Calla Bell

Relieve pain, discomfort, and tension. Your horse can have muscle soreness from trailering, hard work, having a tough pasturemate, or just nervous tension. Maybe he has an old injury that you don’t know about, and he is compensating, using one set of muscles more to make up for his weakness. Massage Therapy can locate this muscle soreness or tension and relieve it, making your horse more comfortable, happy, and relaxed.

Give your horse the best chance to be happy in his work. Give them the benefit of the doubt- it is very possible that if you are having behavioral or attitude problems, on the ground or under saddle, your horse is uncomfortable in some way. By relieving soreness and tension, he will be more comfortable in his job, and he happier and more willing to do it! Often times after Massage Therapy, the ears come forward and the tail stops swishing during grooming and riding. The horse will pick up a canter lead he wouldn’t previously pick up. He can bend his neck or leg yield in the direction he wouldn’t before.

Massage Therapy can be extremely beneficial to the nervous or busy-minded horse.  I have had great experiences with typically hyper or nervous horses becoming calm and focused after a massage. They learn that being handled and touched feels good. This new level of relaxation carries over to their ride, and they focus more on the rider and less on other exciting things going on around them.

Improve your horse’s range of motion, expression, and ability to perform. Your horse may have bigger movement than you think! If he has soreness in his back, he is probably holding it, and protecting it, because it hurts. Tightness in the shoulder makes for smaller movement in front. Tightness in the gluteal muscles and biceps femoris makes for smaller movement behind. A lot of dressage horses are sore in the base of the neck, as we dressage riders work to strengthen that area. Massage Therapy can loosen up those areas, making the horse feel more comfortable to move them. By increasing circulation to those areas, massage moves out the lactic acid and brings in oxygen and nutrients, which is what the muscle needs to heal and rebuild even stronger than before. The result is a more motion and expression, allowing your horse to reach his full potential.




Calla has worked with Ruth Hogan Poulsen during winters in Wellington, Florida as a massage therapist and a dressage rider.  Her experience in upper level dressage barns has been invaluable in tailoring her massage program to the sport horse.
Based on her diverse background with horses, Calla has seen the difference massage therapy makes with all equines, from competitors to pleasure horses.