Thursday, March 22, 2012

THEraPlate session for Lim

I love trying new things for Limerick. Lately, one such thing--a THEraPlate--has been at my barn some days of the week.

I didn't know what it was at first, then I saw a printout in the tack room about it. I found it quite interesting because I have tried something called a Powerplate at my old gym (Madonna supposedly raves about it), and they seemed somewhat similar at first glance.

The THEraPlate has a long list of benefits, including stress relief. Since Miss Lim is always receptive to stress relief (it can be hard being a mare in spring!), I decided to give it a try. I thought it might also help the mild arthritis in her left hock, but maybe not with just one session.

To be honest, I didn't expect Limerick to stand still on the plate. She's the kind of horse that bores easily--she will start looking around for something to do. Furthermore, the bugs were starting to get bad...was she going to freak out and want to stay off the plate? Well, to my surprise, she not only stepped on it willingly (after investigating it closely), but she stayed quite still 98% of the time she was on there. What a good girl! Reva told me how gorgeous Lim was, and I know Lim had to be hanging onto every word!

Overall, I was very impressed; I knew Lim had to be enjoying the process--she wouldn't have stood so still otherwise. She certainly lets you know when she doesn't like something, after all. I didn't see benefits riding-wise because I didn't ride for three days after the plate was used (you can feel benefits if you ride shortly after, or with repeated use). Hopefully we can stand on the plate a couple more times in April!




Lim and I on the THEraPlate 
(I ran to the barn, so don't mind the outfit!)
Photos courtesy of Reva with THEraPlate-Midwest

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

COOL!!! Never even seen this!

Heidi E. Carpenter said...

I wonder if it'll help your racehorses.