tense when i got him. He loves it and goes to sleep when you put it on. I still have the physio out when necessary but i do think it helps with relaxing the muscles and he certainly has worked far better and easier on the flat since i have used it. I also take it when i event and put it on before the dressage and when he has finished XC. Although a large extravagance, i dont regret getting it and think it has helped a lot.
 
Works absoulute wonders! We bought a horse everyone had written off. He had had his back done yet wouldnt move and kicked out when you got on him. Had had saddle checked, teeth done etc. Equissaged every day and after a few days he was back to the way they said he was...schooled lovely, jumped and hacked out.
I swear by them.
 
My friend has one and says the horses really love it but watched a physio work the other day and she used an activomed handheld and blanket/boots. It massages and uses lazer/magnetic pulses at the same time (handheld) and the blanket uses magnetic and massage as do the boots. You use the same unit to run all 3 and she swears by it and says although the equissage is helpful it cant compare to the additional benefit of magnetic pulses as well and you can program it to alternate between blanket and boots and so forth its a bit pricier than the equissage but she thinks well worth it

http://www.activomed.de/Infobroschuere%20Massage%20e.pdf

After watching it being used we went and surfed the internet straight away to find it!
 
No, we tried him out and he was really nasty with us too.
The first time we rode him after the equissage he was good as gold and you could see a chance in his shape
 
A good physio/chiro/equine massage therapist will give you valuable feed back and cover all muscle groups, something an equissage machine won't do.

You need to know where your horse is contracted/in spasm, if there are changes in tissue/lumps & bumps that may have been missed etc. Also different issues require different massage techniques and relevant pressure.

Even if you had your horse massaged once a month (normally about £30) over a year it would be a fraction of the cost that an equissage machine would set you back. There are lots of massage strokes and stretches that you can do on your horse and he/she will really enjoy it. A massage therapist will normally show you things to be working on inbetween sessions.
 
we have one and i use it on all of them i agree it is no substiute for a decent warm up or a human physio or masseuse but the horses like it, they seem to go better since we have had it and i found it particularly invaluable after or even during long lorry journeys it seems to help with the stiffness. yes i could wa;lk them in hand but much easier and safer in transit to just put the unit on. i also use it as a warm down thing on one of ours that allegedly tied up once and on all of them if they have had a particul;arly strenuous xc round. i do believe from my observations that it helps with lactic acid disapation and though you could achieve this in other fashions the equisage is not invasive can be used over rugs or when the horse is grazing and so is a useful tool.
 
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