Horses and humans have had a long, rich relationship.
Whether working together on farmland, fighting side-by-side on battlefields or racing in the sport of kings, the bonds are intricate and robust.
So when things go wrong for the equine part of the partnership, people will do all they can to get the beautiful beasts up and running again.
Such is the community love for horses, entrepreneur George Carpenter has been run off his feet with demand for his non-invasive healing treatment, when a four-legged beauty is injured.
The 22-year-old owns Sunshine Coast Pulse Therapy, which uses a progressive treatment method called pulsed electro-magnetic field therapy, to increase blood flow and healing, and he has lost count of how many horses he has treated.
The treatment is being trialled on humans by NASA and is used by trainers at the Australian Institute of Sport. It uses pulses of variable intensity and frequency to increase the flow of nutrients and oxygen to an injured area, facilitating healing.
“They call it electro-magnetic pulses,” George said.
“It looks like shocks in the muscles. It’s quite a strange feeling to begin with; you can’t really compare to what it feels like.”
George would know, because the idea for his business came from his own experience with rehabilitation after injury four years ago. A severe knee injury in a dirt-bike accident meant he had six long months of rehabilitation.
He found conventional treatments including physiotherapy were giving him only moderate improvements, but then he was referred to get electro-magnetic field pulse treatment.
“It had a massive impact on my knee,” George said.
Few people had heard of it and the improvement was so great, George spotted a business opportunity.
“I thought, ‘this is nuts’, so I thought that it’d be a pretty good business to get into,” he said.
George took on a bank loan of $30,000 to buy the equipment and also invested in advanced training in how to use the machine.
At the time he was only 20, and he admitted it was a risk.
“The unknown rattled me a bit, just not knowing how much money I’d make or what bills I’d pay the following week, so that was tough,” he says.
But the potential turned to a pattern, and within two years George has gone from treating about 10 horses a week to treating up to 15 a day in locations spanning from the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane.
The therapy is powered by a yellow box about half the size of an esky.
George is systematic when manoeuvring the cable across the horse, with a hand as light as that of a seasoned tattooist.
Every muscle he touches has a running effect that sends pulses throughout the horse, promoting healing of multiple spots along the way.
“It’s really important for (horses) to be feeling their best, like when they’re competing at any level, whether it’s a pony club or a big race,” he says.
George learned this after treating a horse that tore a tendon during a race.
An operation restored the horse’s leg so it could walk, but the vet said that would be the extent of the recovery.
After this, the vet suggested PEMF, and brought on George to start therapy.
Six months later, the horse returned to racing.
“The main thing I’m doing it for is for people to get that satisfaction and feel like they’ve spent their money on something that’s actually worked, and they’re happy with it,” he said.
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George has been a sole operator thus far and now that his business has grown to the point of expansion, he realises he needs guidance. He has no experience in employing others or mapping out expansion plans.
“When I started this, I’ve done it all myself, so I haven’t had any mentoring at all,” he said.
This gap in experience led George to enter the 2021 Generation Innovation Challenge, a competition that allows aspiring entrepreneurs to establish or refine a business idea, with mentors helping along the way. The winner of the competition also gets $10,000.
“There’s tonnes of different things to learn through (the GI Challenge), and plenty of people to help,” he said.
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“For me, there is always things you can improve on in a business as well, and for me I wanted to focus more on marketing and taking note of my finances. The GI Challenge was really good for me to learn to write it all out.”
George said the GI Challenge had sharpened his business focus and broadened his horizons. He said all young entrepreneurs could benefit from such a program that links with mentors.
“A lot of older people especially appreciate when they see young people giving something a go,” he said.
“Just ask questions, talk to people about stuff, and even if you’re not agreeing with what they’re saying, just put it in your back pocket because you never know when you may need to that advice.”
Frazer Ramsden is a USC journalism student.
