AMERICAN BEEF PRODUCER
WELLNESS
BOVINE MASSAGE Is it really something to consider?
by Pepper Werner Lone Creek Cattle Company
Do No Harm It was either ‘get better or off to slaughter’. It’s business. It’s survival of the fittest and all about the reproduction process. I was determined. In the massage world, we call it ‘intention’. Do no harm. I had the best of intentions when I took off for the ranch, knowing that I had one shot at helping to make a positive difference while keeping him out of the processing plant. In early November, I was talking to a producer about something unrelated when the topic came up of an injured bull. As I listened to the description of what happened that day in September, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I could help him. I just knew I could. He was, after all, of high breeding standard and was counted on as an animal to pass on his genes to many more progeny within the breed…Piedmontese. G-Force was injured as a result of the probe being set too high during semen collection and shocking his sciatic nerve on the right side that radiated down to his tibial nerve and the various peroneal nerves. As a consequence of this, his hind legs were knocked out from underneath him and he landed like a frog down in the chute. This resulted in him lying down for a couple of weeks - simply because he 30
could not bear his own weight. Additionally, he lost 100 pounds, his muscles atrophied, and was then added to the calendar at the processing plant. My essential oils of choice were frankincense (anti-inflammatory & joint pain) and patchouli (ease stress and anxiety). A massage technique called ‘percussion’ was used to bring back some circulation in the atrophied muscles of his gluteus, the vastus lateralis, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Acupressure and friction had a useful effect loosening his muscle fibers and allowing smooth movement. Some of American Beef Producer
the muscles are so large in a bull (especially in Piedmontese), that I wasn’t always able to give enough pressure to the injured areas. I chose to use a mechanical device (Evertone) that had a variety of attachments and speeds to increase the intensity of the work. This seemed to have a positive influence on his flexibility and range of motion. Positive Influence One brisk Washington morning, I chose to start with a heated blanket to take the edge off before I started working the tissue. Without warming the April 2021
