Making Every Stride Count with Janet Storey, REMT of Thrive Equine Massage Therapy
- Mar 24
- 6 min read
At Honos Nutrition Co., I’m passionate about horses, science, and doing the best we can do for our equine best friends, while empowering others to do the same. With this blog series, my goal is to support like-minded individuals and convey the importance of compassionate, evidence-based horse care, while coming back to the passion & curiosity that is driven by the love of the horse.
Making Every Stride Count with Janet Storey, REMT of Thrive Equine Massage Therapy
This week, I sat down with Janet Storey, REMT and founder of Thrive Equine Massage Therapy for tea (the kind that comes with a mug 😉).
Janet holds an Advanced Diploma of Equine Massage Therapy and is registered with the International Federation of Registered Equine Massage Therapists. She is overflowing with knowledge, passion, and above all else, love of horses, which is so evident across her business and her unwavering dedication to equine well-being.
Coming up through the Pony Club levels, competing in the hunter/jumper world, dabbling in dressage during college, and working on every type of horse in her practice, Janet's curiosity is deepened by every horse she meets: "There is SO much to learn!"
So many letters - what does it mean to be a REMT?
If you've ever wondered what sets a Registered Equine Massage Therapist apart, Janet explains it clearly: the REMT designation is the gold standard in the field, set by a governing body that upholds a consistent standard of practice. In an industry that is unregulated (just like with equine nutrition professionals), this matters enormously.
When you work with a REMT, you're working with a highly educated professional whose training goes well beyond massage. The college program includes shadowing veterinarians and other professionals, and every student completes a thesis and research project based on a real horse, identifying a specific issue, creating a treatment plan, and then both executing and evaluating the results - Janet’s project focused on tendon tears. REMTs are trained in how to work effectively within a team of professionals, making them a collaborative and communicative part of your horse's care team.
In addition, the REMT designation gives horse owners something that working with unregistered practitioners simply cannot: accountability. With a REMT, if something goes wrong, you have action of recourse: they can lose their license. When not working with a REMT, there is no standard of practice, no guaranteed quality of service, and no path forward if things go sideways.
How are evidence-based practices part of the Thrive approach?
With her advanced diploma and credentials, Janet’s approach to every session reflects that comprehensive foundation. Even as we spoke and I asked about different modalities, she noted which had equine-specific research, referencing the number and quality of studies on each technology. "By understanding structure, function, and physiology, you can identify patterns and elicit the results that you really want," Janet explained.
That in-depth knowledge informs everything from how she considers every horse’s unique biomechanics, curates conditioning plans, prescribes stretching homework, and compassionately educates horse owners on supporting their horses day to day. Janet’s expertise stood out as she explained, "A lot of people focus on recovery, but instead what are we doing to prepare the body for this performance?" By proactively managing imbalances and asymmetries, and reducing injury risk before it becomes a problem, her work helps make every stride count by setting each horse up for success in their body.
What advice would you give your younger horsey self?
This question brought out one of my favourite moments of our conversation. Janet reflected on how growing up in Pony Club trains you to focus on being prim and proper, doing everything right, and offered a perspective that I think many of us need to hear.
"It's so important to not be afraid to hear no. Being so averse to risk and failure is not great for growth, not for you, and not for your horse." She reminded us that even small decisions to try something new or advocate for your horse can have really big positive impacts down the line.
She also added, “Two things can be true at the same time and can exist in the same space. Two modalities can complement each other”. By building a strong support team around your horse, you create the conditions to figure out what is genuinely best for both of you.
Janet's compassionate advice goes beyond the barn: "It's so important that we're not comparing ourselves to others. Everyone comes from different support systems, different budgets, different situations. Don't feel like you're not doing enough for your horse because someone else is doing something different. You're doing your best for your horse, and that makes you equals."
This is one of the many aspects that makes Janet's perspective, and how she runs her business, stand out. She doesn't just support the horse, she prioritizes empowering and supporting the horse owner too. Together, she works with her clients to determine what is practical for each individual situation, focusing on what can be implemented regularly in a way that is both reasonable and feasible. No shame, no judgement, just compassion and care that treats equine caretakers with the kindness they deserve to give themselves.
What is most rewarding about what you do?
When I asked Janet what was most rewarding about her work, her answer was immediate and heartfelt: it's the individual wins, both big and small, across the wide variety of clients and cases she works with.
It's being able to identify an issue, and helping that horse, being able to connect with horses in a new way, witnessing the moment a horse realizes they are heard, watching a horse understand that she helps them feel good.
Every single one of them matters to Janet because they matter to the horse.
Let’s talk about your tagline.
The Thrive Equine Massage tagline is "Make every stride count," and in speaking with someone who is SO passionate, it was so clear that it's not just a tagline, it’s a mission. Janet's approach considers the big picture: what are we doing to make every step the best it can be, and what does that look like from a full team approach?
She works with a remarkably wide range of cases from neonatal foals to lesson herds, show teams, high-performance sport horses, and racehorses. By establishing each horse's baseline and identifying what is abnormal, regular support helps horse owners notice changes before they become exaggerated, setting every horse up for success in every stride.
What advice do you have for equine caretakers constantly navigating information online?
We've all fallen down the algorithm of equine massage and stretching content online, and Janet had a grounded, refreshing take on how to approach it. If something you read online piques your interest, she recommends bringing it to your friendly neighbourhood REMT, or whatever professional works on your horse, to understand the specific anatomy behind it and how relevant it actually is for your specific horse.
Blanket statements aren't always helpful. It's a small but powerful reminder that individualized, expert guidance will always outperform the algorithm. If you want to add a MT to your horse’s team for individualized and science-backed support, ask your horsey friend what REMTs they work with. Otherwise, you can access a list of REMTs sorted by location at https://ifremt.org/, or give Janet a shout ;)
Want to help your horse thrive?
Janet is a wealth of knowledge, and beyond running her own practice, she also teaches at the Mitchell School of Equine Massage Therapy, helping bring up the next generation of highly qualified REMTs. A true educator at heart, with her clients, her students, and her broader community, Janet noticed how many horse owners struggle to feel confident executing stretches that every horse could benefit from. In response, she developed a stretching guide for horse owners, available on her website, with the potential for even more resources on the way (go give her a follow to be the first to know!).
Janet also teaches stretching clinics, where she helps devoted equine caretakers add more tools to their toolbox by educating on how to feel confident and safe executing stretches by guiding horse owners through what to look for and what the correct methods feel like.
With her advanced diploma and extensive REMT education on hydrotherapy, conditioning plans, remedial workouts and anatomy, Janet also helps develop rehab and conditioning plans for horse owners in conjunction with their vet teams. This added layer, in conjunction with massage, helps horse owners get faster progress and recovery, while helping equine caretakers make informed and empowered decisions.
To learn more about Janet and Thrive Equine Massage Therapy, visit her website & socials to access the stretching guide, a full service list, and be the first to know about upcoming clinics & educational resources that help make every stride count.
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