29/09/2026
Jack Meagher’s observation gets at one of the central ideas behind his approach to equine massage: a horse can lose freedom of movement not only because of an obvious injury, but because of what remains in the muscles after repeated work.
When muscles repeatedly produce force—particularly during strenuous, repetitive or highly patterned work—they do not always return completely to their previous resting state. Small areas may remain more contracted or guarded, especially when the same tissues are repeatedly loaded without enough opportunity to recover. Over time, this can contribute to increased muscle tone, tenderness, reduced tissue extensibility and subtle changes in how comfortably the horse moves through his normal range.
The important word in Meagher’s quote is “residual.” He wasn’t simply talking about the normal muscle contraction that occurs during exercise. He was interested in tension that persists afterward. A horse may still be perfectly capable of doing his job, but begin doing it with a little less freedom. Other muscles may then have to contribute differently, movement patterns can gradually change, and what began as a relatively small restriction can become part of the horse’s habitual way of moving.
This is also where massage makes sense in Meagher’s system. By working with areas of persistent muscular tension, encouraging circulation and comfortable tissue movement, and helping the horse release unnecessary guarding, massage can support the muscle’s return toward a more comfortable resting state and help restore the freedom of movement that residual tension may be limiting.
That makes his quote remarkably consistent with the way we now think about massage as part of maintaining a working horse: work creates adaptation, but it also creates accumulated effects. Good bodywork can help keep those effects from unnecessarily becoming restrictions.
https://koperequine.com/heres-a-list-of-things-you-may-not-yet-know-about-massage/
