SCOTTSDALE — Students at Scottsdale Community College have a new pathway to enter the equine industry, with an equine massage therapy certificate now available.
The certificate is separate from the college’s equine sciences associate degree program.
Jay Clements, the program director for the program, said Arizona’s equine industry is worth $2-3 billion, making this an ideal career path for equine professionals in the state.
“We have most of the major shows coming in Arizona,” Clements explained. “We’re lucky because Scottsdale has the West World facility. So that facility alone brings in a lot of people. Even one show they’ll bring in 300,000 spectators as well as contestants, you know, thousands of horses come to the area to compete.
“And so those horses, there’s a great need for them to have a massage therapy program.”
The program works on horses at a barn in Queen Creek, where Clements said the owners provide horse therapy for disabled kids. She said many of the horses there have arthritis, so massage training benefits the horses and students.
Kerry Stadjuhar, a student in the equine program, said she became interested in the certificate because of her own horses, hoping to help them live a more comfortable life.
“I understand far more about the way horses move and the way that they should move. And when a horse is in pain, I know. I can feel it,” Stadjuhar said. “And I can also see it in their expression … so it’s helped with my horse care and my riding.”
Izabel Iredell, another student in the program, has plans to open her own veterinarian practice, which she said will incorporate aspects of what she’s learned from Clements.
“When I graduated high school, I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life and I always knew I loved horses and so I came to this program … and Jay has really instilled in all of us that there are so many opportunities in this industry,” Iredell said.
Clements added that helping active or competing horses relieve their pain is just as essential for the animals as it is for human athletes. She said having qualified professionals know how to manage a horse’s pain is essential to the horse’s care and the industry at large.
Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.
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