What? STS-2 is a two-part system.

First, there is the STS-2 SCANNER, which is a device that allows you to go over the horse's body, externally and pinpoint exactly where any problems exist. (I say 'horse's body' but it is also equally effective on other animals and humans as well.) The SCANNER emits a micro current of electricity which neither you nor the horse can feel. That current is used to measure the resistance in the tissue it contacts. High resistance means normal, healthy tissue. Low resistance means there is something wrong there.

When a problem is detected, the SCANNER beeps to indicate the location. It even varies the strength of the beep to determine the severity of each problem found. (Loud, shrill beeps indicate a more severe problem than a softer beep.) The SCANNER does NOT diagnose problems. It simply locates where problems exist. If you think you have a hock problem, scan the hock. If it beeps, there IS a hock problem. If not, the problem is elsewhere. The whole horse is always scanned as you really never know what all is going on in any given horse.

As the SCANNER goes over the body, it may beep due to direct measurement of a local problem or it may beep due to finding an 'active' acupuncture point. That would indicate there is a problem relating to the part of the body, which that acupuncture point is representative of. It could be internal or external on the horse. Consider this fact; you most likely will not know what each acupuncture point the SCANNER indicates, actually relates to, unless you are a doctor of acupuncture.

And here is the strange part; it really doesn't matter. All that matters is that there is something wrong right here and now you found it. The reason the 'name' of each problem is not as important with STS-2 is due to the nature of how problems are treated. More on that shortly. Each time the SCANNER beeps, indicating a problem, the spot is marked with a water crayon, so we know where to treat after we finish scanning. After you have scanned a whole horse (which takes about 20-30 minutes), it is amazing to see what shows up in green dots! You may have drawn muscles or the outline of a saddle or whatever.

So now we have our horse scanned and he has, perhaps, dozens of dots all over his body indicating the areas causing him problems today. The second step in using STS-2 is treating the problems the SCANNER located. We treat those spots using the ETU (Equine Therapy Unit), which uses red and infrared light to stimulate the body to heal. This may be a new concept to many of you, but using 'light' as a therapy is actually quite common in Europe, but still a bit 'outside the norm' in the USA. Although not yet a common approach to healing, the validity of light therapy has been proven in clinical tests by many universities as well as other organizations such as NASA. In short, it works!

To treat a problem area we simply hold a small 'cluster' of LED's (light emitting diodes) over the problem area for about 20-30 seconds. The ETU powers two clusters of diodes so two areas can be treated at once. The ETU also has the ability to change the frequency at which the lights are pulsed over seven different frequencies, and thereby adjust the effect the light is having.

The new ETU can even be programmed to treat on one frequency, then change to a different frequency automatically, further accelerating the healing process! As an example, frequency 7 is very sedative; for treating very sore or inflamed problems. Frequency 1 is very deep penetrating and far more stimulating. If you treated an area on frequency 7 and then on frequency 5, each for 20 seconds, the effect would be even greater than if you only treated with one frequency.

That is a quick overview of the STS-2, (Sumerel Therapy System). The SCANNER takes the guesswork out of knowing what is going on with the horse--knowing where to treat, not guessing. Then the Light Therapy products use safe, non-invasive light therapy to stimulate the body to heal without drugs or other more invasive treatments.

And, please understand, I'm not against using drugs when necessary, but we, as a culture, have gotten far to used to a drug as the 'quick fix' and that is probably not a good thing. If you can solve a problem without using drugs, wouldn't you want to use that option?

If you would like to know more, or have any questions at all, feel free to contact Kathy@meadowsweetranch.com.