At EMTC you'll learn massage is always a four phase process: 1. Approach, 2. Assess, 3. Treat and 4. Evaluate results. The phases are not really discrete in that you won't always be able to say precisely where one ends and another begins and frequently a session will flow back and forth between assessing, treating and evaluating. We break it down into phases so that it can be studied in bite sized pieces and you don't have to eat the whole elephant all at once. Classes are broken out by the goals and skills needed for each phase. More than two thirds of the 360 hours are spent studying these four phases of massage. The remaining hours cover anatomy, pathophysiology, hoof care, saddle fitting and business. In every class you learn both theory and practical skills with a strong emphasis upon hands-on experience.

1. Approach: The massage begins the moment the horse is aware of your presence. From that moment on getting and holding their attention is the basis for everything that follows. So, it's not possible to be too subtle at noticing how the horse responds to you and adjusting your approach accordingly. Everything a horse does means something to them and while we may never know exactly what's intended it's a never ending and fascinating study to sort out how to adjust what we're doing so they notice that we notice. EMTC Reading the Horse classes are all about enhancing your ability to notice and be noticed.
2. Assess: Every massage begins with an assessment because before you know what to work on you must know what's needed. In the Movement Class you'll learn to use the Principles of Natural Movement as a model to assess self-carriage. Studying the horse this way enables you to see what's missing, what's interfering, what's needed and to form a guiding vision to work towards.
3. Treat: Therapeutic massage is a dynamic art where techniques are tools of the trade. At EMTC you'll learn to work on horses the way Michelangelo carved a statue when he said that he, "looked at the slab until a figure revealed itself and then released the figure from the stone." You will start with attentive, hands-on listening and look for a horse to realize you're showing them where and how to let go of a problem so they can make the changes from within and the results will be lasting. The connection established during your approach will strengthen and deepen as you use your hands to direct the horse's attention so that you never force but always facilitate changes.
4. Evaluate Results: Working this way your therapeutic treatments will result in real, observable improvement in a horse's self-carriage at rest, at liberty and while working. Once again the Principles of Natural Movement will provide you with the guidelines and language needed to assess and discuss with your clients how the horse's poise, fluidity, strength and well-being have improved.

Anatomy, Pathophysiology, Hoof Care and Saddle Fitting: You'll be glad to know that our curriculum is patterned after human massage certification programs and is not just one person's ideas. We asked our faculty to set the high water mark for the industry and customize their classes to address the specific information that an equine massage therapist would need to know about each of their disciplines. So, the veterinarian designed pathophysiology. Functional anatomy classes were developed by a veterinary assistant. The nationally recognized farrier came up with the hoof care curriculum and so on. Every one of our instructors has more than twenty years of experience with well respected, successful practices in their field of expertise. So, you'll always be working with professionals who will help you round out your understanding of equine health and performance issues and prepare you to speak intelligently with veterinarians, alternative therapy practitioners, trainers, farriers and other equine professionals. You'll also meet some incredibly talented and interesting people who you can ask for help after you've graduated.

Business: Unless you just won the lottery, it's just as important that you know how to make a living as it is to be skillful at the work. The EMTC Business class is not an afterthought. You'll draw upon the content from all of the other classes, combine it with your personal background and create solid plans and compelling ways of offering your services. This class, just like the rest of the curriculum, is fine tuned to your unique needs as an equine massage therapist.