Building Confidence with Captain Jack - Part 2

Change is a kindly spirit at times, although retirement seems pointless when work is what you love. Father time however, seems to know when you need to move on anyways... so we did. Back to our home at the base of the mountains near our first daughter, Lisa, and her growing family.

Before we retired, Kate took on a "rescue horse" she named Joker. It took Kate time, dedication and consistency to turn him around, but he has...it's just that Kate does not feel ready to ride again. And then there was me . I knew my balance and timing were totally off, my spurring talent was useless since the left leg had a mind of its own due to the stroke.

Dan saw an advertisement on the Equicizer and looked into it. He was close to retirement so that meant Kate and I were too and the decision was made to wait until we moved from the Ranch. The Equicizer Folks felt like Family when we contacted them to order our Wooden Horse. It was the best customer service we had ever experienced!

The delivery was phenomenal, very well organized, and they kept us updated on their progress. The Equicizer came in a hand-made, sturdy wooden box (that I still have and put to good use)! The instructions were extremely easy to follow and to our delight, we were ready to ride the Captain the same day he arrived! 
 
Here is an updated picture of Captain Jack looking out his 2nd story window...yes, he has moved up in the world! Now with a mountain, 3 horse view as well as a view of the neighbor's cattle. We've had tons of snow and ice so now Captain Jack the Equicizer is coming to the rescue once again on a daily basis so we can stay fit and ready to ride. Kate practices riding Jack for balance and smooth transitions.

The Equicizer is priceless to us in times like this. We can get our bodies toned up, core stable, and our stamina back. By the time the ice finally melts we''ll be ready to ride outside now too. I am also finding the Cowboy Dressage instruction using the Equicizer extremely fun.

When people first see our Equicizer, they immediately want to take him for a spin. And so far, they have all been delighted and come back for more.

The bottom line is, if you have a passion for horses and need/want to be able to practice riding at will, no waiting, then the Equicizer is for you. It's great exercise for the back, core and tummy. If you've ridden before, you'll be amazed at times how closely the movements resemble what you have already experienced horseback!

-Kate, Lyn, & the Captain

Building Confidence with Captain Jack - Part 1

"The Equicizer is absolutely the most unique and worthwhile exercise creation I have ever used. It continues to amaze me how the Equicizer absolutely mimics the movements of a real horse enabling our body to gain strength, mobility, and confidence in preparation of actually getting back in the saddle again!

We love our Equicizer, Captain Jack. He has been extremely beneficial for both K8 and I. In the winter of 2017 I acquired Sciatica from doctoring my "Longdust" horse (winter laminitis complicated by PPID/EMS). After going through three different physical therapy programs with no relief, I started my own program in 2018 with Captain Jack. My motivation also came from the great osteo-arthritis video I had viewed from the Wooden Horse.

Progress is sweet, and with the help of the Captain I have dodged the 'invasive back surgery bullet' as of today, ironically, per my primary care Doctor's advice and plan forward!

The quality of workmanship put into the Equicizer is exceptional! The greatest invention of our time. Thank you so much again for inventing the Wooden Horse...he is priceless!"

A couple of years ago we made "Captain Jack" the Equicizer for Lyn and her family. We recently received the message above from Lyn, who graciously agreed to tell us more about the story behind the real life Captain Jack and how he led to the Equicizer entering their lives:
 
We are a Ranching Family of four: Dan, Lyn, & 2 cowgirls - Lisa & Katy. We started out on Spanish Creek / Flying D Ranch in the 1970's near Bozeman, Montana. We incorporated horses in our daily lives as we followed Dan's charge of mother cows to three different cow camp locations on a yearly basis.

Our daughter Kate was born with hypotonia (basically, lack of muscle tone). Over the years, Kate's love for horses got her into the Special Olympics in the Denver, Colorado area. She competed on a palomino paint mare, Sally, an obvious partnership. Sally found her forever home with Kate when the people behind Horsepower (handicapped riding club) offered Sally to Kate for $1, the price of a brand inspection at that time.

Together they successfully competed in the local 4-H Club due, in part, to the special people that were willing to make this duo feel welcome and part of the group. When the year end 4-H competition was held, Kate and Sally placed, but the little gal with the purple ribbon came up to them and said "You both deserve this and I would be honored if you'd accept this ribbon!" 4-H & FFA were great clubs for kids!

From the Escalante Ranch in Colorado our horses rode with us on the historic TS Ranch near Battle Mountain, Nevada for the next 25 years. Kate continued to ride Sally in these wide open spaces full of cattle, calves and adventure until Sally's time was up. The TS cowboss offered Kate a nice Buckskin, Captain Jack, who had a history of not being pleased with Cowboys in general. But the Captain saw something in Kate that made them click, so they became silent partners and were asked to help move cows when needed.

Early mornings on horseback, sorting calves by the Boss's (Dan's) direction was a dream job for us. Kate was in high school now, and had plateaued out on the Special Ed academics, so we "invented" a school to work program that involved Kate, Captain Jack and the TS feedlot on a daily basis. Kate was responsible for a daily journal and logging her hours as a teammate with the crew at the feedlot or when moving cattle to new pastures, the amount of time spent on horseback, etc. so there was a lot of math going on!

When Captain Jack reached over 35 years of age he went on to meet up with Sally. Kate tried out quite a few horses but never really found a partner as true as Jack. Kate's last years in the feedlot were spent on a big brown horse that was kind and honest until the cinch faltered and the saddle Kate was riding slipped under his belly. Kate grew wings and landed on her feet, but it took some time and talent to cut the cinch free. That episode was a confidence breaker for Kate and finding a confidence building horse is not an easy task...  

More on how Captain Jack the Equicizer came into the lives of Lyn's family in our next Wooden Horse Wednesday blog post.