One of the inevitable downsides of horse ownership is the ailments, niggles and injuries that crop up. So wouldn’t it be fantastic if you could help resolve minor issues in your horse’s body before they showed up in the form of lameness or below-par performance?
The company behind the Equusir BEST-Box says it is designed to do just that and there are some yards in the UK that believe they are already seeing the benefits as debates about the technology cause a real stir within the racing industry and the wider equestrian world.
One such establishment is Dan Skelton’s Warwickshire racing yard, which has been using “the magic box”, as they call it, for the past year. It was Dan’s double Olympic gold medal-winning father Nick Skelton, who came across the kit while at a showjumping competition in Vienna, Austria.
“It was something I’d never seen before so I enquired about it and they gave us a demonstration,” Nick explains of the Equusir BEST-Box. “I asked if it was possible to get one in England and they sent it over.”
BEST stands for Bio Energetic Scan and Treatment and the German-designed machine’s manufacturer’s claim that the box scans each horse using “bioenergetic measurements”, then applies infrared and coloured light to relevant areas it has detected during the scans.
“We like it a lot – it helps us think outside the box,” says Dan, who trains around 100 National Hunt racehorses from his base. “We use it all the time; it’s become part of every horse’s routine now.”
The Skeltons’ “magic box” has changed the way they manage their equine athletes.
According to Equusir, the Equusir BEST-Box helps to “maintain physical health in the long term while continuously increasing athletic performance” through a cycle of scans and applications. The company recommends these applications should be performed on three consecutive days, followed by a one-day break, followed by three more days with one application each.
During the colour light and infrared applications “the body’s own systems of the horse are supplied with additional energy,” says Equusir. The result is said to be a horse that is “more relaxed and ready to perform”.
“We use it on the showjumping horses, too, when they’re in England,” adds Nick. “But Dan swears by it. It shows up any little problems and niggles – it’s all logged on the computer.”
Obviously significant issues need to be diagnosed and treated by a vet, but it is interesting that this top National Hunt trainer is choosing to use this system in the day-to-day management of his leading equine athletes.
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‘His job was to go in the ring and win gold medals – what we’re doing is different’: Dan Skelton on working alongside his dad, Nick
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