Exotic Salt Brings Health to Therapeutic Riding Programs

Grand Rapids, MN, July 07, 2010 --(PR.com)-- HorseSalt.com is awarding an Equicizer to one U.S.-based Therapeutic Riding or Hippotherapy program fall 2010. Programs must be located in the U.S. and have their non-profit status, or be working under the sponsorship of a 501-c-3 organization.

HorseSalt imports Himalayan salt to the U.S., marketing it to equestrians. Patricia Reszetylo, company president, decided on Himalayan salt licks because “They are healthful for the horse, easy for the equestrian or stable manager to use – and very exotic-looking.”

Himalayan salt is healthier than ordinary salt, whether it’s used in the stable or in the dining room, because the crystal structure hasn’t been destroyed by the baking process many other salts go through. It absorbs into the system easier, using less water and energy, and causing less stress on the system than conventional salt.

The Equicizer™ is the brainchild of Frankie Lovato Jr, an Eclipse Award winning jockey. He had a riding accident in 1981, and needed extensive rehabilitation before getting back on a racehorse. The paradox was that he couldn’t get the race riding practice he needed in order to get back on the horses.

“I’ve always been mechanically inclined,” Frankie says, “and building an apparatus that I could simulate riding was what I needed to do. In the late 1980's, other jockeys started ordering them from me, and then other equestrians and therapeutic riding programs were asking for them. We now have approximately 150 therapeutic riding programs in North America utilizing the Equicizer as a great resource and addition to their centers."

During the summer of 2009, Patricia and her husband started giving their two special-needs boys rides on a family horse – and were amazed at the growth the boys achieved. The youngest, a non-verbal autistic, started to talk. “He started the summer parroting things we said. He was talking, but it wasn’t voluntary,” Patricia says. “By the end of the summer, he was voluntarily offering one or two word phrases. The only thing we did was the horseback rides.”

Patricia also knows how beneficial horseback riding is for “regular physical therapy.” She’s had back injuries over the years, and she found that when supported by prescribed stretches and physical therapy, horseback riding made her back strong and supple again. “It uses a lot of muscle and joint flexibility in order to ride,” she says. “When I can ride regularly, and can work into it with the support from physical therapy, I’ve gotten it very ‘solid,’ very strong and flexible.”

As the HorseSalt business grew up, she wanted to give back to the communities that had given so much to her. It was natural to give something to a therapeutic riding program. Interested therapeutic riding programs and those interested in sponsoring or donating to the program can learn more at http://HorseSalt.com.

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