Court Sides With Horse Massage Therapist, Suggests State Board Back Off

A Montgomery County massage therapist who had been ordered by state regulators not to practice her trade on horses will be allowed to do so under an informal agreement struck in court yesterday.

The unusual case pitted Gaithersburg resident Mercedes Clemens against the state Board of Chiropractic and Massage Therapy Examiners, which oversees massage therapists. Clemens, whose practice also included dogs and goats, sued the board in June after the board told her she could not massage animals.

Yesterday, Circuit Judge David A. Boynton urged the regulators to back off, saying it appeared that they had no authority over animal massage. An attorney for the board agreed to rescind a cease-and-desist order issued more than a year ago.

"Finally there's some sense going on here," Clemens said outside the courtroom in Rockville.

Though she treated other animals, Clemens was trained in equine massage and focused that part of her practice on horses. She likens horses to athletes, prone to sore muscles and stiffness. She also has people as clients.

In February 2008, the board sent her a notice saying it had "been made aware of advertisements in which you offer massage and bodywork services for horses."

In capital letters, the notice read: "You are to immediately cease and desist from the practice of massage of horses and any other animal in the state of Maryland."

With the backing of the Institute for Justice, an Arlington-based libertarian public interest law firm, Clemens sued.

In court yesterday, Grant Gerber, the Maryland assistant attorney general who represented the board, acknowledged that it has no authority over the treatment of animals, just people.

"Why don't you just send out a new letter?" Boynton asked the board's attorney, referring to the cease-and-desist order.

Gerber agreed.

"I hear where you're going, and I don't have a problem with the board doing that," he said.

Clemens said later that she hopes to get back to working on animals soon. She said she has lost as much as $20,000 of possible income since the order was issued.

One possible wrinkle: She and the Institute for Justice also want the chiropractic board to publicly state that it has no authority over animal massage. Clemens said that doing so would allow her to massage horses without fear that her license for treating people might be yanked.

Gerber declined to say whether the board would publicly state its policy on animal massage.