"Oh, she loves the cold water leg spa! She puts her head down and plays in it," said Cheryl Colman with a grin, referring to her daughter's 15 year old Quarter Horse barrel racing mare, Haidas Special Feelins, or 'Sassy' for short.
Courtney Colman and 'Sassy', in the Cold Saltwater Leg Spa
“Now we regularly schedule treatments with the cold water leg spa and the nebulizer, which does a great job of clearing out the lungs of residual arena dust, etc.”.
© 2014 by The Sanctuary
Born and raised at the Colman farm, the mare has continued the family's riding legacy since her reins were passed from mother to daughter. With 13-year-old Courtney on her back, the sassy pair have been scorching cloverleaf patterns across the South, amassing more than $7,000 in earnings last year.
“We've always used The Sanctuary,” Colman said, explaining how they first learned about the Ocala, Florida-based equine sports therapy and rehabilitation center while looking for a solution to problems of 'stocking up' that plagued their training program on what she could only describe as “Georgia's concrete ground.”
“We brought Sassy to The Sanctuary and saw a huge difference right away. Now we regularly schedule treatments with the cold water leg spa and the nebulizer, which does a great job of clearing out the lungs of residual arena dust, etc.”
Good care leads to solid results: Courtney and Sassy's most recent performance put in a time of 16.201 seconds in the 3D at the 11th annual Fiddler's Turkey Run barrel race competition, which concluded December 1 at the Jacksonville (FL) Equestrian Center.
“The Sanctuary is proud of the success it has earned over the years helping horses. Just like human athletes, they deserve to be maintained in the best condition they can be,” says Brenda McDuffee, general manager for The Sanctuary Equine Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation Center. “From healthy lungs to healthy legs, no performance issue should ever put you or the horse you love 'over a barrel.'”
Find more stories of recovery and information on the array of modalities and services at The Sanctuary .