Legal requirements for equine bodyworkers
If you’ve landed here, it means you’re smart, like really really smart.
Shout out to you for taking your business seriously and making sure that you are operating legally.
This blog post is designed specifically for equine bodyworkers in the United States, but if you’re located across the pond - please don’t hesitate to reach out and we can look at your specific situation.
So, where to begin?
Step #1: Review your state’s Veterinary Practices Act
If you’re a regular reader, we touched on this in last month’s blog but the first step in assessing your legality as an equine bodyworker is to look at your individual state’s Veterinary Practices Act. Equine bodywork is not a federally regulated industry - it is up to each US State to determine the rules when it comes to bodywork on animals.
There are 4 general categories of legality across states when it comes to equine bodywork and each Veterinary Practices Act:
Anyone can do it
Anyone can do it with veterinary referral
Anyone can do it under direct veterinary supervision
It is not allowed except by veterinarians
Outlined below is a reference sheet of the legality of equine massage in each state.
Please note that laws change and this list may not be up to date. You are responsible for checking your state’s Veterinary Practices Act before starting your equine bodywork business.
Step #2: Analyze your scope of practice
It can be really easy to slip into language that does not match your actual scope of practice. As equine bodyworkers, we are not treating or diagnosing. Be cautious in your marketing and in the language you use in person to not call your sessions “treatments” or to infer diagnosis when working on horses.
Our role is to assess and address musculoskeletal tension, restrictions, and imbalances to improve comfort, mobility, and performance. We have the ability to evaluate posture, conformation, gait, and movement patterns to identify compensatory issues linked to pain or restriction - without diagnosing medical conditions.
If you’ve been using language like “treat” or telling owners things like “he has kissing spine” time to sharpen up your language ASAP.
Why? If the wrong person gets word of you using incorrect language, you could be fined upwards of $5,000 in some states (and sometimes that’s $5,000 per day) for “practicing veterinary medicine without a license”.
Wild. Stay smart and use appropriate language for our scope of practice.
Step #3: Determine if you need a business license
This is one of the (dare I say) most annoying parts of being a small, mobile business owner. Business licensure is rarely regulated at the state level and instead regulated at a county or municipality level.
What does this mean for you? That you have to research business licensure in every city or county that you work in.
Each city and county will have different regulations (boo) but most will require a general business license for any for-profit business.
I recommend using your state's Secretary of State and/or county assessor site to research the requirements in your area.
What are the repercussions of not taking the time to complete this step? Fines, cease & desist orders, and in come cases forced closure of a business. Do it right and get the business license.
Step #4: CYA with a liability release and liability insurance
If you don’t know what CYA means, it means ‘cover your…. butt’. This step is technically optional, but really it isn’t.
Depending on if you are set up as a sole proprietor, LLC, or S-Corp (more on that here), there is a possibility that someone could come after your entire net worth (your house, your car, etc) if God-forbid something terrible happened in a session that resulted in injury or death of the horse or owner.
Setting yourself up with a liability release and liability insurance is not a complete shield from someone pursuing legal action, but it’s a really great legal addition when it comes to the courtroom, proving that the client was aware of and agreed to the risks prior to session. If you don’t know where to start with a liability release, I have a starter template available for $14 that you can use to fill in the blanks and then just have it quickly reviewed by legal counsel for your state’s specific requirements.
I recommend utilizing a legal consultant through Fiverr or Upwork to review the document once you’ve made your changes. These websites offer a much more reasonable fee for legal review (like $15-$40 compared to $300 if you use a local lawyer).
Lastly, it’s worth every penny to pay for liability insurance. The cost is usually $150-$250 annually and offers you protection if there is a legal dispute between you and a client.
Here’s a FREE list of the liability insurance options for equine massage therapists and bodyworkers.
If you’ve made it here, you might feel overwhelmed or even disheartened if you’ve never done any of these.
Don’t!
We all have to start somewhere and this is your first step to legal business bliss ✨
Did you know that statistically, most bodyworkers don’t make it past their 3rd business anniversary? 😢
If you need support building, scaling, or learning how to run your business like a pro so that you can make money and still love what you do - I’m here to help!
Visit my website for more information about Business Coaching and my comprehensive bodyworker business course, the Barrio Business Blueprint - I’d love to work with you to create a sustainable, profitable business.
