NEW Series - The Adventures of Rowdy

Kathy Richardson recently purchased an Equicizer to use primarily as a form of rehabilitation from a devastating accident. She received her Equicizer, Rowdy, in March and shortly thereafter came to us with an idea. She wanted to start a diary of sorts to document her journey back to the saddle using the Equicizer and was curious if we'd like to be a part of it. We said we'd love to and we are excited to announce that we will be working together with Kathy to bring you a new guest blog series "The Adventures of Rowdy". 

To kick things off, Kathy shares some backstory on what originally lead her to discover the Equicizer...

My name is Kathy Richardson. My husband and I own Rusty Bar Ranch, a boarding, lesson and training facility in Roy, WA. Life was good and my business was thriving until 9/20/16 when I was on my way to Olympia to pick up my Blue Heeler, Boo Boo from her final cancer treatment. I was less than 5 miles from my home, and slowing down for the upcoming traffic light, when I was rear ended by a driver traveling at a high rate of speed, who, according to witnesses, never even touched his brakes. The back of my seat broke; I twisted sideways and landed on the center console, breaking it and 4 ribs. I laid there helplessly, staring at the roof of my car, until it came to a stop. After getting out of the car I learned from witnesses exactly what had happened.

Following the initial impact, I glanced off the vehicle ahead of me, at an angle, flew over the northbound lane of traffic - which, fortunately, was clear as the light had just turned green - went straight between a telephone pole and advertising sign, barely 15’ apart, and missed the parked U-haul truck by inches, before coming to a stop 75’ from the edge of the road. Unbeknownst to me, at 3:32 PM that afternoon, my nightmare began.

Due to the severity of my injuries which included 4 broken ribs, not caught at the time of the collision, and an intensely swollen right leg, I had to stop all lessons, GS training days, and birthday parties. I also returned the 3 horses who had just arrived for training. It was 6 weeks before the swelling in my right leg went down enough to allow me to put on a sock and a shoe.

A month after the collision I began experiencing migraine headaches so intense that any sound, smell, or light made me violently ill. I have a friend with MS and while I could sympathize with her migraines, for the first time I could now empathize with her. After complaining to my doctor about my inability to lift either arm, (the result of having both hands on the wheel at the time of the collision) an X-ray in December revealed the broken ribs on my right side from landing on the console. X-rays also revealed that I had torn the rotator cuffs in both shoulders.

Starting in February 2017, I have had an injection in my spinal cord which finally stopped the migraines, rotator cuff surgery on my right shoulder, an upper and lower GI in an attempt to understand why I could not keep food in or down, and 3 abdominal surgeries, over the summer, which eventually fixed the GI issues.

In December of 2017 I began experiencing a great deal of pain in both knees. PT did not help and in February of 2018 I was fitted for a knee brace to take the pressure off the inside of my left knee which was bone on bone. One month later I saw an orthopedic surgeon and in June of 2018 I had the inside of my left knee replaced. In August of 2018 I had the outside of my right knee replaced.

Since the collision I have been unable to ride my horses, teach lessons, or clinics, or drive a vehicle any further than from my house down to the arena and back again. Within a few months of my second knee surgery, the pain in my right hip became more intense and my gait was off balance and quite pronounced. Physiotherapy and PT only made the pain more intense. Even the orthopedic surgeon felt I needed to give my knees more time to heal so my gait could improve.

I decided it was time to do some research to see what I could use to get me back in the saddle again. I came across The Equicizer website, and read everything about them. A testimonial from a woman in Australia who had encountered many of the same health issues as me, as the result of a collision, resonated with me.

Meet "Rowdy"

I immediately contacted Frankie and Kayla, and placed my order in November 2018. In December 2016, I lost my best friend of 24 years; my 31 year old Arabian, Rogala Signet, barn name Rowdy. When asked if I would like to model my Equicizer after any particular horse, I immediately knew I needed to memorialize Rowdy, hence the upcoming blog, The Adventures of Rowdy. Each Equicizer is hand crafted and they are built in the order they are purchased however I wanted to be in the saddle NOW so I was still disappointed to learn I would not be getting Rowdy until February 2019, but I told myself good things come to those who wait and I was certain I would not be disappointed.

Rowdy arrived the first week of March. He was brought into the house, set up, and moved around a few times until we found the perfect location for him. He looks so much like my own Rowdy I was moved to tears. Frankie did a beautiful job recreating him from the pictures I had sent and I am so grateful. I hope you'll follow along as I begin my Adventures with Rowdy...

Kathy Richardson

www.equicizer.com