Equine Rehab Specialist – Lori Ward
Lori Ward, RN, NP-C grew up in a small town in upstate NY, right on the edge of the Adirondack Mountains. She got involved with horses when she was 5 years old, riding trail rides with close friends. She began taking lessons at 6 and her parents purchased her 1st horse at 8. Oakie, a quarter horse with reining roots, began her youth career showing AQHA hunters and jumpers. She has shown all over the country and has achieved multiple Quarter Horse congress, and youth world show top ten as well as national high point accolades in youth equitation over fences and jumping. She has Bred, owned, and assisted in training several horses throughout her equestrian life.
Upon graduation from high school she contemplated a professional career in horses but decided to attended collage first. She enrolled at the University at Buffalo, where she received her Bachelors of Science in nursing in 2004. While in Buffalo Lori took a position grooming at SBS Farms, a prominent hunter/jumper barn in the downtown area. Moving to the Washington, DC area following graduation she took a temporary hiatus in hoses while she furthered her career. She has worked as a clinical nurse in the Medical/Surgical ICU, an infusion nurse in a private oncology office, and a cosmetic nurse injector and corporate trainer. In 2006 Lori returned to school to further her education as a family nurse practitioner. After finishing her masters and starting a family, Lori’s love and passion for horses reignited and she began riding again. Lori also shares her passion for horses with her daughter Skyler who currently rides and shows hunters just like her mom.
Lori and her family have 4 horses in their much-loved herd. They include a yearling Belgian Warmblood colt named Qartier and her daughters Welsh/TB cross pony Hootie. Also, in February 2017, Lori accomplished her lifelong dream of a rescue and brought home a Percheron/Friesian cross, Greatheart, and her famous little rescue a grade Bay Gelding named Taco (who was the inspiration for Equistar). The passion for horses and her nursing background led her to her lifelong dream of helping to create a company that blends both health and equestrian together. Equistar was born out of the love and tranquility only a horse person can appreciate from these beautiful for legged creatures.
Journey Into The Creation of Equistar
Equistar therapy solutions was founded out of the need to find a reliable and inexpensive alternative to equine sports rehabilitation therapy. Historically, equine therapy has simply used medication to treat the symptoms, not help heal the cause. Other modalities that are available, have only been accessible to show/race quality horses and came with a very expensive price tag. This left many owners with limited options for helping their equine companions become more comfortable on a reasonable budget.
The journey into the creation of Equistar began when our family decided to rescue a horse from an auction in New Jersey. The horse had obviously been injured, but due to the state of his health and it being an auction we didn’t really know what was wrong. There was something about this little bay horse that spoke to me, he needed help. We decided to take a chance to help him and brought him home to our farm in Purcellville. When we got him home, we realized he was also sick. Our first focus was on getting him well. It took time, but as this little horse improved it became clear that was in a significant amount of discomfort. Being a rescue, we had a limited budget to help him, but the vet was able to help us determine that he most likely had navicular syndrome, as well as widespread muscular soreness. With the farrier and our vets help we had him in rocker shoes, and he was put on equioxx daily. While these modalities certainly helped, he still came out of the stall most days crippled. Due to our backgrounds in human sports medicine, my husband and I researched through different possible treatment modalities and found pulsed electromagnetic therapy (PEMF Therapy). I had heard about this kind of therapy in my daily work, as plastic surgeons have used it to help with wound healing. However, we had not personally had any experience with how it worked. After looking at the different devices available, we decided to contact Magna Wave; a PEMF equipment retailer that has a long-standing history treating horses. We decided to treat our new rescue using their PEMF Therapy device and the results were amazing. After his first treatment, we noticed a moderate difference, he was coming out of the stall less noticeably lame in front. He was moving a bit more throughout the day. After his second treatment, we noticed a huge improvement. Taco was actually bucking and playing in the paddock with our other rescue. We thought it was a sight we would never see, this was amazing. We also purchased a Game Ready ice compression system to assist with some of the swelling. I (Lori) had seen how effective ice compression (cryotherapy) was using the Game Ready system at some of the events I competed in. After Taco’s fourth treatment with the Game Ready added to his care, he looked like a new horse. We were convinced!! The idea then started to take shape; how can we offer this same care to others?? After many discussions with some local equine veterinarians, trainers, and fellow riders we made the decision to act on our dream of starting our own company: to help others with horses in need of therapeutic treatment without the huge expenses of traditional equine therapy Thus, Equistar was created.
