Mighty Heart is one race away from becoming just the 13th Canadian Triple Crown winner in horse racing history Saturday at Woodbine. The one-eyed wonder has become a folk hero on the local scene in a year when everyone needs something to cheer for.
The 3-year-old colt’s human family is a close-knit one. Larry Cordes, his children Angela and Darrin and his grandkids, his partner Kim and family will surround him today in a small gathering at his Uxbridge home to watch the his prized colt go for glory.
Jennifer Perrin, 23, has been closely involved with Mighty Heart this year and according to her grandfather, has been an integral part of the colt’s success. Perrin, who grew up riding horses with her mother Angela and sister Megan and is a fixture on the amateur hunter and jumper circuit in Ontario, stepped out two years ago to purchase a Pulsed Electromagnetic Field (PEMF) machine when she saw it recommended on various social media and business pages.
PEMF, a low field magnetic stimulation therapy treatment used for humans, pets and larger animals, is just a couple of decades old and followed other magnetic therapy treatments. In the 1980s and ’90s, horse trainers would use magnetic therapy in a form of a blanket. The key was to stimulate and massage soft tissue.
The industry has expanded into a coil-based treatment that is found on yoga mats or as part of a mini home office, a small machine with coils that are placed on various parts of a human’s or animal’s body. It is said to boost metabolism, aid in overall health and sooth muscle soreness and in humans, is even being used in assisting with depression. It is non-invasive and non-medicinal and human clients rave about the therapy for aches and pains.
Perrin, who went to school for travel and tourism, did not pursue that career and once she saw the PEMF used on her Quarter Horse, decided to start her own PEMF business.
“It was either buy a house or buy a machine,” Perrin laughs. “I bought the machine.”
Three times a week Perrin treats Mighty Heart, moving the coils around his body for about 30 minutes. The treatment is popular and there are many other companies and various types of such machines. In no time, Perrin was visiting other barns at Woodbine and helping out other equine friends.
“I tell you, that therapy is amazing,” said Cordes. “My granddaughter has been such an important part of Mighty Heart’s success.”
Perrin and her ‘Papa’ are very close. The two of them often vacation together and in fact, they were on a cruise in 2017 when the call came in that Mighty Heart, two weeks old at the time, had been found with a badly injured eye in his paddock with his dam and the eye had to come out.
“I remember it; at first he was like it was hard to believe,” said Perrin. “But ‘Papa’ takes those things well.”
Certainly, a missing eye has not held back the son of Dramedy who has blossomed under the training of Josie Carroll and the love and care he has received from so many including his young groom Siobhan Brown, who has become close friends with Perrin and the family.
Perrin eventually wants to learn to be a racehorse trainer and with her horse background and knowledge it would seem a good bet she will accomplish that goal. First up, however, is watching her family’s heart-horse’s attempt at history.
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