Becoming an Equine Massage Therapist
This is one of the most common questions I get, but the answer is more complicated than you might think-
The path to become an EMT really depends on where you are in the world. In the US, most states have pretty ambiguous laws that may or may not be enforced. This is why I call the US “the Wild West” when it comes to equine massage therapy. For this reason I recommend contacting your local state board, vets, and bodyworkers to get a good understanding of what’s legal/ not legal in your area.
Hot tip: going to work for an equine vet’s office, and/or shadowing under them is a great way to not only learn a lot, but be in their good graces so it’s less likely you’ll run into legal trouble.
Certifications/ license
As far as I know, there is no specific license for equine massage in the US. You can get licensed for human massage through your state, then get a certification for equine massage. A few states add equine massage under your license, but for most states there is no enforcement of any sort of education for equine massage therapists.
What’s in a certification?
Unfortunately equine massage certifications are not regulated at all. Any organization can put together a curriculum and say their students are equine massage certified after completion. This has led to many certification programs out there that are pretty poor in my opinion. For example, I personally invested (many years ago, as a broke 19 year old) 1300 into an online equine massage course that taught me a grand total of three massage techniques, and left me more confused and less likely to become a professional EMT than before I started. However there are some good programs- there isn’t a specific one that I recommend, but looking to the massage therapists you admire and where they got their education can be a good direction to go. If you want to be a professional, you should do significant in person training. Not only in a certification course, but shadowing and working with a mentor and continuing education.
A word on investment of time and education-
Someone reached out to me a while ago, saying that they wanted to buy my course Equine Massage 101 after they were done with the certification course they were enrolled in. I said, “thats great! Many EMTs take my course and say it’s more in depth than their certification course was. It has a lot of actual techniques, so it seems to fill in some gaps for people.”
This person responded and said “for 3k there shouldn’t be any gaps that I have to fill”… I had to chuckle to myself. I thought about the education I’ve received and the amount of time and money I’ve invested in it- 1.3k for that equine massage course, 11k for 8 months of human massage school and within the first year of graduating massage school- over 3k invested in continuing education. A year spent apprenticing under and equine myofascial release specialist and a human chiropractor and every year since I’ve spent over 1k in continuing education on equine anatomy, myofascial release/ massage.
Thousands spent on licensing, insurance, certification exams. Tens of thousands spent on business education. Only to hear- “You’re so lucky you are successful so early on in your career!”
I am very thankful for my business, but I took steps to be educated beyond what is required- then sought out mentorship and 1:1 feedback to be able to grow quickly and correctly, as well as have the confidence I needed to make decisions and take action in my practice & in business. I actually feel that the amount of time and money I’ve invested in myself is pretty low compared to the payoff I’ve received: a job I love getting to help wonderful animals and people, and the ability to support myself doing so. In most fields, people are investing hundreds of thousands of dollars and decades of their life into a profession before making enough to support themselves. So, please consider that becoming an EMT is a career and the investment you make into your education (or lack thereof) will be a major factor in your success.
My parting advice to the wonderful people who want to help horses for a living, via massage therapy- Please do it! The world needs more good equine massage therapists helping horses. But realize it’s a career and business like anything else. You will get out of it what you put in. So take the time to educate yourself (not only about horses, but business too!) and gain experience in the beginning, and you will be set up for success.
