Tuesday 19 January 2010

LLLT brings new life for an injured race horse


It may come as a surprise to some people that low level laser therapy (LLLT) or cold laser is used extensively within the equine field where its application has proved to be very effective. Professor Gordon Farmer, President of UKITL and owner of Futurehealth has been treating both humans and animals, and in particular horses, since his practice began over twenty five years ago. Here's his story.

Bean King was a very beautiful five year old grey race horse. He had a quite distinguished race history, winning four races on the flat including the famous ' Ebor Handicap' held at York each year.

Bean King was bred by the Duchess of Bedford at Woburn Abbey on behalf of Stone Petroleum of New York and trained in Newmarket by Robert Armstrong. One day the horse had a fall on Newmarket heath and injured his back. He was subsequently seen by a number of different vets, including ones brought over especially from France to see him, but they were all at a loss to know how to treat him. The nature of his injury meant that the horse couldn’t move around his stable or even move his head or neck to eat and was therefore rapidly loosing condition. So severe was the problem that the vets seriously considered euthanasia. I heard of the plight whilst in the yard treating other horses. I asked the trainer and the visiting vet whether I could have a look to see if I could help. They both consented and I was given 30 minutes to have a go.
After examining the horse thoroughly with my nerve diagnosis system I concluded that he was suffering from what is now called "kissing lesions" of the spine.

I carried out extensive treatment to his lymphatic system and subsequently his spine with Cold Laser, utilising 3 different programmes at differing joules/cm3 and pulse rates. After the allotted 30 minutes the vet returned to see us walking the horse around the private parade ring.

Bean King went on to make a very full recovery, so much so that he was moved to 'The Valley of the Horse', Lambourn where he became a hurdler. He went on to win 'over the sticks' and carried on racing for a further 3 years.

This success drew a great deal of attention from the press and helped to raise the profile of cold laser as a fast and effective treatment for horses. Over the years I have helped literally hundreds of race horses back to recovery. Their response to this light therapy is astounding. The same results can be achieved on any animal and indeed many veterinary practices now employ this therapy as a valid alternative to drugs.

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