Monday, February 14, 2005
HORSE WHISPERERS
Equine owners put faith in holistic healers
By KELLY WOLFE
AP MEMBER EXCHANGE
WELLINGTON — The doctor carefully took the pony’s round jaws in his hands and stared into her coffee-colored eyes.
“This pony has a worried look on its face,” said Tom Griffith, a Wellington veterinarian who owns and treats the pony. “That’s usually associated with an earth or water personality.”
So began the third chiropractic session for 14-year-old Hidden Asset. Over the next hour, she was rubbed, stroked, and punched along the spine with a little gadget that sounds like a staple gun. After that, she was dotted with tiny purple and orange needles.
Through it all, she stayed calm, becoming unruly only toward the end.
Tomorrow, she’ll feel better, Griffith said.
Holistic healing, or alternative medicine, dates back roughly 5,000 years, according to the American Holistic Health Association. Although its acceptance among humans is debatable, its practices have taken root in the equestrian community — there are countless chiropractors, buzzing gizmos, massage therapists and healing hands, all of which run about $100 an hour.
And in the equestrian world, there seem to be few, um, naysayers.
“I think it helps with muscle relaxation; it makes for a healthier horse,” trainer Sissy Wickes said.
Stressed or injured muscles impair performance and the horses’ health. Massage seems to help, she said.
National veterinary associations do not express skepticism about holistic treatments. The American Association of Equine Practitioners issued this statement:
“The AAEP supports the rights of the veterinary practitioner to select and prescribe a course of therapy believed to be in the best interest of the horse.”
Kim Pickett of Chester Springs, Pa., said she is new to the Wellington horse scene and has been out tacking up fliers, promoting her healing touch.
“I read energy fields, plus I can communicate with animals,” Pickett said. “I scan their body with my hands and feel areas where the energy is congested, imbalanced.”
— Wolfe writes for The Palm Beach Post.
Serial story: THE MOUSE AND THE MOTORCYCLE