I’m hoping that Tess just got really lucky…

Here’s the story:

Three weeks ago – when I got the call from the specialist vet who said he had conferred with several other specialists and that Tess’ venogram indicated that she would never recover and should be put down – I was desperate for answers/ideas/whatever to help my girl.

One idea came through a reader who said that she knew of a rehab facility that used a Theraplate with amazing results.

Hmmmmm

The rehab facility, Los Laureles Equine Rehab, looked phenomenal and I loved the facility (right where I want to live someday – Creston, CA) but I could see no way of transporting Tess for that long of a ride – let alone funding another long rehab stay.

However, the more I read about the Theraplate, the more I was interested to try it for Tess.

 

THERAPLATE

I had seen this device at the Western States Horse Expo.

Since the product didn’t speak to my needs at the time, I didn’t hang out in the booth.

But I should have… the Theraplate Home Page had two photos that not only spoke to me, they YELLED at me.

Venograms.

I was looking at a Before and After set of venograms.  And, to my eye, the ‘before’ was worse than Tess’.

As you can see, the venogram got better… circulation was improved.  This mare whose venograms I was staring at so closely, was going to be OK.

Wow.

MORE READING ON THE SITE

The more I read on the site, the more I thought I needed to try this.

Of course, when a product claims to do several things, usually it doesn’t.   However, what interested me was the passive nature of the device.  Since Tess cannot move for long periods of time, 20 minutes of standing on a device that works for her, could be a horsegodsend.

And, like I’ve said before, exercise (and healthy eating) can change a multitude of issues in a human, so why can’t a simple invention that stimulates muscles and circulation (passive exercise) – do the same for a horse?

HOW CAN I GET TESS ON ONE?!

There are no units nearby – and even if there were, the treatment is 3x a day… so she would have to be transported there and stay there.

The best idea would be to have one here… I wondered if I could rent one?

So, I emailed the owner of the company, Chip.

CHIP

Almost immediately, I received this email from Chip.

Any chance we could talk about your horse?

Thanks,

Chip
Owner and Founder
TheraPlate Revolution
817 629-5171

I was floored!  I called him right back.

Chip took all of my pointed questions and had answers.  He told me how the product was developed from his own needs and through his love for horses.

A the end of the conversation, Chip said that he would send me a unit to use for 4 months at no charge – and all I had to do was write about it.

He was that confident.

He also said, very humbly, that most people find so many uses for the device that they generally keep it.  However, I could return it at no cost.  Chip also said that if I did decide to keep it, they could set up a payment plan that was very easy to maintain.

“It is really all about getting these out there to help the horses.  The Theraplate is so revolutionary, many, many horses are now surviving traumatic injuries.”

OK!

IT ARRIVED!

Well, Chip was a man of his word.

A week later, I received a call that the delivery truck driver was on the way to my house.

Except, he was trapped on a small, windy road and could I redirect him?

“Where are you?”

He told me and I thought that if that road was too small and windy, my road would be prohibitive.

So, I told him to meet me in the large parking lot of the CVS pharmacy nearby.

He agreed, if he could get his truck turned around… poor guy.  I imagined a very, very large truck trying to turnaround up here… yikes!!

I ran outside to detach my truck from my trailer and meet the driver – assuming he ever got turned around.

As I was saying… I ran outside to detach my truck from the trailer.

It wouldn’t.

I swear to you, the ball hitch thing on the gooseneck was absolutely stuck.

When I tried to unhook it, the lever lifted the entire truck off of the ground, but wouldn’t let go.

I was sweating by this point.

OMG!  The truck driver is down at the CVS Pharmacy cooling his heels, waiting for me, on a very hot day with several other deliveries to go, and I’m up here fiddling with my truck and trailer!

Arrgh.

So, I just left with my truck and trailer attached.  Hopefully, the device would fit in my trailer.

Off I went!

LOADING IT

OMG!  I wish I had my camera… except I think the driver would have been pissed that I was taking photos of this Keystone Cops ridiculous thing we were trying to do…

First off, I arrived with a trailer attached to my truck, which made for two huge vehicles in the CVS parking lot…

Then, the truck driver told me that his back door had broken and he wasn’t sure how he was going to lift it to get to the Theraplate trapped inside.

We decided that he would lift it a little and I would shimmy one of the pallets under the massive rolling back door.

O…K…, I was a bit nervous.  I could see the thing slamming down on my hand or head.

But, with the 1-2-3 method of all good pairings, we were able to lift and slide successfully!

Phew.

Then Mr. Driver used his massive muscles to lift the door and hold it open while we tied it to something I hoped would hold it.

OK… now time to get the Theraplate into my trailer.

…Normally, one takes a burly dude with one to do this sort of thing.  But, since I got the call last minute and there were no burly dudes here or nearby, I was stuck with just… me.

Mr. Driver was very kind and he helped me move the entire Theraplate into the horse trailer – which proved to be the perfect loading device because it was low to the ground.  Aha!  Horsegods were protecting me even when I was cursing them earlier for not allowing me to remove the trailer from the truck.

I DROVE HOME AND PARKED.

Unfortunately, I had to leave the next day for my big shoot in Los Angeles.  So, the Thermaplate lived in my trailer for the duration.

Today, Hubby and I set it up.

Actually, Hubby set it up and I tried to do anything to facilitate him and not annoy him.  You know how that goes…

We used mats on top of the hard ground in the aisle.  After we had set it up once, we realized that it would be better against a wall, so we moved it (Hubby was not happy).

Now, we are going out to Home Depot so I can get a new broom so I can clean up the walls before I take photos for the blog.

MT and Gwen are quite interested.

 

THE VIDEOS

I had a million questions on how to get the horses to step onto it.  So, I googled “Theraplate videos” and found several.

Here is one from Australia.

Clearly, the horse had no issue getting on.

Most of the videos are exactly like this.  Kinda boring – in that nothing happens.

So, I feel confident that all will go well on our first day – TOMORROW!

FB PAGE

Their FB page seems to only have happy customers… You might want to take a look!

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