My name is Nita Chaplin and here is my story.
I was at the Iowa Horse Fair last April (2019) taking in everything I could. I had been walking around most of the day going from exhibits to demonstrations and talking to people about everything from training to tack. I love learning new things and hearing new ideas of ways to do things which is why I love the horse fair. So many different people and styles of doing things in one place.
I came upon the PTI booth where some before and after pictures caught my eye. As I was looking at the pictures and thinking yeah right, these look too good to be true, I started visiting with Diana and asking questions. As she explained red light therapy to me, I was intrigued. At first I thought this all sounds a little “hoaky” to me, what’s the catch? I had never heard of it before and was pretty skeptical to say the least. As I talked to Diana about the horses and all the great things lights could do and she shared success stories with me I found myself wanting to know more. We visited for quite a while when I commented to her something like “too bad these are only for horses and not for people”. Of course she set me straight quickly and started to share about that.
My feet, back, and knees were aching from all the walking and standing all day when Diana invited me to try the lights for myself and offered a gravity chair for me to take a 20 minute session in. I jumped at the chance to sit down and put my feet up for a bit while trying out these “light pads”! I was quite surprised that in the middle of all the busy, noisy, traffic of the horse fair I was able to relax and be re-energized quite quickly. I didn’t really feel the pads doing anything while I sat there but I was able to relax and found myself yawning and getting sleepy. When the timer went off I remember asking Diana if I had to be done. I wanted more! I was so relaxed and felt totally re-energized. I thanked her, she gave me a bottle of water to drink, we exchanged numbers and I went on my way. As I was walking around the fair again, I began to realize that my knees weren’t hurting anymore, my feet were not aching and I had regained energy to conquer the rest of the fair! I thought it must be the little “power nap” I had while resting….still not giving the lights any credit, because I couldn’t “FEEL” them doing anything. I was able to stay to the end of the fair taking in every last demonstration and booth that I could.
Like at the horse fair that day, I noticed that my pain was decreased. This still blew me away because I couldn’t really “feel them doing anything” but I was seeing results. My shoulder was feeling better and I was able to increase my range of motion exercises because I wasn’t hurting so much. I was thrilled with these results but soon I started noticing other things happening. I had a foot surgery a couple years before that which left my foot with some nerve damage and not a lot of feeling in certain areas of my foot. As I was lighting up my shoulder I started noticing that I had tingling in my foot. I called Diana and said, I think I’m crazy but I am lighting up my shoulder and feeling tingling in my foot. She laughed and reassured me that my body was working on healing itself and that she wasn’t surprised at all.
Other things were happening as well. My sleep was better and I felt much more energized on a daily basis, I was not getting sick as often and I noticed my skin quality was getting better and the dark circles and bags under my eyes were getting less and less. Then one day as I was getting ready to go to the doctor for a checkup I decided to shave (something I don’t do often at my age) and I realized the awful purple spider veins that cover the backs of my legs were almost gone! I wish I had taken pictures but these were not things I expected or were looking for to happen so I hadn’t taken any.
Fast forward a month after I’d gone home … I work and volunteer at Camp Wesley Woods in Indianola. It is a Christian camp that has year-round programming and we have a beautiful horse facility with a big indoor arena and lots of horses. A lot of our horses are older retired horses that have some aging and health issues that need a lot of TLC. I was telling my coworkers about the lights and how I thought they could help our horses. We began to dream a little about what that could look like if we had red light torches to help them.
I’m jumping around a little here but stick with me, it all comes together soon. I had had a rotator cuff surgery that was healing but not as quickly as I was hoping and though my range of motion was better than they had predicted going into the surgery I was not satisfied with the end result. I started thinking about things Diana had told me about the lights and the horses and how humans benefited from them as well SO I ended up purchasing a 6 port pad based system the end of May, 2019. I started using them for my shoulder and started seeing some weird and exciting results.
As I am seeing these kinds of results in my own body and realizing the only difference in my routine is the lights, I started to get more and more excited. I purchased my torch lights around Christmas time and started working on the horses at camp. We have seen great results here as well. We are working with hip issues, sore backs, abscesses, stomach ulcers, and all kinds of issues. As I learn to listen to the horses and what they are telling me through their body language and their releases I am able to personalize their care to fit their needs. It is so rewarding to watch a horse that is hurting and tense to go through a session and begin to relax and release that tension and pain. Lights have become a huge part of our program in helping our horses to be sound and ready to work with our campers, lesson clients, trail riders and friends that come to visit. The horses that I work with on a regular basis will come up to me in the field “asking” for their lights. I have actually had them line up waiting for their turn. It is so rewarding to see the changes in our horses and know that with the torches and training I have gotten through PTI I am able to do that for them while saving the camp hundreds of dollars in vet and chiropractic bills.
Arrow has had a lot of gut issues that we have battled for a long time with little results. We started doing lights on him in December and as you can see, he has a very protruded belly and he does not want anyone to touch his belly, sides or girth area. When I started doing lights on him, I was not able to touch him in those areas with the light at all. I had to hold the light away from him and shine it from a distance. As soon as the light hits his skin in those areas his skin will quiver, and he will flinch.
Over time and learning to listen to his cues of what hurts and what feels good we have made huge strides of progress. Now Arrow comes to me for lights and stands to let me do his session. Just this week I was able to actually touch his belly, sides and girth. I am so excited because I am starting to see a physical difference in his body shape and how he holds himself now. His attitude is improving, and I believe his pain is decreasing. There are so many more stories I could share but I think the thing I love most about doing lights on our horses is the relationship building that is happening with each session we do, watching their attitude and physical well being change and seeing them happier and healthier. Of course, all of this transfers over into riding, relationship and performance.
I started out just wanting lights for my own health and wellness, but it is quickly turning into a passion for me as I see God working to heal human and horse bodies, using the same exact tools and methods. You don’t need a college education or really any education at all to start using lights, but once you start gaining knowledge through the free webinars and materials available you will want to learn more. I love the fact that PTI offers classes that you can grow to whatever level you want to take it, but you can also just purchase them for your own benefit and well being. After this social distancing has lifted and we can meet in person again I would love to share more with anyone wanting information or be happy to show you a demonstration or help you with your pets, horses, or self. In the meantime, I highly recommend getting lights and getting started.
Nita Chaplin
