Ensuring your peace of mind
Who are the IAAT?
IAAT stands for International Association of Animal Therapists,
Information for clients taken from the IAAT Website
https://iaat.org.uk/
The International Association of Animal Therapists (IAAT) is the membership organisation for animal therapists in practice
The association is run by its members for its members, with a steering committee comprised of esteemed industry leaders, dedicated to delivering the best possible services for all of its members.
Our primary objective is to promote excellence in animal therapy. We are an inclusive organisation that values cooperation and collaboration.
Our Mission Statement:
- To provide therapists with the support of their association
- To provide a fun, friendly and pro-active association
- To provide Vets, Owners and Insurance Companies with a register of trained professionals
- To embrace other professionals so that we can all move forward as a united front
- To contribute to ensuring appropriate standards in the animal therapy professions
https://iaat.org.uk/registered-therapist-services/massage/
Equine sports massage
Massage therapy is the manual manipulation of soft body tissues, muscle, connective tissue, tendons, and ligaments to enhance health and well-being.
It involves manually working on the horse’s body with pressure, structured or unstructured, stationary, moving, tension, motion, or vibration.
Massage therapists work to reduce pain, improve movement and restore normal control in animals as a result of musculoskeletal conditions or as part of a maintenance fitness/general health programme
In competitive or working animals, massage may be used as an intrinsic part of the development of the animal athlete. Helping to minimise the risk of injury and optimise performance and potential.
By analysing and assessing posture, movement, and skeletal function, Equine Massage Therapists can help develop holistic treatment plans alongside veterinary treatment. These can often be accompanied by exercise and rehabilitation programs.
- Assisting in promoting both vascular and lymphatic circulation
- Improving joint mobility
- Assisting flexibility and agility
- Reducing the formation of scar tissue
- Stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system
Veterinary permission
Massage has become an established treatment option complementing veterinary care for animals.
An owner must always consult their Veterinary Surgeon before seeking massage treatment. Healthy animals do not require a veterinary referral for maintenance care, however, any animal, including healthy ones, must be registered with a veterinary surgeon, and referred to a vet at the first indication of any symptoms, or signs, that may suggest underlying health issues.
Only Veterinary Surgeons are legally able to diagnose and investigate any clinical problems.
What to expect from your therapist?
Anyone treating your horse should hold a recognised qualification and full insurance. It is there responsibility to contact your vet prior to treatment and in some cases, following treatment, findings should be reported back to the treating vet.
There will be slight variations in how each therapist works, however, you should expect them to obtain a history, request to see your horse move, treat in an appropriate manor and provide you with advice and exercises to carry out in between treatments.
To find out more please visit https://iaat.org.uk/
Who are the AHPR?
Animal Health Professions' Register
The Animal Health Professions’ Register is a voluntary register which has been developed by many representative groups of the animal health industries and includes the following subgroups:
• Animal Chiropractic and Manipulation
• Animal Hydrotherapy
• Animal / Veterinary Physiotherapy
• Animal Sports Therapy and Massage
What is it for?
Membership of the AHPR is open to those professions who provide services for the treatment of animals under veterinary referral and for the maintenance of health. Those professions providing treatment are required to base practice on evidence based therapies and clinical reasoning, as well as any therapies for which the benefits are observable and measurable. All our registrants who provide treatment for the musculoskeletal system of an animal work with full adherence to the Veterinary Surgery (Exemptions) Order 2015 and only treat animals following veterinary referral, with veterinary permission, or with the knowledge of the consulting veterinary surgeon. For animal owners this means that the therapist who sees your animal for musculoskeletal therapies must be in contact with the animal’s vet to carry out any treatments.
The aim of the register is to raise standards in the industry and assist animal owners and veterinary surgeons in ensuring that the professionals they use to assist in the treatment and health maintenance of their or client’s animals are suitably trained and accountable.
All registrants have achieved an industry recognised appropriate standard of training through externally accredited courses, comply with Continuing Professional Development and hold full, valid professional indemnity insurance as required by the wider industry.
Sub group 'ANIMAL SPORTS THERAPY AND MASSAGE'
Massage is the evidence based application of ‘hands on’ manual therapies, by competent, professional, qualified therapists. With animal welfare as a first consideration, full static and dynamic evaluation assessments are carried out to enable the sports therapist to make informed decisions based on clinical reasoning. Environment, training equipment, animal / handler relationships and psychological factors are evaluated before applying integrated, documented techniques to establish and promote optimum physical and psychological well-being in their patients. Animal sports therapy and massage play an extremely important role in prophylactic care for animals, assisting in the early detection, treatment and restoration of musculoskeletal imbalances. Animal massage is an evidenced based profession with animal welfare at its core
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My Pledge
Horses are my life and i have a life long commitment as long as i am here to doing my absolute best by these stoic beasts who provide us with so much and yet ask for so little in return. I constantly strive to keep my knowledge up to date to enable me to provide the best care i possibly can. I hope that i can pass on my knowledge and enthusiasm for how important understanding your horses anatomy, biomechanics and behavioural patterns are to allow you to have a fantastic partnership and bond with your horses.