Newest Horsey Adventure
About a year ago I discovered a tra
iner named Dan Sumerel. I was intrigued by his training philosophy so ordered his videos. I happened to find one of the last sets of his video tapes on E-Bay and shopped victoriously! In reading through his web-site, I learned about the red-light therapy units he uses and sells. I was very interested in the results he reported having. I kept the thought if it in the back of my mind and every so often things related to that therapy would pop into my life. My sister works at a state veteran's facility in the OT department and they had a unit they used for circulation problems in patients. She told me of a man that had contacted her to ask about getting treated because he had seen red-light therapy used on Thoroughbreds at the California race tracks and the great results they got.
In January, I learned Dan was going to be at a local Horseman's Conference and decided to go meet him. I ended up asking him to come scan and treat my mare, Molly. It was interesting to see how the therapy worked and getting to talk to Dan. I really liked him and so did my horse and family. The feeling that this therapy would be a wonderful thing to have available for horses and owners grew stronger and I seriously began thinking about buying a unit. They are quite costly, so I decided to see if I could find a used one. Enter E-Bay again! I found one unit on there, the only one that's ever been offered as far as I can see, and at a price I felt comfortable with. I was the only bidder and the owners of the unit were very nice and are available to answer my questions. I got my unit quickly and had a client right away, me! A few days before receiving it, my back had started spasming off and on if I moved a certain way. I treated myself and the next day, no back problems. However, my neck was very stiff, so I treated that and next day no stiff neck! Neither have bothered me since.
On Monday, Feb. 25, I finally got a chance to use the unit on the horses. I was scanning one mare when the farrier showed up to trim feet. Things went well until trimming River. I put the light cap that came with the therapy unit on all the horses as they were trimmed and they were very calm and drowsy. River was the same, but she kept pulling her feet away. She had been so good last time she was trimmed, we couldn't figure out what was going on until we got to the right hind. She pulled that one away and tried to take a step and was dead lame on the left hind! We were horrified and felt so bad when we realized that's what she had been trying to tell us. We watched her walk around, checked her legs for swelling or heat and couldn't really see anything that woud have told us anything was wrong. He decided to come back when he's in the area in a few days to finish the hind hooves. After he left, I called the horses up back to eat and realized that River had been walking up back for the past few days instead of leading the others up at a trot or canter. I had thought maybe it was the footing or her lungs being congested, but now think she must have slipped and pulled a muscle or something.
On Tuesday I scanned River and treated the problem areas I found. As I was scanning her, she was reactive to the pressure of the wand when I got to her hind end, flinching and moving away. When I got to the treatment, she peed, pooped, did a full body shake, rubbed her head on her front leg and licked and chewed, all signs of things starting to flow again. She did some big sighs and was very cooperative. The next morning was a new snow fall and I looked out to see River lay down and roll, then get up, rear, buck and kick up her heels and go trotting and cantering around the pasture with the other horses. I couldn't believe it! For as tender as she had been less than 24 hours before, she was definately feeling much better. I was actually a little concerned she would hurt herself again. I ended up scanning and treating her again that day and found many less points and getting few reactions from River, just some sighs and licking and chewing. She seems back to her old self and I'm a firm believer in the validity of this therapy.
Its so weird how all the pieces fell into place to make it possible for me to make the decision to give this a try. I will be documenting the results I get from using it here. It will have to warm up a bit before I use it on the horses again though! I used it on my daughter's head after she fell backwards and got a huge egg on her head. The bump was mostly gone the next day. I also used it on my mom's back a week ago and it hasn't bothered her since.
The red-light therapy is supposed to help rebuild collagen, so I thought I'd use it on my face! After using it on my lips and chin a couple of days later my lower lip felt different. I thought maybe I was getting Angelina Jolie lips, then realized that the difference was I could actually FEEL my lip. I sustained nerve damage in my lip and chin from surgery on my jaw and have had numb areas. I don't have all the feeling back yet, but it is better. I never even thought about that happening so was taken completely by surprise!
