I’ve been passionate about animals my whole life, especially horses and dogs, and have been working with both for over 20 years.  I grew up riding Saddlebreds and other gaited breeds; rode saddleseat, western, and hunt seat on the intercollegiate team during my college years; and now own two off-track thoroughbreds that I ride for dressage, show jumping, and eventing.

 

 I’ve lived all over, from Iowa, Florida, Ohio, and Kentucky (twice), to Mexicali, Mexico - a major city about 3 hours east of Tijuana.  I was introduced to massage as a therapy for horses in Ohio, where I used the services of a local massage therapist / chiropractor to keep my horses sound and happy.  I found that massage enhances a horse’s ability to perform, and helps them relax and be more confident in their work. 

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When I moved to Mexico from Ohio, I knew I would experience some enormous changes from what I was used to.  Living in Mexico was an interesting cultural experience, in every aspect of my life – from grocery shopping to being at the barn.  The Mexicans with whom I boarded generally considered my horses spoiled and fat (they both score approximately 5 on the Henneke body condition scoring scale.  One of the differences between my previous horse experience and what I found in Mexico was that vets who were educated like American vets are, and who practiced in the manner I was accustomed to, were rare; equine specialists and therapists were unheard of. 

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While the cultural differences were the most noticeable aspect of living in a foreign country, there were also many similarities.  One of those is that Americans and Mexicans often consider training issues to be behavior issues, rather than immediately considering a physical problem as the source of the trouble.

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The incredible experience of rehabilitating my own horse led me to the decision to return to school to complete the Equine Therapy program at Midway College.  I completed that Bachelor’s degree, with additional concentrations in Equine Science and Equine Management, in the spring of 2010, and started this business the same month.  I’ve now been doing manual therapies on horses since 2006, and machine therapies since 2009.  I currently offer electrical stimulation and ultrasound through my business, and have plans to add laser / light therapy by early 2013.  I am constantly researching new and different manual therapy techniques and new machine modalities, and interacting with many veterinarians, farriers, and other industry professionals to deepen my knowledge and understanding of how what each of us does effects the others.  Communication among these professionals, owners, managers, and myself is part of what sets my business apart from many other therapists.​