Last week marked the beginning of the ‘Good News Wednesday’ Column, and quite fittingly the first featured subject was CANTER , an organization that has done a tremendous amount for the Thoroughbred Racing community. This week we’ll look at a business that is also doing wonderful things for horses but in a different way. As a side note, if you ever come across good news in the horse community that is worthy of being shared, send any and all information to: [email protected]
Kesmarc (Kentucky Equine Medicine and Rehabilitation Center) is an equine sports medicine facility taking on rehabilitation of horses from a new and unique angle. Strangely enough, Texas was where the practice originated some twenty years ago, not Kentucky as christened in its name. The business started, as so many other equine practices do, to help in the rehabilitation and maintenance of racehorses. In the early beginnings of the Texas practice, it was evident that to be of any aid to the racing scene, relocation to a more central location would be necessary. Kesmarc, as it would later be named, relocated to Versailles, Kentucky, and grew rapidly once it arrived. The city of Versailles is about four miles west of Lexington and about as deep into Thoroughbred country as it gets. The goal of the practice has been from the beginning, to provide alternative therapies alone or in conjunction with traditional medicine. Kesmarc has a staggering amount of choices in therapies, with swimming facilities, an Aquatread, a Solarium, a Hyperbaric chamber, as well as a Cold Saltwater spa.
I spoke with Lee Byrne, director of the Ocala branch, who gave her insight on the benefits of different therapies. She told me that racehorses succumbing to the ever-common track injury of bone chips have greatly benefitted from pool exercise in the beginning stages of the rehabilitation. Especially in racehorses, when cardiovascular fitness is so important, swimming builds back that condition after surgery much more quickly than the traditional protocol of controlled ground exercise.
For as popular as Kesmarc is in the Thoroughbred industry, its status is quickly on the rise in the rest of the horse world as well. I went to visit a few days ago, and as I was being shown the facilities, a little Paint gelding that would be better described as a companion rather than a competitor, was taking his turn in the cold saltwater spa. As I learned later, the 35-degree saltwater therapy was being used as treatment for injuries the little horse had sustained in a crippling trailer accident.
In the other corner of the room, a huge chestnut gelding with a striking white blaze was about to enter the Aquatread. This horse, as I learned from his owner/rider Gavin Moylan, is called Icon and is a grand-prix Show Jumper. Last year Icon competed in 27 Grand Prix competitions, all in preparation for the 1st ever $1 Million Grand Prix in the United States. Although Gavin made it to the Pfizer Million, it was on a catch ride rather than Icon, as all of the many Grand Prix qualifiers had taken their toll physically on the horse. “He was just too sore to compete,” said Moylan. After the big Grand Prix where Icon was sidelined, he went to Kesmarc for several weeks and to undergo a combination of therapies offered by the facility. According to Moylan, “The change was remarkable. He [Icon] felt not just sound in his body, but physically stronger than he was before.” This year, Moylan hopes for more great things from the big red horse.
Even just from those two encounters, the broad range of horses Kesmarc is helping is very evident. From Thoroughbred racers, to Arabian Endurance horses, to top level Eventers and Show Jumpers, and the personal horses like that little Paint gelding, Kesmarc reaches all ends of the spectrum. Combined with their desire to work in conjunction with traditional medicine, good horsemanship on all fronts, and a true love for the horse, the folks at Kesmarc are doing a great deal to help horses recover and rehab.
