I won a free demo, which was very interesting. I can see how they improve the stretch or reach and why they are popular for competition purposes.
We treated two, but my elderly gelding who was treated was very stiff, he seemed better after the treatment and about 4-5hours later was more grumpy and stiff than usual. So my question for him would be, does it actually make things better for the long term or is it simply a release of those nice (can't remember the name) things in the body that make you feel better for a little while and then come down from.
One way of getting back some of your cost is to rent it out to other people? I saw a second hand one advertised the other day and was amazed for how much - they really seem to hold their value, so on the other side you shouldn't loose much money if you do want to sell, plus if you buy direct from them they do payment schemes which are reasonable?
If I was going to shell out that sort of money I look into the Massage rugs more than the equissage. Purely as the Equissage is fairly area specific - although of course there are the hand held units, where as the rugs obviously treat the 'whole' horse as you can now aslo get neck bits also.
I have one that I bought for a horse that I lost 2 months ago. I have the full monty as such - the back pad and the hand held unit. It is a very good machine if you have the time to use it.
I am only selling mine as I have a new horse to fund and it is just wasted in my tack room. If you are interested PM me.
I bought one getting on for 2 years ago now, i bought the pad & hand unit. I can honestly say it's been a fab investment, i use it almost everyday 2/3x a day. Ive found it fab for warming up & cooling down as well as keeping the horses muscles relaxed on a daily basis, the hand unit means you can pin point specific area's of concern also & it also helps Humans to. Even though the back pad is in one place you can feel the vibration up & down the spine so it does treat a much bigger area than people think.
It recently helped with a gass colic case, i stuck it on the horse & walked it did help there was no question. So this particular horse gets an Equissage every time he comes in from the field atm & it does get things moving with him.
Im really pleased i invested, but i do use mine a lot. I wouldnt of spent that money if it wasnt going to be used as it's to expensive. Also i think some of the sales reps are very pushy, i had made my mind up when they came to my yard that if all the horses liked it i would buy but if not then i wouldnt. I made it very clear to the sales rep that was the case & to bring a new set with her. However she did still try to sell me a carssage to which she was told no chance lol.
I have an equilibrium massage pad which was £180. I spoke to my physio about whether I should get a massage pad or the equissage, and she said that she personally didnt think there was much difference so to go for the pad - my horse has improved so much with it