The Equilibrium Massage Pad is light, portable and clinically proven to improve back flexibility while also relaxing your horse.
This incredibly effective design was developed through clinical trials at Myerscough College, UK. It was first created to help a successful ex-racehorse through the retraining process. Through the use of the Equilibrium Massage Pad, the horse went on to pursue a new career in Endurance!
Features:
- Clinically proven results (see below for more details)
- Shaped to follow the contours of the horse’s back - covers withers to quarters
- Battery operated 30-minute sessions (can be manually stopped at any time)
- 3 intensity levels to choose from
- Each intensity level uses 3 types of massage (pulsing, vibration and stroking) to ensure entire muscles are worked
- Perfect before exercise as part of warm up
- Fits a wide range of horses and ponies
- Easy to fit, clean & store with a modern & practical carry bag
- High performance battery & universal charger
- 2 year product warranty
Levels:
The low setting can be used to cool down after work.
The medium setting is ideal to warm up muscles before exercise.
The high setting for when your horse requires a more intense massage.
When to use Massage:
The Equilibrium Massage Pad can be used for:
- Horses on box rest to maintain good blood flow
- After exercise to help support recovery
- Before exercise as part of warm up
- At a show to relax after travelling
- On your horses day off as part of a maintenance program
- Anytime as a reward
Benefits of Massage:
Massage is well known for its ‘feel good’ factor and has been shown to aid relaxation, and assist with the maintenance of healthy muscle and muscle function. Tension is often one of the most common reasons for poor performance. By increasing relaxation and improving back flexibility, the negative effects of tension can be reduced. A relaxed horse, with relaxed muscles, will move with fluidity and suppleness which is particularly important for competition horses performing dressage movements, and those jumping technical fences.
The Equilibrium Massage Pad is now the choice of many Olympians, world champions and top producers.
Clinical Trials – Equilibrium Massage Pad
We are dedicated to creating carefully designed products that improve the wellbeing of the horse. All of our products are thoroughly researched, tested and quality checked.
The Equilibrium Massage Pad has been independently tested by Myerscough College in Lancashire.
The results, following 6 weeks of testing, show that the massage pad offers significant benefits to working horses, improving back flexibility, promoting relaxation and that it could help to increase stride length.
There were 2 parts to the study:
1) The horses were measured for signs of stress / relaxation immediately before, during and after the application of the massage pads over a six week period
2) The horses were assessed in terms of flexibility and suppleness. There were two groups of horses – a treated group and a control group.
Test Methods:
Back flexibility was assessed using the ‘Arch Dip Test’. The Arch & Dip test is a reliable and proven indicator of back flexibility (Pelham & Schobesberger 2006). It involves the use of pressure stimulus to generate a reflex in the horses’ back. Pressure applied to a specific region in the spinal area results in the horse ‘dipping’ away from the pressure, with a more flexible back allowing the horse to exhibit a greater ability to dip away from the source of the pressure. The arch test involves the application of pressure to the horses’ midline, in order to stimulate an upwards arch reflex in the horses’ back away from the source of pressure. Similarly, a more flexible back allows the horse to exhibit a greater ability to arch the back upwards away from the source of the pressure.
As a measure of relaxation, the horses also had their heart rates monitored.
Results:
Reducing Stiffness - Test results demonstrated an overall improvement in back flexibility of approx 46%.
Stride Length - The trial showed that the stride length of the horses who wore the Massage Pad which was turned on increased over the test period by 12cms, whereas the control group showed little improvement. Horse owners know that a small change in stride length can make a major difference to the way of going in the horse.
Promoting Relaxation - Using a heart rate monitor, horses wearing the EQUILIBRIUM Massage Pad had a consistently lower heart rate than those in the control group.
Conclusion - The results after 6 weeks of testing indicate that 1) the horses appeared more relaxed and 2) the performance of the horse would be expected to improve due to the increased flexibility of the horses’ back muscles. Relaxed muscles will assist with flexibility and movement in particular for competition horses performing dressage movements and jumping technical fences.
