Page 28 - Appaloosas Now Dec/Jan 2021

Equine
Massage
PART 2 Kinesiology Tape for Horses
By Laurel Statz Photos by Laurel Statz
SI Junction Taping for unexplained hind quarter lameness & instability
Have you seen that kinesiology tape? You might have noticed it on some figure skating Olympians in 2018. You could see it through their tights. Some of the commentators gave a little blurb about it.
Kinesiology tape can give your horse that therapeutic advantage too. The tape has been around since the 1970s. It and was invented by an innovative Japanese physical therapist. Kinesiology, the term deals with the study of the mechanics of body movements. Part of that is the study of the brain’s ability to heal your body if you let it. Kinesiology is part of the reason medicine has learned not to use so many hard plaster casts and big immobilizing neck braces. Also, Kinesiology tape instead of old-fashioned immobilizing rigid tapes.
Many equine bodyworkers have learned and added kinesiology tape to their toolbox. I have. Lately, I have been having more questions about “how does that tape work”? I want to answer that, but first, a little tiny bit of background information. Kinesiology Taping is an
adjunct to other therapies and generally is not a “stand- alone” treatment. The person applying the tape needs to know what is going on physically with the horse first.
The tape works through the unique way the tape stretches and how the tape is manufactured, with the adhesive applied to it a particular wave pattern with small spaces in between. When applied to the patient, the bond is heat activated. That is why persons using the tape will vigorously rub the tape to warm it up and make it stick to the therapy area better. The tape’s actions have to do with lifting the skin/hair and being non-restrictive by stretching with the skin.
When kinesiology tape is applied to the skin or,
in the case of animals, to the hair, it mechanically decompresses the underlying layers. This decompression action increases blood and lymph flow, decreasing inflammation, and relieving pressure from free nerve endings. Through the unique tape action, the tape stimulates nerves called “mechanoreceptors”
28 Appaloosas Now - December/January