PrintThis equine massage therapist might not seem like the conventional dressage aficionado, but he’s found his place helping horses achieve their best.
Peek over a stall door at a big East Coast dressage show, and there’s a pretty good chance you’ll see a muscled, tattooed, mustached man in there working his magic. He’ll be stretching a leg, manipulating a muscle, or quietly soothing the horse with a look of complete contentment on his face.
Robert “Sal” Salvetti’s background as a city kid certainly didn’t prepare him for a life with horses. But Salvetti, 45, has truly found his niche in quiet moments with top equine athletes.
He’s at his best running his hands over horses with a skilled touch, asking them wordlessly where they hurt and kneading his hands into their muscles to relieve tension and stiffness.
“When I have my hands on a horse, I feel like a duck in water. In dressage, the goal is to have the distinction between the horse and rider blur and to create a new single entity. That can happen for me when I’m working with the horses, when the distinction blurs, and there’s so much focus we have on one another. There’s a real connection with the horse, and it moves me,” Salvetti said.
Grand Prix rider Arlene “Tuny” Page has witnessed Salvetti’s unique bond with a horse. “He goes in the stall, and time becomes somehow a little bit suspended. Sal never looks at his watch,” she said. “He never ties a horse up, and he focuses on the horse completely. He allows the horse to give him feedback. I love that Sal’s always watching to see what gets a reaction from the horse versus just pushing on a muscle until it lets go.
“I have one horse who is difficult for vets, chiropractors, farriers or massage therapists to work on. This mare loves Sal. She sees him coming, and she’d open the stall door for him and say ‘Come on in!’ if she could,” Page continued.
Just A Good Guy
It’s not just the horses that welcome Salvetti’s presence. His quick wit and pragmatic outlook on life make him easy company. “We love to brag on the Red Sox or moan about the Patriots,” said Page.
“He’s got a great sense of humor. We’re all so consumed by the little dressage and horse show world we live in, and he’s just a normal, good guy. It’s nice, because we’re so often surrounded by people who are wired for sound, and it can get a bit tense. Sal is very serious about what he does, but he’s also free with a kind word and a joke. He’ll say, ‘Come on, sit down and have a beer. It’ll all be fine.’ He has a great outlook on life,” she added.
Salvetti’s client list reads like a who’s who of the East Coast dressage world, and he follows the horses up and down Interstate 95. One of the most eligible bachelors on the horse show circuit, Salvetti spends the summers based out of his Harvard, Mass., home and the winters in Wellington, Fla. In Florida this year, he worked on five to nine horses a day for 118 consecutive days.
“He’s very dedicated to his job and works harder than any massage therapist I’ve ever seen,” said Grand Prix rider Jane Hannigan.
It’s About The Process
Salvetti’s a fan of fast things. He likes to drive his Miata convertible at speeds that make his eyes tear up. He loves the exhilaration of hearing the crack of the bat drive a baseball to the outer reaches of Boston’s Fenway Park, and he cheered as loudly as anyone when the Boston Bruins slashed across the ice to take the Stanley Cup this spring.
