The Town-Crier
WWW. GOTOWNCRIER. COM
December 16 - December 22, 2011
Page 25
FEATURES
Dr. Michael Carinda Specializes In Hydrohorse Therapy Horse in a swimming pool? Most people’s first thought would be how’d he get in? Closely followed by how do we get him out? Ah, but this pool was built just for horses, and they love it. Dr. Michael Carinda runs Equine Performance Sports Medicine at the South Florida Trotting Center on State Road 7, just south of Hypoluxo Road. (The sign says Training Center — ignore it.) The Trotting Center houses 400 Standardbreds, 325 of them yearlings learning to drive, the other 75 working racehorses whose owners prefer to stable them in a quieter, more relaxed setting. Carinda works with these, and other, horses. He clearly loves the Standardbreds. “They are the smartest, easiest breed to train,” he said. “It comes from their background. They’re easy to work with, calm, and have great endurance.” This American breed dates back to the mid18th century and includes Narragansett and Canadian Pacers, Thoroughbreds, Norfolk Trotters, Hackneys and Morgans. The most famous sire, Messenger, who came to the United States in 1788, produced both runners and trotters. Nearly every trotter or pacer traces its lineage back to his son, Hambletonian 10. Get updates all week long... follow Ellen Rosenberg on Twitter at twitter.com/ HorseTalkFL or stop by the Tales from the Trails page on Facebook and click “like.”
Tales From The Trails By Ellen Rosenberg They were called Standardbreds because, in order to be registered, each horse had to be able to trot a mile within the “standard” of 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The National Association of Trotting Horse Breeders opened the Standardbred Stud Book in the U.S. in 1879. Carinda explains that some Standardbreds naturally trot, and some naturally pace, depending on their sire. The pacers go much faster and race in hopples (pronounced “hobbles”) to keep them from breaking stride. “If they go off-stride in a race and break into a run, they’re disqualified,” he said. Carinda has been practicing in South Florida for 23 years and works with all sorts of horses, including hunter/jumpers, dressage horses and Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse race horses. “Everything but polo,” he laughs. “That’s its own circuit.” His wife, Viktoria Jackson Carinda, trains hunter/jumpers at Sunshine Meadows in Delray Beach. They live in Wellington. Carinda is also certified in TCVM, or traditional Chinese veterinary medicine, and
Dr. Michael Carinda and groom Donnie Carroll help Louie into the Hydrohorse. does acupuncture and herbology. He’s a graduate of the Chi Institute in Reddick, Fla., a satellite school of the University of Beijing. “I offer a range of treatments and modalities, anything to help the horse,” he said.
These include digital ultrasound, digital radiology, echo cardiography, shock wave therapy and his equine aquatic rehab machine: the Hydrohorse Underwater Treadmill SysSee ROSENBERG, page 27