Welcome To Equi-Ther L.L.C
Equi-Ther L.L.C. grew out of a love for the horse and its physical needs related to muscle, soft-tissue, spine etc. As a human physical therapist I was involved in Hippotherapy treatments for pediatric special needs children. This is a form of therapy for various diagnoses such as Down's Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy. I began to realize the horses were in need of manual therapy almost as much as the children. Using the knowledge and experience gained from my Masters degree in Physical Therapy (Bachelor's in Health Sciences), and several years working in outpatient orthopedics and Sports Medicine, I became trained and certified in Equine Sports Massage Therapy (ESMT). ESMT has developed a reputation for improving performance levels, endurance, injury prevention, career longevity and general quality of life.
I have found great success in applying the same principles of human musculoskeletal/orthopedic treatment to the horse. Their anatomical design and function are remarkably akin to ours. I never cease to amaze at how their orthopedic and athletic issues are so like that of humans as well.
I very often work with owners and trainers (when appropriate) to recommend specific kinds of training work/exercise to target specific imbalances a horse may exhibit. My referral base from veterinarians is growing: Dr. Scott Bennett, Dr. Foster Northrop, Dr. Roger Magnusson, Dr. Jack Easley and Dr. Nancy Brennan, to name a few. I live in Louisville, KY. but travel to surrounding cities, including Lexington, where the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games are being held in 2010.
Equi-Ther is primarily a deep-tissue massage and therapy program based on manual bodywork treatments. ESMT is designed to help with:
Muscular stress
Injury recovery
Back soreness
Poor muscular flexibility and joint range of motion that contribute to stride reduction
Girth discomfort
Hip/stifle/hock musculature
Musculoskeletal and soft-tissue stress secondary to poor saddle fit/ rider imbalances
Pre-event prep and post-event effects
Assessing abnormal (compensatory) movement patterns
Incorporated in the treatment are the Equissage back unit, cold laser, accupoint laser, and cryotherapy. Now, after several years in this business, I have expanded my expertise to encompass saddle-fitting, saddle reflocking, and chiropractic therapy, having certification in each. Treating the horse is obviously a major part of the practice, but I can not "fix" a sore back unless I address the source of the pain.
People frequently feel that many of my results are some sort of magic. It is nothing other than hard physical work on their bodies based on their anatomy, biomechanics, musculoskeletal and soft-tissue problems.
I gain clients by word of mouth, satisfied owners who have seen dramatic changes in their horses, both in attitude and performance (please read further down on this page). Let me help your equine companions become the best they can be! Kelly Flowers MPT, ESMT 502-418-0433
Equither received a lengthy letter follow-up about several horses at Kohlmann Farm and I have tried to condense it below:
We at Kohlmann Farm have 5 different horses that Kelly Flowers worked on. Each horse had different issues but Kelly was able to find and address each problem area and able to improve mobility on each of the five horses. For some time prior to Kelly working on them, each horse had their feet properly trimmed, under vet care, and been slowly worked and in training for a different specific job. With all of this each horse still had a problem that was not improving. We called in Kelly for equine PT, massage therapy and chiropractic care.
ANNIE: AQHA 4 year old mare, has issues in one front hoof but was dragging both front feet so badly I thought we would have to put her down unless she could improve. Annie had won alot of money in pole-bending competitions until she went lame with improper trimming, long heels and pre-navicular syndrome in one front hoof. With a Natural Hoofcare vet working on her feet, we came to the conclusion that there were tendon , ligament and muscular issues. We called Kelly to work on Annie, and after one initial treatment session, within days, she jumped out of temporary fencing and galloped up the long driveway to my neighbor's farm. I knew Annie was better! Annie now walks fine up the hill when it is time to come in from the pasture.
TAFFY: a Chincoteague 14 year old mare who was a top dressage pony in Lexington Pony Club some years back. Taffy came to me with very stiff and stilted gaits, no longer wished to jump, bucked off riders and could not canter properly (she threw herself into the canter with both hind legs hitting the ground at the same time, bucked and did not have a true 3 beat canter). Taffy looked locked in her lower back and hips. Amazingly, the same night Kelly did the initial work on Taffy I put her in the round pen. She walked, trotted and cantered freely for the first time, and had a 3 beat canter with her rear legs working independently. Subsequent treatment from Kelly has Taffy improving even more in her shoulders and hips and she has started to move like a dressage horse!
SONNY DEE: 12 year old AQHA gelding who was off in the trot, but the vet could not pinpoint why or where. Kelly examined Sonny and asked if he had trouble in the canter. I said Yes! he has always preferred one lead over the other, frequently cross-cantering or switching to the wrong lead. And in the trot this gelding did not seem to flow evenly, no matter the direction. After Kelly identified and addressed the problem, the past two weeks Sonny canters both leads easily and properly and his trot is more even.
We are very pleased with the assessment and work Kelly has done with each of our horses and we highly recommend him for any breed, style of riding or work, from trail to showring. In addition to the work on the horses, Kelly shared important saddle information that I now use whenever I saddle a horse.
Audrey Kohlmann
Client of the Month
Dusty and Melissa
Feb. 26, 2013: I just wanted to follow up with you. I have now gone on four rides since your treatment on Dusty. I noticed an enormous difference in him on the first ride, before we even left the driveway. He has ALWAYS been a pokey horse falling behind the other horses. I have always had to prod him to keep him caught up. Even on the short walk from the barn to the road I noticed he was not only staying caught up, but he was pressing the horse in front of him to move faster! Its amazing. His walk feels totally different and is much smoother, and his trot is very different as well. He is stretching out farther on his front end instead of a stubby lazy jog.
March 4, 2013: Every time I work with him I am noticing more and more. This is so fantastic! When he yields his front end now he actually sits back on his haunches instead of walking his front end around, and he is running at a side pass now with barely any pressure from me, instead of barely walking it with alot of pressure. Completely different horse!
Thanks,
Melissa
October 2012
Karen Lynd and Dandee
Royal Geym Dandee is a 4 year old Arabian/Connemara cross. He suffered trauma to his neck in a pasture accident on 5-11-11, resulting in a transverse process broken off of a mid-cervical vertebra and swelling which caused spinal compression. He suffered severe neurologic complications (ataxia) and could barely walk or stand with stability. My veterinarian gave him a 1% chance of survival. He then injured his left eye due to his instability. He has also suffered Bell's palsy (paralysis) on the left side of his face. This paralysis affected his lips and left eyelid and caused a second ulceration from exposure of the recently healed left eye.
Dandee LOVES his appointments with Kelly. Kelly, who has worked miracles on Dandee, said he had to check twice to make sure he had the right horse because of all the positive changes in the last 3 months! You can see the left side of Dandee's face in the picture. The paralysis of this side of his face is almost healed.
Update on Dandee!
Today, May 11, 2013 is the two year Anniversary of Dandee's near fatal injury. It was just about this time that night that my veterinarian finished treating him after trying to convince me to euthanize him. She gave Dandee a one percent chance of survival and pushed me very hard to let him go.
However, I knew what a fighter he was, and I knew he wanted to live. I knew that he had survived severe neglect and starvation at the hands of another. I had witnessed that night how he fought to live, how he screamed for me when I found him in the pasture and how he struggled to rise on unstable legs with a body that would not cooperate, and how he fell to the ground after fighting to rise as I ran for the house to get my phone. I knew his spirit, and I would not give up on a horse who would not give up on himself. What I didn't know and what Dandee couldn't tell me was that he had run head-on into something, and that he had sustained a severe concussion, had broken a vertebra in his neck, and had compressed and bruised his spinal cord badly.
Future complications would include facial paralysis of the entire left side of his face and lips and two different ulcerations of his left eye. Dandee needed a miracle that night, and God gave us many over the weeks and months that would follow.
Thank you to Kelly Flowers of Equither, who accepted a huge challenge and massaged and adjusted Dandee back to physical health and usefulness. He took a crooked little horse who could not walk a straight line, who could not balance himself, who could barely stop himself once he gained momentum, and he gave him back his life. Kelly also recommended other healers, Dawn Darnell and Betty Boswell, who played important roles in Dandee's recovery as well. I cannot speak highly enough of the role that Kelly played in Dandee's recovery.
Veterinary Referral List
As a former Ky state licensed Physical Therapist with a Masters degree in Physical Therapy and a Bachelors in Health Sciences, I have appreciated the acceptance and recognition of local veterinarians. I wanted to take the opportunity here to thank the following vets for their referrals in recent years:
Dr. Roger Magnusson · Dr. Fred Sprinkle · Dr. Jack Easley · Dr. Adrienne Robertson · Dr. Foster Northrup · Dr. Betty Boswell · Dr. James Beckman · Dr. Kerry Beckman · Dr. David Beckman · Dr. Chris Thompson · Dr. Rick Costelle · Dr. Jeff Willard
Meet Renee: Equither's most "unique" client.
