Western Performance events include a wide range of athletic endeavors. These events include:

• The speed and agility of the barrel racer.
• The acceleration and quick stops of the calf roper.
• The flying lead changes and slides of the reiner.
• The constant starts and stops of the cutting.
• The elegance and gait of the western pleasure classes.

Each discipline within this category has its own unique set of stresses upon the athlete and the rider. These animals all must exhibit agility, stamina,sudden bursts of speed and great reflexes. The breeds that excel at these events include Quarter Horses, Paints and Appaloosas.

All of these events put a great deal of stress upon the entire western performance athlete. The Reiner puts a tremendous amount of stress upon the neck, shoulders, hocks, the back and the hindquarters. Cutting horses actually pivot upon their back legs that also places a great deal of stress upon the back, hocks and the entire hindquarters. Barrel racers turn on a dime and have to possess the ability to exhibit sudden bursts of speed that predisposes them to their own unique set of stresses.

In all of these events, the use of the Thermotex™ Infrared Therapy System appliances will allow the rider, owner or trainer to have a sounder, more relaxed and comfortable animal to perform. General guidelines to follow are:

• When posssible, always allow 30 to 60 minutes to warm-up with the therapy devices before an event.
• Often these animals are ridden for a period of time and then prepared for their event or class. Warm the animal up before riding with a therapy session, return to the barn (stall) and then provide another therapy session before competing in the event.
• If an animal has experienced a particularly difficult day training or showing, accelerate the recovery period by providing a second therapy session later in the day.
• When these animals are stressed, provide multiple therapy sessions as needed throughout the day, each being at least 30 minutes in duration.

There isn't a single discipline that would not benefit from therapy sessions with the Thermotex™ Infrared Therapy System appliances. Each discipline has its own unique characteristics and stresses but all can benefit from infrared heat therapy. The important fact to remember is:

These appliances provide a safe efficacious infrared heat therapy to the equine athlete. They should be used as often as practical and in as many situations as possible. They only work when they are on the horse and the only time they doen't work is when they are hanging in the tack room.