Vertical Vibration benefits the Performance Horse
Flipping through the pages of any equine catalog, you’ll notice a plethora of therapy products: Liniments, wraps, boots, magnets, supplements, massagers, fairy dust, ice packs and hollow promises all suggesting THEIR product will help your performance horse.
How are you to choose: Brand endorsement? Color assortment? Newly-improved? Horse-approved? It’s tiring to say the least. I know at one time or another I’ve found myself sarcastically asking, “which product should I waste my money on today?” I bet you can relate!
The EquiVibe plate however, stands alone. It’s a low profile platform run by electricity that vibrates at different speeds. When a horse stands on this platform he receives benefit from the vibration – stimulating bones, muscles and nerves, thus supporting performance, rehabilitation and helping to prevent injury.
The reason I am passionate about sharing the benefits of EquiVibe whole body vibration specifically, is because it’s been a valuable and reliable form of therapeutic support, not only my own horses, but the world’s most winningest horses, and can be for your equine partners as well!
WBV is safe to combine with other therapies. Micro-current therapy on the legs, EquiVibe for the body.
When we’re trying to condition a performance horse, or simply keep their wellness at a maintenance level, we should have certain expectations from the start. Riding your horses and feeding them hay, for example, is NOT enough to sustain an athlete, let alone win. But if their conditioning routine was thorough and included: stretching, muscle building, toxin ridding, fascia releasing, and mentally stimulating components then you would probably be the one to beat.
One of our favorite types of therapy also happens to be one of the most proven therapies for helping horses. Whole Body Vibration Therapy is non-invasive, side-affect free and enjoyable for horses. WBV helps with overall circulation, enhances bone density, activates dormant muscle groups, accelerates healing and provides relaxation to horses and humans alike.
EquiVibe’s webpage says, “A mechanical wave enhances gravity. We have gravity that pulls us down into the earth and we have ground reaction force. Whole Body Vertical Vibration, if properly mechanically designed, like the EquiVibe, gives us vertical hits of the same kind of thing from the bottom up. Therefore, if we are caught in the middle, which the body is – between gravity and the whole body vertical vibration machine, we also realize the benefits we are getting from the load of gravity, from the ability of the gravity to stimulate our bones, stimulate our muscles, and stimulate our nerves, which becomes a very, very powerful resource.
Using an EquiVibe is fairly simple. While properly positioned, the entire body vibrates due to the frequency of the platform, which causes the muscles to contract and stretch in order to sustain balance. These natural reflexes are involuntary and happen very rapidly, much like the human knee jerk reaction tested by doctors.
Depending on level of fitness or rehab, the duration and frequency of use will vary. Before when a horse exercised they might be using 40% of their muscles, with EquiVibe they are using nearly 100% of their muscles. Some muscles they may have never used before.
One of the immediate effects of Whole Body Vibration (WBV) is improved circulation of both blood and lymph. Anything that can improve circulation is of significant benefit to the equine athlete. Increased blood flow improves oxygenation of the tissues, removal of toxins and metabolic waste, and enhances the body’s ability to heal itself, drug free.”
One way I accelerate the healing process even
FASTER is by combining WBV with red light therapy.
EquiVibe has had many accounts of nothing less than miracles occurring with proper application of their machine. Bowed tendons, soft tissue injuries, viral diseases, stiffness, and hoof problems are just a few of the ailments that have been resolved with this type of therapy.
By properly and gently ‘warming up’ a horse to accept the EquiVibe plate first (a process I went into detail on here), it prepares the horse to receive the greatest possible benefit while on the vibration plate.
I can personally attest to how vibration has helped. In this post I shared how the temperature was reduced in my barrel horse’s fetlocks, the temperature increased in the hoof capsule, and the size of his fetlocks decreased in just one session. By ten vibration sessions later, his muscles began to fill in and appear less rigid as the fascia finally relaxed beneath the skin.
Below are images of my gelding’s tendon after diagnosis of a previous major tendon injury (which had occurred before I bought him), then AFTER four months of EquiVibe therapy – a rehabilitation progress I went into more detail on in How to Resolve a Major Tendon Injury.
A clear before and after of the same tendon with 4 months of therapy. Left shows a severely damaged SF and DD. The right shows the tendons are healed.
If you have any questions about how whole body vibration can benefit your horse, I’d be happy to help!
Please click here to contact me if you think your horse can benefit from an EquiVibe plate, or call Randy with EquiVibe at 1-866-858-9481 and let him know you read my post (Kathleen from PB&J Barrel Horse Foundation) and he can help too!