With calm, sure hands, Theresa Wright-Williams watches intensely as
she massages the muscles and joints of her client.
And with calm, steady patience, the client serenely waits while
Wright-Williams's hands travel across his body, searching for sore
spots, tense muscles and overworked joints.
Wright-Williams watches because the client won't be able to tell
her with words when she comes upon a place that needs special
attention.
Horses can't talk.
But Wright-Williams, 30, an equine sports massage therapist, talks
to them -- with her hands.
"I watch their reaction and they tell me everything I need to know
just by looking at their eyes," she said.
The divorced mother of a 5-year-old daughter started out as the
owner of a nurse-placement agency. It was after her marriage failed
that she realized she and the hurting animals had a lot in common.
She'd seen an equine sports massage therapist at a horse show and
was fascinated by the work.
There are few others in her field, which is still unregulated, said
Dr. Steve Wickler, president of the Association for Equine Sports
Medicine. That makes it difficult to know exactly how many equine
sports massage therapists there really are, Wickler said.
After training in Florida and in Boston, Wright-Williams returned
to Cordova, Tenn. to practice the profession she feels she was
intended for.
"I've never done anything in my life I've felt this good about,"
Wright-Williams said.
But getting started wasn't easy. Most people don't pay for massages
for themselves and were more than a bit skeptical about massages for a
horse.
So many people use horses like tractors, she said, as if you just
"hop on and turn the key."
Others in the horse world are slow to change old ways and reluctant
to welcome a newcomer with new ideas, she said.
Suffice to say, there were more than a few naysayers, and
Wright-Williams said she has given a lot of free massages since she
began two years ago.
But the owners of the horses Wright-Williams treats see that
massages for horses are no different than those for other athletes.
Football players sit in a whirlpool and get a massage to ease sore
muscles. It's no different for a four-footed athlete.
Fees average about $45 a horse in this area, but in Kentucky and
parts of Arkansas and Mississippi fees are $75 per horse.
"A lot of people around here show locally and are people who just
do it for sport or fun, so they're not going to put as much money into
it," Wright-Williams said. "Somebody who makes a living on horses
will pay more."
While the idea may sound frivolous, it is worth the investment,
said Suzy Hoyt, owner of Three Silos Farm in Collierville, Tenn.
Hoyt, one of Wright-Williams's early clients, was already a
believer in massages. "When she was introduced to me, I was very much
open to this," Hoyt said.
Proof of the benefits are evident in Murphy, a 10-year-old bay
thoroughbred gelding.
Murphy had been a racehorse for more than six years. Racehorses
only turn left when they run, so Murphy was stiff on his right side.
"Then he began his career as a jumper," Hoyt said.
The regular massages have loosened his right side, improving his
performance and in turn increasing his value. Hoyt won't say how much
she paid for him but said horses at Murphy's level sell for $50,000 to
$100,000.
"He's my top horse," she said.
Regular massages also help in the detection of ill-fitting saddles
and problems that may need to be checked by a veterinarian.
The massages can also work as a form of preventive medicine, said
Frank Hart, barn manager at the Houston Levee Stables in Collierville.
"It can keep little problems from becoming big problems," Hart said.
Bamboozle, a 6-year-old thoroughbred jumper, with several local
championships under his cinch, is another regular client.
"He hugs her because he likes it," said owner Cindy Young, as the
horse turned his neck to encircle Wright-Williams.
She doesn't see the massages as excessive pampering. "These horses
are athletes, and they can't perform their best if they don't feel
good," she said.
Wright-Williams closes the sessions with carrot stretches that
force the horse to reach on both sides and between his fore legs in
order to get the treat.
She follows with a tail stretch, tugging at the horse's tail to
pull and then relax the long muscle. Wright-Williams usually massages
five horses a day.
She is also licensed to massage people and often does both horse
and rider at horse shows and competitions.
"Sometimes the problem's not the horse, but the rider," she said.
Eventually, Wright-Williams said, she'd like to teach other equine
massage therapists.
But for now, she feels that this is the work she was meant to do.
"I don't feel like I work for a living," she said. "I feel like I
get paid to play with horses."
(Linda A. Moore writes for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.)