Breeder, Competitor, and President of the US Icelandic Horse Congress

Before Anne Elwell became an Equi-Pro client, she knew Michele Trapp only as her high-energy neighbor in upstate New York.

Yet when Michele offered to step in and soothe a spooked horse after a serious accident, Anne began to see her as a calming influence in critical situations.

It all started when a rider at Anne’s site was thrown and had to be taken to the hospital.

“The horse freaked out; the rider came off,” Anne said. “Michele was outside at the time and said she would deal with the horse.” About 15 minutes later, Anne returned to the barn to find that Michele had already made noticeable progress.

“The interesting thing was that it was an exceedingly nervous horse, but he was completely relaxed and quiet with her,” said Anne.

Since that day, Anne has had the opportunity to have Michele work on several of her own horses—with amazing results.

For example, Anne was having more and more difficulty controlling the speed of one of her champion Icelandics, a compact but powerful breed that can reach a flying pace of 35 miles per hour. She had also noticed increasing crookedness throughout the length of the horse, as well as a nervous demeanor bordering on panic.

When Michele arrived to assess the situation, she found that the horse was experiencing spinal pain as well as a host of compensation issues, such as hip misalignment, resulting from his attempts to avoid the pain. She was also able to confirm the root of the horse’s problem—a saddle that sat too close to the spine.

“We knew it was a saddle issue, but we didn’t know all of the body parts that were affected,” Anne said.

Using her proven therapeutic techniques, Michele had helped the horse overcome the majority of his issues in about three sessions over the course of as many months.

“She explains what she’s doing, how it’s affecting the horse, and where the problem is,” Anne said. “And in a lot of situations, she’ll show you exercises that will help.”

Today, even though Anne lives in North Carolina and Michele resides in Tennessee, they maintain a strong professional relationship that continues to grow. Not only does Anne call on Equi-Pro whenever a horse of her own needs attention, but she has also made Michele a household name in the U.S. Icelandic horse community through clinics and referrals.

“If your horse has a movement problem that nobody seems to be able to correct, my first advice is ‘call Michele Trapp.’ If anybody can find the cause, she will.”