Horse Cupping: The Basics and What to Know
If you're a horse owner or a equine professional, one of the greatest additions you can make to your horse's wellness program is cupping. Horse cupping, cupping therapy, silicone cupping... all are ways to help improve a horses' overall health and optimize performance.
Let's talk more about what you need to know about horse cupping (ps- if you want to learn everything you need to know about cupping and exactly HOW to cup your horse, check out my equine cupping course here. It's available on-demand which means you get access immediately after you buy it and you can begin implementing right away!)
[☆Get Instant Access to the Equine Cupping Course]→ Learn everything you need to know about equine cupping and how to cup your horse. This course is for horse professionals and horse owners who want to improve their horse’s health, wellness, and performance
What is horse cupping (also known as myofascial decompression)?
Cupping is a form of massage therapy which decompresses soft tissues using vacuum suction.
It is unlike other forms of massage that compress soft tissues.
Cupping therapy can generally be described as a technique that uses cups placed over the skin to create negative pressure through suction.
There are different forms of cupping, wet and dry, but we'll focus on dry cupping here, which is the application of silicone or plastic cups on fully closed skin to increase circulation and address myofascial restrictions, which is a fancy way to say the sliding and gliding of tissue layers.
Why would you use cupping therapy on your horse?
There are many reasons to utilize cupping therapy for your horse when it comes to health, wellness, performance, and injury treatment.
Here are some of the most common reasons why you would use cupping therapy:
Release fascial adhesions
Remodel scar tissue
Reduce painful trigger points
Improve circulation, blood, and lymph circulation
Relieve pain
Promote mobility and range of motion
Improves mature scars
When does cupping actually do?
When it comes to how the cups actually work, it's actually pretty simple: the cups allow for improved movement of tissues and increased sliding and gliding between the layers of tissue.
But what, exactly, does that mean?
Cups work via mechanical force. In this case, decompression.
Decompression occurs when the cup is added to the skin, lifting the skin from the tissues underneath it. This allows fascial connections (the connections between the layers of the skin that are essential but when they are tight and causing restriction, they become problematic) to be broken up and the movements of gliding and sliding to improve along the fascial lines.
This decompression also flows to the nerve endings, freeing them up and improving neural function, decreasing pain, and improving proprioception.
When all of this occurs, movement improves!
It's also important to note that cupping leads to fluid movement and improved lymphatic function as well. The lymphatic system cannot function correctly where fascial restriction resides, as it will impede the lymph flow (think about stepping on a water hose).
So, when we utilize cupping and improve fascial gliding and sliding, lymphatic flow also improves.
The bottom line here: when your horse's fascial movement is improved via cupping, lymphatic drainage improves, pain subsides, movement is more fluid, nerve function is optimal, and mobility improves.
When all of those things get better, we can assume that your horse will be healthier overall with improved overall performance and recovery.
Where to learn how to cup your horse
If you are looking to learn exactly how to cup your horse, I offer a Cups and Blades class that can be done online, at your own pace, and you will have lifetime access to all content.
You’ll receive specific and detailed video tutorials, my favorite applications, as well as the anatomy and education behind the applications. This way, you’re not just memorizing applications, you will understand the why as well.
If you’re ready to get started, enroll in the equine cups and blades course!
Not ready to enroll but want more equine education?
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