It depends on where you are located at, how much experience you have doing it, and where you went to school for massage at. There are plenty of massage certification places out there, but there are very few schools. Most of the ones that people get certified in for equine massage are anywhere from a weekend to a two week course. Month long courses do exist, but are not that common. There is one school in Canada which is a true massage school, with the program taking a minimum of one year and on average two years. It is very hard for someone to master all of the muscles, attachment points of muscles, the horse's system, massage moves, evaluating horses, etc. in a short course. It just is not realistic at all. That is why the people who go to the longer programs, like the one in Canada, usually end up with the higher positions if they are taken in as a staff member at a clinic or they end up with a higher percentage of the work if they are in a very competitive market.
Just like with teaching riding lessons and training horses, the more educated you are the more people will be willing to pay higher rates and to use you for their services. But, not everyone can take off to go to school for a long period of time. Massage therapists charge anywhere from $25 to $300 per session depending on what the session is for, how long the session is, if it is the initial session, their experience and education levels, and the demand in that market area. Typically the initial session is more expensive for a couple of reasons. First the horse needs to be evaluated as to what their problem is (most good therapists will do background work by talking to the regular vet for the horse prior to seeing the horse in person), get the horse used to being massaged, the horse normally has many hard to work areas (but the initial massage is usually not for a specific thing, it is a whole body thing in order to get the horse ready for work on specific areas at a later time), and because a LOT of owners believe that massage is a deluxe service for their horse that only needs to be done once in a while and not frequently. No matter how good you are, most owners will not be able to be talked into a multiple session treatment for their horse unless they see results off of each of the massage sessions, already know the benefits of massage or have gone through it before, or if the normal vet or friends of the owner believes and supports alternative treatments like massage. It also depends on what area you are in.
Another thing that will vary rates is whether or not mileage/travel is included in the rates. This is something that is a plus when saying that the rate includes the farm call, but now with the costs of fuel it is hard to do this as you will simply put yourself under if the farm you are going to is located far away. A way to get around this I have seen with some therapists in offering no farm call when their rates do not include mileage if there are 3 or more horses to massage when they go that barn. I have also seen with those who do have the farm call in the rate to offer a discount when there are 3 or more horses to help compensate for that. I always feel bad on the ones that have the mileage in their rates as they usually are travelling from much further away to get to the farm or wherever we are at because I know that they are not making anything off of the massage when they have driven 70 miles or so to get there one way.
The other things that come into play with the annual salary is simply how many horses you are working on. This amount is hard to say, as you never know what the market is going to do, how many horses are going to be in need of massage, and if there is a desire in your area for these types of services. I have seen people make nothing in a year and have to have a supplemental job. I have also seen them make over $1500 a week. It depends on the rates, the number of horses seen in a day, how many days a week that you are working, etc. It is very hard to do over 5 horses a day as massage actually is a lot of work on the therapist. Most are physically not able to more than 2 or 3 horses a day.
I live in the 5th largest state in the US for horses, and we have a very hard time for massage therapists. It is not something that people feel that they need for their horses. But, if a therapist lives in an area like CA where people are more prone to spend extra money on their animals, you can make a little better living at this. The therapists here have to work for every horse that they get, and often many of them give up prior to ever getting a good client base. The way to help you with massage is to be certified for dogs, other animals, and even people. The ones in our area who have done the best have been certified for people and horses so that they can work on the horses at farms and at shows, and they bring their table to shows to work on people too. That really gets their foot in the door with people, since if they will make the owner feel that good, then it should be great for the horse too. Working on other animals, but really more on people, is a great falling back job to have since you can do it at any time especially when the horse business is going slow. The school in Canada does people and horse massage.
If you decide to do massage therapy, then you need to advertise yourself as soon as you get certified to help ensure that you are getting the business that you will need to survive. Network with veterinarians, farriers, alternative medicine/holistic practitioners, and even people massage therapists (sometimes owners of animals will ask them if they work on animals and this way they would know who to contact). Get the word out by telling these people what you do, and even giving them a free massage for their horse so that they see the benefits. Have plenty of reading materials and research information to give to people about what massage is, what it does and how it benefits. Also have your rates clearly defined. Start off low with your rates, and as you build up your client base, get a higher demand, and have more experience then raise the rates. Lower rates will also give you business from people who are more willing to try something if it is inexpensive.
Just remember that not many people hire massage therapists for their staff, therapists are basically self-employed, so out of whatever you make you will need to pay for professional liability insurance, your transportation, your health insurance, your supplies, your continuing education, your advertising, etc. This can all be written off at the end of the year on your taxes, so keep documentation and receipts for everything that you have done.
I hope this helps, but if you want more information on annual expected salaries go to http://www.equistaff.com/salarysurvey_re鈥?/a> where they have a salary survey that is continually updated as more people insert their salary information. They do not have any information currently for massage therapists, but you may be able to request to them for information for that and they might be able to assist you.What is the average salary for an equine massage therapist?
Equine Massage Therapists salary varies and is unpredictable what you should do is ask a place that specializes it!
IDK
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_money鈥?/a>What is the average salary for an equine massage therapist?
usually each session with a horse is $200-$300. The sessions with the horse is about 1-2hrs long.
For a good certified equine massage therapist rates vary from around $50.00 to $100.00 per session. Each session usually lasts around 45 minutes to 1 1/4 hours. It also can depend on the area you are working in. A lot of larger stables already are aware of the benefits of massage and are willing to pay more. In more rural areas and smaller barns you may have to really sell the benefits of massage and yourself, and possibly lower your rates until word gets around.
I charge $65
It depends where you live, try this site:
http://www.cbsalary.com/salary-calculato鈥?/a>
The salary/remuneration for a particular job is the market value for a particular profession and designation at the city/town where the office is located. Job postings at websites like Monster, Yahoo HotJobs and Careerbuilder carry information about salaries. The Govt Dept of Labor, (www.bls.gov) Bureau of statistics has information about median salaries for different professions and details of additional compensation offered. Other online resources are salary.com and payscale. Your salary will also depend on your educational qualification and how you handle your career. More details and links to relevant websites available at http://7ys.info/
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