Equine massage for competition horses is big business — and now you can learn in it Scottsdale

Jay Clements has done just about every job under the sun that has to do with horses.

"Yeah, I've traveled on the wagon trains. I've run ranches. I've trained colts, I've trained wild mustangs with adjudicated youth. I've run large ranches. I've rodeoed professionally for many years. I was a barrel racer for the WPRA. I've coached university-level and college-level rodeo teams. I've trained horses. I've trained people," saidClements.

Today, Clements runs the Scottsdale Community College Equine Science Program.

She also runs her own equine sports therapy company, and she’s just helped launch Arizona’s first college-based equine massage therapy certificate program at SCC.

That means giving professional, therapeutic massages to horses. And it’s an in-demand field! Especially in Scottsdale, which is a world-renowned hub for equine sports.

Clements says horses are professional athletes — and, for many of them, there’s a whole lot of money at stake when they compete. Think horse racing, rodeo, dressage, Scottsdale’s famous Arabian Horse Show, things like that.

She teaches students to really communicate with these horses as they’re working with them, from massage and stretching to laser therapy.

She spoke more about the industry, her love of horses and what it’s like to massage an animal that big.

Full conversation

JAY CLEMENTS: Well, all horses are athletes. Some are better than others, obviously, because of the way they're built and their breed. But I deal with horses that are usually competing, they're competitive horses in whatever their discipline is, be it, you know, rodeo, barrel racing, team roping, reining, cutting, hunter jumpers, dressage, whatever those horses, you know, whatever you can think of as a discipline that people are competing in, I'm dealing with those level horses.

And then I also deal with horses that are, you know, backyard horses or trail horses or horses that provide an incredibly unique and important service for disabled veterans or disabled children. You know, those kinds of things. So any, any horse, really, because sports therapy can help any horse.

LAUREN GILGER: You are spearheading this new program at Scottsdale Community College, but you're, you're looking specifically here at equine massage therapy. What does that mean? How do you massage a horse?

CLEMENTS: So it's, you know, it's hands on. We, we first have to observe the horse, see how he's walking, take a history, find out what he's doing in his life. Does he have any lameness? Does he have any, you know, atrophy of muscle? Is muscle building on one side rather than the other?

So there's a lot of components that go into figuring out what the horse needs. And then it's starting from the beginning and doing a sequence on the muscles. We're laying hands on. We're massaging the muscles. We're releasing the fascia that's underneath that attaches the muscle to the skin. It's hands-on massage therapy like you would do with humans, but obviously the muscles are bigger.

And then, and then watching the horse as you're doing it. We do it in pairs to teach students because they need both aspects. They need to be the hands-on equine massage therapist. And they also need to be the one who is watching the horse get experience, understanding, OK, what is this horse saying?

How is he communicating? Is this, is he getting antsy? Is this not comfortable? Is this causing him more pain? Is this causing a great release? Is this helping? Is he yawning? Is he licking his lips? Is he blinking? Do we have a big swallow? Or is he pinning his ears? Is he getting a bunch of wrinkles above his eyebrow? You know, that tension in his muzzle? Is he stepping away from what you're doing?

So that you're literally working in this relationship of communication with this horse as, this is how I'm trying to help you. Is it helping?

GILGER: It's really interesting. So, I mean, science-driven, holistic approaches here that, you know, sound a lot like what you would receive as a human being. But these are for these massive animals. This is an industry that is in high demand?

CLEMENTS: Yes. The industry is growing. Right. Like in Arizona alone, I think it's a $2 billion industry.

GILGER: Wow.

CLEMENTS: So we're in Scottsdale. So Scottsdale's like a mecca. It reminds me of Lexington, Kentucky, where I used to work, where you just have all these horses. They're high-level performance horses doing high-level shows. You know, from the Arabian World show to the cutting championships and the reining championships. And it's just such an, you know, our industry is so large, it's so massive.

Everybody knows there's racehorses, OK. But now we have all these national programs that the different disciplines compete in at such a high level. I mean, the money at stake and the, you know, the quality of horses and the quality of riders and the amount of money involved in traveling, the truck and the trailer and the horse and the cost of horses, you know, the vet bills and the whole thing.

So it's, it's quickly becoming a very large industry. And if horses are going to be those elite athletes, much like our professional athletes and humans, they need this.

GILGER: Yeah. So that's fascinating. Scottsdale is a real hub for this, which I guess makes sense if you, you know, heard of the Arabian Horse Show or something like that. But it sounds like this is something you're attracting a lot of students to ,this program at Scottsdale Community College. How much has it grown?

CLEMENTS: It's grown quite a bit. This is my ninth year as the director of the program, and it's grown quite a bit. I think it was maybe 60-ish students when I started. Any given day, we're about 100, a little over 100, you know, give or take, 115, back down to 100, you know, as things ebb and flow with people's lives.

Because we have all ages, right. We have all walks of life, all, you know, very diverse program of students. Our youngest in the program is 15. Our oldest is like 68. So, you know, it's that whole, big, wide spread. And so people come and go because of their lifestyle. Right. People have families or they go part time, or they're pursuing this degree because they want to do their pre-recs and get prepared to transfer to university so they can go to vet school.

There's so many opportunities in the equine industry that this foundation is so strong in science and skills that our students can do anything.

GILGER: That's fascinating. So it's a peek into this whole world, one that you're obviously very passionate about. One thing you've said that I read about, that I want to ask you about before I let you go, is the idea that, yes, you teach this program, but you've said that the horses are often kind of the best teachers there are. How is that?

CLEMENTS: They just, it's so interesting how horses kind of make you look in the mirror and look at yourself at the same time while you're trying to help them. They're very, very intuitive. They're extremely sensitive. And really, if you just listen, they are the best teachers. They teach, I love the moment when it all connects to a student and the student like gets it.

Like, you see that recognition in their eyes and their face. Like they just connected with this horse on a level they didn't even know was possible.

GILGER: What does that feel like in your experience to have that connection with an animal like that?

CLEMENTS: Oh, my goodness. I can't, I don't think I can put a word to it. I've had, I've been very lucky in my life to be very, very close and have great relationships with my horses because I, you know, build my relationship with horses based on trust and respect. Yeah, there's nothing like it.

I don't even, I guess I should have tried to think of a word for that. I don't have one, so if you come up with one, you let me know.