Red-light therapy helping alpacas
Posted on Wednesday, April 30, 2008
GENTRY ó What does red light therapy have to do with alpacas ? They go together on the Gaylen and Roni Spresser ranch here.
Red light therapy is photonic therapy, and Roni Spresser became a believer in the 660 nanometer monochromatic light therapy after she was kicked in the chest by a horse six years ago. She was treated by the light immediately after she was kicked.
On her way home, she stopped at a medical facility to be checked by a physician ó she was worried the kick might have caused injury to her heart.
ì My doctor told me I would have a large bruise by the next day and to invest in Advil, î Roni said. ì But I didnít bruise and I didnít have pain. î
Photonic therapy, which is a timed application of the red light to many of the same points as acupuncture ó only without the invasiveness of needles ó stops bleeding and pain and promotes healing, Roni said.
A few years later, Roni had opportunity to take classes in the therapy from Australian veterinarian Brian McLaren. She now treats animals, demonstrates use of the light on humans and is also an authorized distributor of the red light.
What does this have to do with alpacas ? Roni began treating nonbreeding alpaca females and had remarkable success in breeding the animals with the aid of photonic therapy.
She treated one female that was sick and expected to die. Not only did the animal recover; over time it gave birth to two crias ó baby alpacas.
Roni not only treated the animals for others, she bought some nonbreeding females for herself and now has a small herd ó 10 of her own and another 14 boarding for treatment.
Alpaca shearing was the order of the day Thursday at the Spresser ranch. Twenty-four alpacas were sheared in the Spressersí barn in a matter of a few hours, and large plastic bags of alpaca fiber were ready to be sent off to be used for wet felting and yarn making.
Bob Morrison and his nephew Danny, from Colorado but formerly of Australia and New Zealand, sheared the alpaca, with the help of Gaylen, Roni, their daughter Hadley, and friends.
Alpaca fiber comes in 22 natural colors, Roni said. She has 10 of those colors in her animals. The fiber is used to make matted felt and also for spinning into yarn and the making of garments. The fiber can also be dyed to any desired color.
Since the fiber contains no lanolin, it is naturally hypoallergenic ó meaning that many people who find wool itchy or irritating can wear garments made from alpaca fiber. And the fiber is soft and comfortable, as well as water repellent.
Alpacas, bearing much similarity to the llama and camel, are native to the Andean Mountains of South America. They began to be imported to the United States in the 1980 s and have become popular, not only for the fiber they produce, but as show animals and for breeding stock. ì The alpaca industry is strong and growing, î Roni said.
She travels to many of the alpaca shows around the country and demonstrates the benefits of photonic therapy on the animals. The people who come to the shows are ìone big family, î Roni said.
Gaylen and Roni have four children, Hadley, Hayden, Gentry and Gracyn. The children like the animals too. They go to the alpaca shows and are learning to show their own animals, Roni said.
Roni uses photonic therapy to treat alpacas, horses, dogs and cats. She also demonstrates the therapy for humans, teaching self-treatment as an alternative medicine. She is a level-2 certified photonic therapist, specializing in the Australian McLaren Method.
She can be reached at her business, Photonic Solutions, by telephone at 479-220-9032 or by e-mail at roni @ redlighttherapy. net.
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