The Equissage California Elite Certification
Our most comprehensive certification, start to finish
The Elite Certification is Equissage California's deepest program, 200 hours across self-paced coursework, hands-on training, and a guided externship. Where our other programs stop at hands-on training, Elite continues through real, guided practice, so you leave with actual session experience behind you, not just a certificate.
You'll move through 100 hours of in-depth, self-paced coursework and assignments, 50 hours of hands-on training with us in Vista, California, and 50 hours of case studies and guided externship, completed from a distance with the same group you trained with in person. It's built for students who don't just want to be certified, they want to walk away already working.
Throughout the program, emphasis is placed on equine anatomy, biomechanics, movement, pain recognition, and professional application, so you leave understanding the horse as an athlete, not just a set of techniques.
200 hours, three stages, one certification
Each stage builds directly on the one before it, so you move from foundational knowledge to real, guided experience in the field.
Self-Paced Coursework
100 hours of in-depth online study and assignments, reading, lectures, how-to videos, quizzes, and optional Zoom time with your instructor. Start any time, at your own pace.
Hands-On Training
50 hours working directly with us in Vista, California. An instructor guides you through the full Equissage Sequence on real horses, with direct, individual feedback.
Case Studies & Guided Externship
50 hours completed from a distance, with the same group you trained with in person. Over 3 months, you'll work through 25 case studies and join 6 group Zoom sessions to review your horses and get feedback.
Hands-On Dates
Elite hands-on training runs several times a year in Vista, California. Because class size is limited to 6 to 8 students, dates fill on a rolling basis, apply to receive current availability and reserve your seat.
What you'll learn
At the core of our curriculum is the respected Equissage methodology, trusted for decades by horse owners, trainers, and professionals worldwide, expanded with the education working with horses truly requires today.
Anatomy & Biomechanics
In-depth equine anatomy so you understand how the horse's body is designed to move, compensate, and respond to hands-on work, so your sessions are purposeful rather than guesswork.
Technique & the Equissage Sequence
Foundational and advanced massage techniques plus modern modalities, so you can adapt your work to different horses, disciplines, and physical needs.
Stretching & Mobility
A full sequence of stretches and core-strengthening exercises covering every major muscle group, taking the benefits of massage to another level.
Saddle Fit Education
Learn to evaluate and fit a saddle properly. Incorrect saddle fit is one of the most common causes of back issues and behavioral problems in horses.
Business Education
Ethics, client communication, professionalism, marketing, soap notes, and the real-world business side of building a sustainable practice.
Case Studies
Apply your skills to performance horses with real issues. Evaluate, treat, and reassess as a class, and watch the difference you've made firsthand.
Guided Externship
25 case studies and 6 group Zoom sessions over 3 months with the same students from your hands-on training, so you're never figuring it out completely alone.
Stretches
You'll learn how to safely and effectively take a horse through a sequence of stretches and core-strengthening exercises involving every major muscle group. This is taught through reading material, demonstration, and hands-on practice, and the horses absolutely love it.
Case Studies
You'll apply your skills to performance horses with real-life issues. Each student is assigned a horse, works through evaluation, massage, and stretching, and shares results with the class. We evaluate each horse before and after, so the differences are easy to see, which helps you start your new career with confidence.
Saddle Fitting
You'll learn to properly evaluate and fit a saddle to a horse. Left unrecognized, poor saddle fit can lead to back pain and a range of other physical and behavioral problems. This section covers the anatomy of the equine back and the saddle, and how to pair the two correctly.
Starting Your Business
We close the course with an honest look at what it takes to succeed in this field. Every student's goals are different, and this is an open, collaborative space to learn from instructors and past students, including what's worked, what hasn't, and how to market your services well.
Guided Externship
This is what sets Elite apart from our other programs. After your hands-on days, you'll complete your externship from a distance, alongside the same group of students you trained with in person. Over the following 3 months, you'll complete 25 case studies on real horses and join 6 group Zoom sessions with your instructors.
In those sessions, you'll walk through the horses you've been working on as a group, share what you're seeing, and get direct feedback. You're welcome to share photos and videos of your sessions for input, and instructors will guide you on how to keep improving each horse's care from one session to the next. We also spend time on client communication, since explaining your findings clearly is just as much a part of this work as the hands-on skill.
To complete this portion, you'll need access to horses to practice on, your own, a friend's, or horses within your community, therapy centers and rescues both work well. Instead of leaving with a certificate and a question mark, you leave having already done the work, with your instructors and classmates in your corner the whole time.
20 years in the making
2027 marks 20 years of Equissage California. For two decades, we've spent our time dialing in the education it takes to build successful, effective practitioners, not just certificate holders.
On our 20th year, we're bringing you Equissage Elite, our most comprehensive course yet. It's everything we've learned about what actually makes a great equine bodyworker, brought together into one program.
We are thrilled to help develop the next generation of this industry, the students who will carry this work forward for the next 20 years. We can't wait to meet you in Vista.
What it costs to get started
Covers 100 hours of self-paced coursework, 50 hours of hands-on training, and your 50-hour guided externship.
Good to know
About the Course
It's the therapeutic application of hands-on massage techniques to increase circulation, relax muscle spasms, relieve tension, enhance muscle tone, and increase range of motion in high-performance horses. It's used both to reduce the risk of injury and to support recovery after one.
In most states, no. There are currently no state regulations governing certification of equine sports massage therapists in California.
Every horse person, owner, trainer, or rider, knows the horse is the ultimate athlete. Just as human athletes rely on sports massage, more and more horsemen are incorporating this therapy as an integral part of their horse's ongoing healthcare.
The in-person portion covers 50 hours in Vista, California, generally 9:00 AM to around 4:00 PM. Apply to receive current availability, hands-on training runs several times a year and class size is limited to 6 to 8 students.
After your hands-on days, you'll complete your externship from a distance, with the same group of students you trained with in person. Over 3 months, that's 25 case studies plus 6 group Zoom sessions with your instructors, where you'll discuss the horses you're working on, share photos or videos if you'd like feedback, and get guidance on improving each horse's care going forward. We also cover client communication during these sessions, since that's a real part of the job too.
You'll need access to horses to complete your 25 case studies. You can work on the same horse up to 5 times, and they don't have to be your own. Many students work with a friend's horse, or connect with horses in their community through therapy centers, rescues, or local barns. If you're not sure what's available near you, this is a great thing to ask about during your application.
Enrollment & Policies
A $1500 deposit reserves your spot in class. Class sizes are limited to 6 to 8 students, so seats are confirmed on a first-come basis once your deposit is submitted.
Tuition becomes non-refundable once you've been given access to your online materials or your seat in an in-person class is confirmed. If you need to change your course date, you're welcome to transfer once to a future date, just give us at least 30 days notice. (A $300 transfer fee applies if you're inside that 30-day window.) If we ever need to cancel a class ourselves, you'll be offered a full refund or the option to reschedule.
We'd rather you finish confident than finish fast. If you need more practice to meet our certification standards, you'll be given additional time and up to two extra days of instruction at no additional charge, scheduling permitting.
Your online access is yours to keep and revisit for life, it's a great study resource long after class ends. Course materials are for your own personal educational use, so we ask that they not be shared, copied, or redistributed, they're the intellectual property of Equissage California.
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