‘Prehabbing’ for the 2012 London Games
The Sanctuary Helps Cian O’Connor and Blue Loyd 12 Attain Olympic Bronze
Ocala, FL (September 4, 2012) åßç– Irish Show Jumper Cian O’Connor rode into history in London when he captured the Bronze medal at the recent 2012 Olympic Games aboard Blue Loyd 12. O’Connor said he felt the support of the crowd each time he rode into the arena, but the crowd wasn’t the only group supporting the Irishman.
The Sanctuary Equine Sports Therapy & Rehabilitation Center was also pulling for O’Connor to have the “luck of the Irish.” “We worked with Cian’s horse Blue Loyd every day at our Wellington location before he left for the Olympics,” said Terry Angelo, manager of The Sanctuary’s Wellington facility. “We want to congratulate Cian and Blue Loyd on winning the Bronze. Not many horses can claim to be Olympic champions, but now Blue Loyd has that honor and The Sanctuary is thrilled to have been part of his success.”
The Sanctuary Equine Sports Therapy and Rehabilitation Center’s main campus is located in Ocala, Florida. The 30-acre, state-of-the-art facility is a multi-million dollar rehabilitation and conditioning facility dedicated to all equine athletes. One of The Sanctuary’s goals is to not only help injured equine athletes, but to revent injury through conditioning and therapies. Known as ‘prehab,’ it is this mixture of performance conditioning that helped Blue Loyd 12 and O’Connor reach Olympic heights.
“The Sanctuary has a great history of treating Olympic athletes, but it was very exciting for all of us since we had just worked on Blue Loyd prior to Cian leaving for London. Cian spent the winter in Wellington, and it was great getting to know him,” Angelo said.
Blue Loyd, owned by the O’Reilly-Hylands, took O’Connor on a great Olympic journey that concluded with their Bronze medal in the individual show jumping. Ireland failed to qualify a team for the London Games, and were only allotted two individual places. O’Connor and Blue Loyd didn’t make the individual finals the first day, but O’Connor remained positive. Irish eyes were smiling on him, as another horse who had made it to the finals had a minor injury and had to withdrawal, leaving O’Connor and Blue Loyd ready to ride.
O’Connor and Blue Loyd competed in a nail-biting jump-off, that had the crowd on the edge of their seats, to win the Bronze. Blue Loyd came away with a faster time than Dutch rider Gerco Schroder, but O’Connor and Blue Loyd had a rail which meant they took home Bronze.
“The Sanctuary’s therapies are very similar to what professional human athletes undergo during training and competition, and we are happy to bring that level of care and technology to all of the equines we treat, from Olympic athletes to world champions to competitors at all levels,” Angelo said.
For more information on The Sanctuary visit www.sanctuaryequinerehab.com
For more information contact: Tom Grabe
The Sanctuary Equine Sports
Therapy & Rehabilitation Center
www.sanctuaryequinerehab.com 1-352-369-HEAL (4325)
