Smart Horse Care using The Matrix Best-Vet III
by Deborah Powell
The Matrix Best-Vet III is a unique type of horse care tool. It is an easy-to-use device with double function: When you use the Best-Vet III you’re able to locate areas where your horse is sore as well as administer therapeutic treatment. With the added bonus that both these functions automatically happen at the same time.
The Best-Vet is commonly used for pinpointing the source of lameness, helping speed recovery from injuries, relieving general soreness, and improving overall comfort for improved performance. Within all these categories, there are options for highly customized treatments to suit each horse’s specific needs.
Lindsay Fletcher, WA Grand Prix rider shares:
“I absolutely love my Matrix Best Vet unit! And I think it has made an impact on my Grand Prix horse over the last several years and also on me.
I’ve used it on all of my horses at just about every opportunity I have. It easily allows me to see where they’re tense and sore, and I can focus on those areas at the end of each day at shows. Comparing pre-BV to using it at shows was the difference between horses who started out sore and stiff and horses who came out of their stalls much more relaxed and not needing the extra warmup time.
I wish that I had more time at shows to use the unit on all of the horses for a longer period of time. Mostly I focus on my GP horse, and then use it a couple of times on the other horses through the week of the show. But then my GP horse is the one who “uses” himself the most and is the most prone to getting a bit stiff and sore. He also carries a lot of tension in his SI area, and the Best Vet is the only thing I’ve found that yields immediate and obvious results (after 10-15 minutes of work he’ll groan and stretch his hind legs out directly behind him – one at a time, of course – and then relax).
At home I use it on all of the horses at various times. Anytime a horse is not quite right (and we all know how that goes!) I pull out the Best Vet and at worst I can tell my vet where I think the horse is hurting. At best I can work out the soreness without involving my vet/chiro.
In general I feel like a smarter horse person because of the unit. It’s opened my eyes to a lot of general body work that I’m not sure I understood prior (meaning I understand more about related muscles and where tension is carried when something or another is hurting a horse). “
Comb your Horse to Deliver Therapy with the Best-Vet
To make an assessment of your horse, looking for soreness or injury, you stroke your horse with the comb accessory that is connected to the Matrix BV III. As you comb your horse, the low level therapeutic current provides healing benefits and the device looks for problem areas as it reads the tissue.
This simple process of combing your horse could be the whole treatment, or after you’ve found a couple problem areas you can switch to a new type of accessory for highly customized treatments.
For example, if the Best-Vet alerts you to soreness on your horse’s back, you can then connect the Best-Vet to a specialized Back Pad accessory that fits on your horse like a bareback pad.Then you’d let your horse relax in the cross-ties as it receives healing therapy over its entire back. Another favorite accessory are the leg wraps that are used to deliver treatment from the Best-Vet. These make it easy to address general soreness or injuries.
Over the years we have developed and tweaked our techniques for using the Best-Vet and we include a personal training session with the purchase of the Best-Vet III. This has enabled horse owners or the therapist to have confidence in finding and addressing issues with their Matrix Best-Vet devices.
How it Works
The Matrix BV III is a science-based therapy tool that has taken advantage of the many recent advancements in technology. It uses low-level electrical stimulation in the micro-amp range (this is 1 million times lower than 1 amp) that is called microcurrent. Microcurrent stimulators have been around since the 1970s and this form of therapy is used in many fields of equestrian sports.
All types of microcurrent units are beneficial, but the Best-Vet III is unlike other forms of electrical therapy units on the market. The Best-Vet III is a sophisticated device that incorporates biofeedback while treating. An example of using other stimulators that force contraction of the muscles, the Matrix Best-Vet III will sometimes cause visible contractions of muscles but only if the muscle needs releasing for homeostasis. A tightly bound muscle can cause pain and dysfunction, while gentle releases can provide pain relief and help restore proper function of the muscle that lasts longer. It can be startling and confirming as the Matrix BV III finds those areas that need help and how easy it is to make a dramatic change in short 30 minutes sessions.
To learn more about microcurrent therapy, check out the book MicroCurrent for Horses by Deborah Powell and visit therapyproducts.net to find out more about the Matrix Best-Vet III.