Longevity Equine Bodywork LLC

01/12/2026

“My horse isn’t in work right now, why would it need a massage?”

Even if your horse is not actively working, it can still benefit from massage therapy. Regular sessions can help maintain its physical and emotional well-being, making it a valuable part of your horse's care routine.

Benefits of Massage for Horses

Improves Circulation: Massage enhances blood flow, which is crucial for muscle health.

Reduces Muscle Tension: It helps relieve tightness and discomfort in muscles, promoting relaxation.

Enhances Flexibility: Regular massage can improve a horse's range of motion and flexibility.

Specific Benefits for Older or Retired Horses

Pain Relief: Older horses often experience stiffness or arthritis. Massage can alleviate discomfort and improve their quality of life.

Young horses can also benefit from massage therapy to support their physical and mental development, improve flexibility, and relieve stress. Regular massage can help prevent injuries and enhance their overall well-being as they grow and learn.

Stress Reduction: Massage can help calm anxious or stressed horses, making them more comfortable.

Maintenance of Muscle Health: Even if a horse is not actively working, massage can prevent muscle atrophy and maintain overall muscle tone.

Signs Your Horse May Need Massage

Behavior Changes: If your horse seems irritable, anxious, or reluctant to be touched, it may indicate discomfort.

Movement Issues: Look for signs like stiffness, difficulty in transitions, or reluctance to perform certain movements.

Posture Changes: A horse that stands awkwardly or has a hollow back may benefit from massage.

01/10/2026

Teeth, hooves, and gut health are essential components of a horse's overall well-being. Proper dental care ensures effective chewing and digestion, while healthy hooves and a well-functioning gastrointestinal tract are crucial for nutrient absorption and overall soundness.

Maintaining your horse's hoof health during winter is crucial due to the unique challenges posed by cold, wet conditions. Hooves can become soft and prone to issues like thrush and cracks. Proper care, including nutrition and herbal supplements, can help strengthen hooves and prevent problems.

Additional Hoof Care Tips

Daily Inspections: Check hooves for signs of cracks, thrush, or other issues.

Farrier Visits: Schedule regular trims every 6 weeks to maintain hoof health.

Dry Conditions: Keep your horse's living area clean and dry to prevent moisture-related issues.

By combining proper nutrition, including beneficial herbs, with regular hoof care practices, you can help ensure your horse's hooves remain healthy throughout the winter months.

Maintaining dental health in horses during winter is crucial, especially for older horses, as they require more calories to stay warm and may face increased strain on their teeth from chewing hay. Regular dental checkups can help prevent issues like malocclusion and dental disease, ensuring they can eat comfortably and maintain their weight.

Winter brings decreasing temperatures, resulting in nutrient loss from grass and the need to replace what's missing through feed. These changes to diet and routine can impact the health and integrity of the horse's hindgut. A healthy gut ensures effective digestion and absorption of nutrients, which is key for your horse's overall well-being and performance.

Horses struggling with common hindgut problems may experience dehydration, reduced appetite, poor hoof condition, impaired immune function, and attitude changes.

Challenges to Digestive Health
Reduced Movement: Horses often spend more time in stalls during winter, which limits their movement. This can slow down digestion and increase the risk of colic.

Forage Availability: Access to high-quality forage is crucial. Horses produce gastric acid continuously, and forage helps buffer this acid, protecting the stomach lining.

Stress Factors: Increased stalling can elevate stress levels, leading to higher cortisol production. This can cause gastrointestinal inflammation and disrupt gut microbiota balance.
Strategies for Supporting Gut Health

Regular Exercise: Incorporate ridden work, arena turnout, or in-hand exercises to promote gut motility.

Quality Forage: Ensure horses have constant access to high-quality hay to support digestion and gut health.

Stress Reduction: Use enrichment tools like foraging balls and allow social interactions with other horses to minimize stress.

Supplements for Digestive Support
Consider using digestive supplements designed to enhance gut health.

By addressing these factors, horse owners can help ensure their horses maintain optimal digestive health throughout the winter.

Good 24/7 hay is the highest importance and then Supporting supplements

Feet & Bone Support for Horses is designed to support your horses structurally from the ground up, from maintaining healthy organized hoof growth, to supporting bones and hard tissue throughout the feet, legs, shoulders, hocks, spine and hips. This product may be beneficial for horses recovering from bone, tendon and ligament issues, and may also be beneficial in:

For healthy strong bones, teeth, tendons, ligaments, and surrounding tissues
Helping maintain strong bones, tendons, and ligaments
Helping reduce free radical formation
Maintaining normal circulation to the limbs

Herbal Salve with Ostrich Oil
All natural salve, for use on galls, open wounds, scratches, and rashes. Useful in thrush, hoof and foot care, helps fight fungal infection. May also support natural hair growth.

A healthy digestive system is of utmost importance to the overall health of any horse, particularly those prone to colic. An optimally healthy digestive system avoids problems, and further, offers more effective and efficient nutrition to the cells. Digestive Support gives the digestive system what it needs to function at this highest level, and may be beneficial in:

Maintaining a health intestinal tract
Helping maintain normal gut sounds
Abnormal manure, either too hard or soft
May reduce free radical formation
May reduce the possibility of digestive colic
Supporting general digestive issues

Discount code LONGEVITYEQUINE

https://silverliningherbs.sjv.io/c/6420199/3077436/37749

01/09/2026

01/08/2026

Addressing Winter Challenges with massage

Cold weather often limits a horse's exercise and turnout time, leading to stiffness and muscle tension.

Massage is important for horses in cold winter months to help maintain muscle tone, flexibility, and joint health, especially when exercise is limited due to harsh weather. It can also alleviate tension and soreness that may increase during this time, promoting overall well-being.

Preventing Strains: Regular massage helps keep muscles supple and can prevent strains by addressing tension before it leads to injury.

Balance and Stability: Icy or muddy conditions can cause horses to slip, leading to muscle strain. Massage can help alleviate tension caused by these balance challenges.

Soreness and Stiffness: Horses, especially those with arthritis or metabolic issues, may experience increased soreness in winter. Gentle massage techniques can ease discomfort.

Enhancing Overall Well-Being
Mental Stimulation: Massage provides an alternative activity for horses during winter confinement, promoting relaxation and mental engagement.

01/08/2026

The 2026 schedule for deworming has been made!

The connection between parasites and lunar cycles remains a fascinating field of study, with serotonin and melatonin emerging as key players in understanding this interplay. As we unravel the mysteries surrounding this relationship, we come closer to unlocking valuable insights that can aid in the control and prevention of parasitic infections. Nature continues to inspire and intrigue us, revealing the hidden connections that unite all life on Earth.

Types of parasites

Protozoa are single-cell organisms that can multiply within the host and are transmitted through various means, such as f***l matter, blood, or insect bites. Examples include Plasmodium, which causes malaria, and Babesia, which causes babesiosis.

Helminths, on the other hand, are worm-like parasites that can activate herpes viral infections. They are larger organisms visible to the naked eye and include roundworms, pinworms, tapeworms, and flukes.

Ectoparasites live on their hosts and are often blood-sucking arthropods, such as ticks, lice, mosquitoes, and fleas

Herbal wormers are often considered better for the earth because they are made from natural ingredients, which can reduce chemical exposure in the environment. Additionally, they may promote healthier livestock by creating a less hospitable environment for parasites without relying on synthetic chemicals.

Benefits of Herbal Wormers

Environmental Impact
Natural Ingredients: Herbal wormers often use plants and herbs, which are more sustainable than synthetic chemicals.

Soil Health: Unlike chemical dewormers, herbal options do not harm beneficial soil organisms, promoting healthier ecosystems.

Resistance Management
Reduced Resistance: Many traditional dewormers lead to resistant parasites. Herbal wormers can help manage this issue by providing a diverse approach to parasite control.

Healthier Horses
Gut Health: Herbal wormers create a hostile environment for parasites in the digestive tract, promoting overall gut health in horses.

Nutrient Recycling: By maintaining a healthy gut, horses can better absorb nutrients, which can lead to improved health and wellness.

This product may be beneficial in:

Underweight
Parasites in manure
Rough hair coat
Persistent tail rubbing

This combination works by maintaining an environment which is not welcoming to parasites and worms; they are opportunistic and need an unclean environment to thrive.

I have this product on hand or you can order here

https://silverliningherbs.sjv.io/c/6420199/3077436/37749

Discount code LONGEVITYEQUINE

01/05/2026

Overview of the Nervous and Immune Systems in Horses

The nervous system and immune system in horses are distinct but interconnected systems that play crucial roles in overall health.

Nervous System
Structure: The nervous system consists of the central nervous system (CNS), which includes the brain and spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system (PNS), which connects the CNS to the rest of the body.

Function: It controls movement, processes sensory information, and coordinates responses to stimuli. Neurons transmit signals throughout the body, enabling communication between different systems.

Immune System
Structure: The immune system comprises various cells and organs, including lymph nodes, spleen, and bone marrow, which work together to defend against pathogens.

Function: It identifies and eliminates foreign invaders like bacteria and viruses. A healthy immune system is vital for preventing diseases.
Interaction Between the Nervous and Immune Systems.

Gut Microbiome Influence: The gut microbiome significantly impacts both the immune and nervous systems. A healthy gut microbiome can enhance immune function and may influence behavior and neurological health.

Stress Response: The nervous system can affect immune responses. Stress can lead to immune suppression, making horses more susceptible to infections.

Understanding the relationship between these systems is essential for maintaining the health and well-being of horses. Proper care, including nutrition and stress management, supports both the nervous and immune systems.

Feeding Immune and Gut Support at least twice a year helps boost the immune system and microbiome.

Immune Support for horses supports the immune system, which may aid in clearing up a wide range of seemingly unrelated issues. This product may be beneficial in:

Supporting normal blood cell levels
Fighting free radicals
Supporting normal detoxification processes
Maintaining normal fluid balance in the blood and tissues
Helping achieve a healthy coat
Supporting a normal stamina and endurance
Helps reduce effects of normally induced environmental stress
Supports a normal appetite and healthy weight
Pronounced abnormal wrinkles over eyes
Helping those with seasonal allergies

Gut Support may be beneficial in:

Helping maintain proper gut pH
General discomfort, especially lying down abnormally often
Promoting normal, healthy gut sounds
Not working up to potential, poor behavior
Supporting a normal digestive system
Soft manure
Helping maintain normal disposition

Discount code LONGEVITYEQUINE

https://silverliningherbs.sjv.io/c/6420199/3077436/37749

Impact of Regular Massage on the Immune System

Immune System Benefits
Increased Circulation: Massage enhances blood flow and lymphatic circulation, which helps deliver nutrients and remove waste from the body.

Boosted Immune Cells: Regular massage has been shown to increase levels of lymphocytes, which are crucial for fighting infections.

Stress Reduction: By lowering cortisol levels, massage helps mitigate stress, which can suppress immune function.

Specific Immune Markers
Natural Killer Cells: Studies indicate that massage can elevate the number of natural killer (NK) cells, which play a vital role in the body's defense against pathogens.

Enhanced Recovery: Massage may improve recovery from illness by promoting better immune responses and reducing pain, which can otherwise hinder immune function.

Impact of Regular Massage on the Nervous System

Nervous System Benefits
Stress Relief: Massage activates the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation and reducing anxiety.

Cortisol Reduction: Regular sessions can significantly lower cortisol levels, helping to alleviate stress-related symptoms.

Improved Mood: Massage therapy can boost the production of neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, enhancing overall mental well-being.

Physical and Emotional Effects
Pain Management: By reducing muscle tension and pain, massage can help improve overall comfort and emotional health.