Unfortunately, his tremendous heart was harming him; he was trying to walk despite a leg which didn't have the tendon to pull it forward. The exertion his back and haunches were making, was sending his back muscles into contraction and spasm, causing him to fall down. Valiantly, he would arise, only to fall down again. His prognosis for a life of pasture ornament was fading fast. I was torn between the obvious need to put him down, and my desire to cling to the hope that a healing modality I had been researching may assist him. When the Infratonic unit (infra sound wave therapeutic modality) arrived I treated his deep wound three times a week, as was stated for acute problems. The rapid closing of the wound was astonishing! At the completion of one week with sound wave treatments the wound had filled remarkably, and just one more week later....look:
Buddy has made a complete recovery because of the healing soundwaves of the Infratonic unit. He lives a joyful life and has full strength and capacity of his once severed hock joint and extensor tendon. His back is strong. He performs sliding stops, jumps, runs, can carry a rider...he is 100% sound! I look forward to campaigning him and then standing him at stud. You could never tell by watching his bold movement and coiled power that he ever had a life-threatening injury; only if you look for the well-healed scar. Please contact me if you are interested in learning more.
Don't let an injury take away your friend and your dreams!
See results; C. Snyder's Equine Therapy heal your horse!
"Thank you Cassandra for all your help this summer. My mare has had bucking and attitude issues for years. Since your work with her {adjustments and massage} she is no longer bucking, and her attitude is great! She is quiet in and out of the arena! And she really seems to enjoy running barrels again. Look forward to working with you again."
Heather Oda, Temple Georgia 2013
Don't let an injury take away your friend and your dreams!
See results; C. Snyder's Equine Therapy heal your horse!
Chance's Story; an injured barrel racer:
Our 13 year old gelding suffered from a bucked shin. We did not use any topical applications or anti-inflammatory drugs during his treatment.
8/23/09 Chance's left front leg had heat, and the side view of the leg was an arch from the knee to the ankle. Chance got his first sound wave treatment and Cassandra constructed a plan for his overall health, healing and rehabilitation.
"Other than the barbaric practice of pin-firing, the standard treatment for ‘bucked shins’ has been to stall rest the horse a minimum of 20 days, and then gradually reintroduce work over the next 30 days. With the accelerated healing offered by low frequency sound wave therapy, Chance not only healed in two weeks, but also returned to racing in two weeks with substantial improvements! Low frequency sound wave therapy healed Chance’s sore shin, as well as healing the source of his problem: compromised muscle health in the hind end. A shortened stride on his right hind leg had been overburdening his left front leg, leading to breakdown. By diagnosing what had caused a 13 yr old horse to shin buck, and healing that problem as well, Chance was free to reach deep underneath him and push off with both hind legs; unburdening his front legs and significantly improving his performance style and time!" ~ Cassandra Snyder
9/3/09 we left for the NBHAState Finals at the Midland Fairgrounds. During the Finals, Chance exhibited no signs of lameness, and no return of heat or swelling. The times are all documented on www.michigannbha.com. Chance has been rock solid in this arena for the last three years. He always ran a mid 17.5 on his first run anda mid 17.3 on his second run.
The following are times from the weekend:
9/3 – Youth 1st Go -17.637
9/3 – Youth 2nd Go -17.178
9/4 – Open 1st Go - 17.023
9/5 Open 2nd Go- 16.967 Amazing!
9/6 Open Short Go – 16.466 AMAZING!
We were blown away!
This is over one second faster than they have ever run at this arena in the previous three years!
Kayt Goettl and Chance
After reviewing previous runs at this arena, we noted that Chance used to "bunny hop" (in the hind end) around the barrels. Now, Chance really puts his hind end in the dirt to get around the barrels. Even after chiropractic treatments in the past, he had never used his back end this well!
Following the treatments, Chance has been either picking up the correct lead off the barrel, or has had a smoother lead change when he needed to change for a turn.
~ Becky Goettl, White Cloud, MI. September 2009
Don't let an injury take away your friend and your dreams!
See results; C. Snyder's Equine Therapy heal your horse!
Dee's Story; a Morgan mare unable to canter:
The first time I brought Dee to Cassandra, she had had me write down all the things I wanted my horse to do, and facts about her. Cassandra said I noticed many important and subtle signs. Things on my list could mean that my horse was in pain. Things like flinching and fidgeting when being saddled, being very touchy when I first mounted her, her refusing to be ridden bareback, bucking at the canter, and even her jumping and spooking.
Cassandra did a complete evaluation of Dee, looking for any physical and mental limitations. She concluded that Dee had severe damage to her back muscles. The tissue was even permanently scarred with white hair from years of ill-fitting tack and poor riding from before I bought her. Cassandra said she could help Dee's back heal and recommended therapy for Dee.
It was around February when this happened, so we (my mother and I) thought that if we gave Dee the rest of the winter off, her back issues would heal themselves. When spring came around, I realized that Dee's back issues hadn't healed themselves. She would often buck, or take wrong leads, but everyone thought she was being bad. The final straw came when I was at a local show, and Dee bucked me off twice. My mother {and all the other adults} insisted that Dee was just misbehaving. No offense to them but I knew something was wrong.
Luckily for me, Cassandra came to the show just in time. When she came to look at Dee, she immediately took her saddle off, and showed us how badly Dee's back was damaged. Dee's reflexes did not even work, they were backwards. Dee's back would hollow down when the reflex was supposed to cause it to arch up. Her muscles didn't work correctly, Dee couldn't canter and that is why she bucked, Cassandra told us.
My Mom agreed to have Dee go into recovery at Cassandra's facility. (Keep in mind that if Cassandra hadn't been there, my mom would have sold Dee on the spot because she didn’t want me to have a bad horse that bucked.) After two weeks of therapy and chiropractic, Dee came around. But it wasn't the end of her recovery. Now that Dee's back muscles had been healed, she now had to learn to not be afraid of the saddle, and to use her back muscles in a correct way. She needed to learn how to carry me instead of hollowing and dropping her back down, like she was used to doing.
She wasn't the only one learning. I now had to learn to ride correctly (I'm still learning) and to not be afraid of cantering. (Being bucked off repeatedly, and nearly having my horse taken away wasn't the best experience.) Cassandra helped us through the whole thing. Dee and I learned The Sacred Language together, and learned to ride confidently, and enjoyably. Now, I have a horse who truly loves me, is safe, strong, and beautiful.
Without Cassandra, I would have been forced to sell my best friend, and I would have never met such a wonderful, caring, and helpful person.
Emily Fountain and Dee. Big Rapids, MI. 2011
Thank you so much Cassandra, you truly changed my life!
Don't let an injury take away your friend and your dreams.
See results; C. Snyder's Equine Therapy heal your horse!
Seven's Story; a stiff and unsound show horse unable to take the right lead canter, and unable to stay on the rail:
This spring I noticed that my daughters quarter horse, Our Blue Heaven, aka Seven, was stiffer than normal. Although already on a joint supplement, his stiffness seemed to continue, and at the Fair he was "off". I called Cassandra and asked that she come and evaluate him to see if she could help him, or at least offer some idea as to his current problem. Now his un-soundness is a long story. He has not been a super sound horse since we bought him 18 months ago. However, he has the most loving, fun personality and he was the quiet calm boy that Michayla, my daughter, needed. When Cassandra came to evaluate him, it was the "big show day". Michayla explained to Cassandra that Seven was not taking the lead to the right and to us it seemed he was stiff and unbalanced - he just wasn't traveling right.
Cassandra adjusted his neck, hips, shoulders and showed Michayla how to express his reflexes, which thankfully were intact.
Some of this was done between her western classes. Now if you are thinking well maybe they should have stopped showing, yes we certainly were entertaining the idea of ending the day, however, Cassandra worked on him a bit and said she’d go over him again after the class, so into the class they went.
Amazing! To see him take the right lead and to see the instant decrease in his stiffness! Michayla was also able to keep him on the rail!
Cassandra continued working on him after the class and he was then to rest in his stall overnight. She recommended he be trotted gently for the next day’s show, which was the speed day. Now this was not a huge deal since I thought she would say rest all day; however, since he was stalled at fair, Cassandra thought it would be good to exercise
him and get him out of the stall. Now we must confess Seven really is no speed demon on any level but he loves the fun of it. Michayla got him out in the morning, tacked him up and headed for the practice arena. They walked around a bit and she asked him to trot...
...he took off cantering, tail up in the air, stretching out like a thoroughbred would in a race. I was floored! Never have we seen him stretch out like that! It was amazing, and it was easy to see he felt better! He even did an extended trot, which he's never done! In that one chiropractic session, Cassandra made him feel so much better and we are so grateful to her for that.
Cassandra has always been kind and generous with her knowledge; she genuinely cares for the horse and its well being. She is rare among horse people as her methods are gentle, kind and always loving towards the well being of the horse and owner (although owners surely must be harder to work with).. lol.
We appreciate all that she has done for Seven and continues to do.
Dana Wright, Big Rapids, MI 2011
Don't let an injury take away your friend and your dreams.
See results; C. Snyder's Equine Therapy heal your horse!
