Guest Post: Emerald M Therapeutic Riding Center

Emerald M Therapeutic Riding Center, a non profit organization located in Brooksville, FL, was founded by Lisa Michelangelo, PT in the fall of 2014. Lisa recently took the time to tell us more about the work they do at Emerald M and the role the Equicizer plays in their program.

by Lisa Michelangelo

Emerald M began by offering hippotherapy and therapeutic riding services and most recently in the last 16 months has expanded to working with military veterans and their families. Emerald M's participants start as young as 2 years old with a variety of disabilities such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, Down's syndrome, autism, PTSD, and a variety of other neurological and orthopedic issues. Often times, these children and adults are fearful or incapable of riding a real horse when they begin the program. 

I knew the value in the Equicizer as I was introduced to it at a therapeutic program where I used to work and desperately wanted it for Emerald M. By the generosity of many of my participants, an Equicizer "the Black Stallion", was donated to the program in 2017.

The Equicizer has been a huge asset to our therapeutic program. Because we live in Florida, our summers are extremely hot and rainy, and many of our participants can't tolerate the intense heat or their sessions get canceled due to rain. We have located our Equicizer in an air conditioned room allowing for these participants to still attend sessions at the farm and also preventing them from regression. 

Most recently we had a child that needed surgery on her ankle and was restricted in a cast for 6 weeks. She was unable to ride the real horse, but was able to still receive services by using the Equicizer. The Equicizer has also been a great benefit when introducing a new concept to a participant that they are having difficulty grasping. It is much easier to introduce it in a more controlled setting and then transfer it over to the real horse. 

Our Equicizer is so important to our program and we are so blessed to have it!

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Brianna is a very special part of Emerald M Therapeutic Riding Program. Below is her incredibly inspiring story of will and determination. 

If you'd like to learn more about the services that Emerald M provides and/or how you can support them, visit their website! You can also follow Emerald M on facebook.

www.equicizer.com

Facts, Figures, and Fun!

This week on Wooden Horse Wednesday we are looking at the numbers. Play along by writing down the answers to these questions and see how many you get right! You may be surprised at the answers....

These questions refer to Equicizers created since 1988. If data was missing on a particular Equicizer sale, it was not counted.

What US state has the most Equicizers?
Hint: It's not Ohio- the home of Wooden Horse Headquarters. 

What country in the world have we exported the most Equicizers to?
Hint: It's an island!

In what year (so far) were the most Equicizers built?
Hint: George W Bush was president.

Of people who have declared their Equicizer will be used for a particular purpose/discipline, what purpose is the most common?
Hint: The creator of the Equicizer rode this discipline when he was a professional athlete.

What is the most common color for an Equicizer?
Hint: The answer is the color of a horse that was the star of a famous novel by Anna Sewell.


Equicizer USA

Answer: The Golden State aka California accounts for 92 Equicizer purchases! Next in line are Florida (50), Texas (45), and Ohio (46).





Equicizer World

Answer: Not including the 725 Equicizers that stayed here in the US, Japan is the number one location we ship to! Other popular destinations are Canada, the UK, and Australia.





















Equicizer Years

Answer: This graph represents the number of Equicizers Frankie has hand crafted each year. The year 2007 has been our most productive year so far but we have big plans for 2019 and beyond! *From 1988-2004 Frankie was balancing his jockey career while building Equicizers on the side. He retired in late 2004 and started building Equicizers full time in 2005. 

Purpose/Discipline

Answer: Of those who have declared a purpose for their Equicizer, we most often hear racing! Makes sense as the creation of the Equicizer was a direct result of Frankie's involvement in it.

Color

Answer: The most popular color for Equicizers is black! Who hasn't always wanted their own black beauty? Black is followed by bay and brown... but did you know we have made blue, green, garnet, and mauve Equicizers?

We hope you enjoyed these facts and figures. Let us know in the comments if you guessed any of the trivia questions right! We would love to hear from our customers around the globe about your experiences with your horse. Please feel free to contact us at info@equicizer.com!

www.equicizer.com

Compiled by Amanda Elia

Guest Post: Mounted Archery & More

Today we have a special guest post from Equicizer owner, Deb Pawlyshyn, who operates a farm in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Their primary focus, "...is in herbs, horses, sheep and alpacas. Currently we specialize in breeding Warmblood horses and specialty breeds of fibre sheep." Deb uses her Equicizer "Stormy" not only for herself but also for her students in a multitude of ways, including mounted archery. 

We're very excited to have Deb as our featured guest blogger today!

Throughout a lifetime of owning and training horses, I have had my share of accidents. My most serious accidents however didn't involve horses at all. One of my worst accidents was driving a forklift (LR7) onto a tractor trailer. The trailer had pulled out just as I was driving over the dock ramp. The forks on the lift slammed into the trailer just as the dock locks were activated. I was thrown into the air and landed on top of the machine. 

My injuries were mostly soft tissue, nerve damage, torn ligaments and tendons that supported my pelvis area. Riding and training horses was not possible for a long time. After the injury my recovery period was extensive. I felt like I couldn't get back to how I was no matter how hard I trained and no matter how much physio I did. Gradually I did get back to riding but I was never the same. My inner core was weak and there was a tightness from internal scar tissue.

In 2010 I purchased my Equicizer. It was a big deal for me (and it will stay with me for life). I had it shipped to Vancouver Island in Canada from the States. Sandy Lovato was my contact person and was incredible to deal with. She knew a little of my injuries and worked hard to make it possible for me to have one. I will always treasure her for that. 

The Canadian dollar was inconsistent and dropping throughout our talks and it soon became apparent I wouldn't have enough money. Sandy made it possible for me to still purchase the Equicizer by not charging me for the wheels. I would have been happy to go without wheels as long as I had the Equicizer but Sandy would not allow that and gave me the wheels for free. She said that I would thank her later. How right she was.

The Equicizer helped me a tremendous amount that first summer I had it. I had three horses coming in for training all with serious issues. That year everything went well. I had the Equicizer in my kitchen and would watch the news, ride and eat my breakfast (porridge) in a cup all at the same time. The 15 minutes on the Equicizer every morning set the stage for me to do serious work on my real horses. I was limber, my core was activated, my muscle memory strong. I credit the Equicizer for that.

Over the years we have adapted the Equicizer to work on various skills including roping and mounted archery. Imagine roping a dummy in your living room while the weather outside is roaring with a gale force storm. We taught kids mathematics, chemical equations, and the alphabet using the Equicizer. We utilized the student's large muscle mass (the thighs) to activate a different electrical pathway to the brain, a form of hippo-therapy. The movements that the Equicizer creates is similar to a horse's movements. The Equicizer creates a positive learning environment and most importantly - it is safe.

Right now as I write this, my Equicizer "Bask Song" aka "Stormy" (named after my dressage stallion) is outside under cover in his special trailer. Last summer Stormy was mostly used as a practice mount for mounted archery with students young and old. This winter he will be brought in for rehab work (hip replacements) and to help prepare me for an important upcoming project. I'm getting ready to start training the soon to be 4 year old feisty daughter of my Warmblood stallion. She will be a handful as I train using resistant free responses. Guess who will be assisting me? 

by Deb Pawlyshyn
Co-owner of Gun Barrel Canyon Farms -
Home of Warmblood M.M. Toblerone and Bask Song the Equicizer