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CapitalPress.com
Friday, November 29, 2019
People & Places
EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
Established 1928
Capital Press Managers
Joe Beach ..................... Editor & Publisher
Kevin Blodgett ........... Advertising Director
Carl Sampson .................. Managing Editor
Jessica Boone ............ Production Manager
Samantha McLaren ....Circulation Manager
Entire contents copyright © 2019
EO Media Group
dba Capital Press
An independent newspaper
published every Friday.
Capital Press (ISSN 0740-3704) is
published weekly by EO Media Group,
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97308-2048.
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News Staff
Idaho
Carol Ryan Dumas ..............208-860-3898
Boise
Brad Carlson/Capital Press
From left, Mike Weems Sr., Johnny Urrutia and Dr. Traci Patterson at Idaho Horse Therapy in Nampa on Nov. 12.
Brad Carlson .......................208-914-8264
Central Washington
Dan Wheat ..........................509-699-9099
Horse Therapy helps client deal with pain
By BRAD CARLSON
Capital Press
Spending nearly two
weeks at Idaho Horse
Therapy
substantially
reduced the intense pain
Mike Weems Sr. suffers.
He has a condition called
Complex Regional Pain
Syndrome.
“I’m much, much bet-
ter than I was,” he said
afterward. “The program
is phenomenal in so many
different ways.”
The Equine Assisted
Growth and Learning
Association (EAGALA)
certifies equine specialists
such as Johnny Urrutia,
who founded Idaho Horse
Therapy a decade ago. Vet-
erans and others dealing
with Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder are among his
clients.
Urrutia about a year
ago moved IHT — which
has professional staff, and
about 40 trained horses
at various southern Idaho
sites — from Shoshone
to Nampa. He said the
move positioned the non-
profit corporation closer
to Boise Veterans Affairs
Medical Center, more mil-
itary veterans and various
“I WAS AMAZED WITH THE EXPERIENCE WITH
JOHNNY’S HORSES,” WEEMS SAID. “THEIR SENSI-
TIVITY IS SO ACUTE. THEY SENSE THE PERSON.”
Mike Weems Sr.
therapists and other health
professionals who work
with IHT and its clients.
“A horse is always
reading your energy,” said
Urrutia, a lifelong horse
enthusiast who previously
worked as a high school
math teacher, profes-
sional rodeo cowboy and
recording artist. “You and
I are reading each other’s
energy, but we are not as
good at it.”
Horses excel at “read-
ing” people quickly and
thoroughly — and in turn
connecting deeply —
partly because the spo-
ken word does not get
in the way, he said. A
horse can help some-
one quickly calm and
brighten his or her state of
mind.
Weems, 69, a bowl-
ing-center owner, deals
mainly with acute, pro-
longed physical pain.
He caught his left hand
in a heavy shipping-and-re-
ceiving door on his small
farm near Bellevue, Idaho,
in late July 2016. Doctors
reattached two fingers, but
there was nerve damage.
The pain that followed
was much more severe
and long-lasting than
expected.
A physician in Sun
Valley diagnosed CRPS,
which the National Insti-
tutes of Health says is a
chronic condition believed
to be caused by dam-
age to, or malfunction
of, central and periph-
eral nervous systems. Pro-
longed excessive pain
characterizes it.
Weems
consulted
with medical providers
and more recently Urru-
tia, whom he has known
since the two were in high
school 40-plus years ago.
Urrutia connected with
Traci Patterson, an Irvine,
Calif., physician who
treats chronic pain with
a multimodal approach
that is non-invasive and
drug-free.
Patterson, herself a for-
mer CRPS sufferer, flew
to Idaho in November to
work with Weems and
Urrutia at IHT.
Traditional treatment
of chronic pain often is
symptom-focused
and
ineffective, Patterson said.
“When we are using a
multimodal protocol, we
are treating the whole per-
son,” she said.
Patterson, through her
Advanced Pathways prac-
tice, uses various mind and
body treatment modes to
help chronic-pain patients
balance their autonomic
nervous system, and break
cycles of pain and fight-
or-flight responses.
“When we do that and
can start working with him
(Weems) as a whole, we
can essentially help him
regain function-able levels
of pain,” she said.
Urrutia said horses
“have a way of help-
ing us meet that coher-
ence, when you are out of
a dominant sympathetic
state — our fight-or-flight
mechanism.”
Weems said his pain
dropped 70 to 80% during
his stay at IHT based on
Patterson’s treatments, the
work of Urrutia and staff,
and his experiences with
horses.
At home, he plans to
use specialized breathing
and other exercises Pat-
terson prescribed. He will
return to IHT, and a sepa-
rate Nampa medical office
that measures pain lev-
els, as needed. His son,
Mike Weems Jr., is a Boise
restaurateur.
He was raised on a
Gooding, Idaho, farm,
where his family had
horses. He didn’t realize
it then, but “the emotional
connection you make with
them is remarkable,” he
said. “And Johnny is the
first person who could
illustrate that connection.
“I was amazed with
the experience with John-
ny’s
horses,”
Weems
said. “Their sensitivity is
so acute. They sense the
person.”
Western Washington
Don Jenkins .........................360-722-6975
Eastern Washington
Matthew Weaver ................509-688-9923
Oregon
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CALENDAR
Submit upcoming ag-related
events on www.capitalpress.com
or by email to newsroom@capi-
talpress.com.
MONDAY-THURSDAY
DEC. 2-5
Growing for the Future Online
Virtual Conference: Online at
https://nfu.org/growing-for-the-fu-
ture/ NFU’s Growing for the Future
is a unique online, interactive vir-
tual conference focused on the
issues that today’s farmers and
ranchers face. The free, four-day
event includes farmer-to-farmer
webinars, live Q&A sessions, a dis-
cussion board, an online resource
center, and free giveaways. This
year’s conference will cover topics
ranging from cooperatives to insur-
ance, business planning, energy
efficiency, accounting and more.
Contact: Hannah Packman, hpack-
man@nfudc.org, 202-554-1600
TUESDAY-THURSDAY
DEC. 3-5
Idaho Farm Bureau Feder-
ation Annual Meeting: Coeur
d’Alene, Idaho. The primary busi-
ness of the annual convention is to
set policy and elect leaders of the
Idaho Farm Bureau Federation. Par-
ticipants will also hear from Farm
Bureau leaders and are updated on
developments from the past year. A
series of workshops follows cover-
ing a range of topics. Contact: www.
idahofb.org/
WEDNESDAY-
THURSDAY DEC. 4-5
Organic Grower Summit: Mon-
terey Conference Center, 1 Por-
tola Plaza, Monterey, Calif. Organic
growers, producers and processors
event for education, information
and networking with production
supply chain and support services
providers. Sponsored by Califor-
nia Certified Organic Farmers and
Organic Produce network. Contact:
www.organicgrowersummit.com
WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY
DEC. 4-6
Washington Small Fruit Con-
ference & Lynden Ag Show: NW
Washington Fairgrounds, 1775
Front St., Lynden, Wash. The con-
ference focuses on the latest
research and developments in small
fruit farming. The latest relevant
research information is delivered
first hand by the scientists perform-
ing the research. Contact: www.
wasmallfruit.com
California Cattlemen’s Con-
vention: Peppermill Resort, 2707
South Virginia St., Reno, Nev. The
organization will gather for its
103rd annual convention. Contact:
https://calcattlemen.org/event/
convention2019/
SUNDAY-
WEDNESDAY
DEC. 8-11
California Farm Bureau Fed-
eration 101st Annual Meeting:
Portola Hotel and Spa, Two Portola
Plaza, Monterey, Calif. Join fellow
farmers and ranchers as we discuss
and develop policy, recognize the
county Farm Bureaus at the core of
our grassroots structure and indi-
vidual members who have demon-
strated that working together
during this past year is how we will
continue “Building Our Future.” Con-
tact: https://cfbf.com/am2019
TUESDAY, DEC. 10
Changing Hands: A Free Suc-
cession Planning Workshop.
1-4 p.m. at Salishan Resort in
Gleneden Beach, in conjunction
with the Oregon Farm Bureau Con-
vention. RSVP to Nellie McAdams,
nellie@oregonagtrust.org, 971-409-
6806. Happy hour to follow.
University of Idaho Snake
River Sugar Beet Conference: Best
Western Plus Burley Inn & Conven-
tion Center, 800 N. Overland Ave.,
Burley, Idaho. This is the annual
sugar beet growers’ conference.
Contact: Erick Wenninger, 208 423-
6677, erikw@uidaho.edu
TUESDAY-THURSDAY
DEC. 10-12
Oregon Farm Bureau Annual
Meeting: Salishan Resort, 7760
North Highway 101, Gleneden
Beach, Ore. Members of the Ore-
gon Farm Bureau meet once a year
for grassroots discussions on issues
important to agriculture. Contact:
tiffany@oregonfb.org, https://ore-
gonfb.org/
THURSDAY-FRIDAY
JAN. 9-10
Oregon Mint Growers Annual
Meeting: 8 a.m. Salishan Resort,
7760 North Highway 101, Gleneden
Beach, Ore. Make your plans to
attend the 71st annual meeting,
where you’ll hear the latest on the
mint industry. Contact: http://ore-
gonmint.org, 503-364-2944
newsroom@capitalpress.com
WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY
JAN. 15-17
Northwest Agricultural
Show: 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednes-
day, 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Thursday and
9 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday. Oregon State
Fair and Expo Center, 2330 17th St.
NE, Salem, Ore. The 50th edition of
the Northwest Ag Show will fea-
ture over 120 exhibitors and part-
ners and seminars and workshops
covering a variety of topics import-
ant to farmers and ranchers. Admis-
sion on Wednesday and Thursday is
$5 for adults, $3 for seniors, and free
for children 12 and under. Admis-
sion on Friday is free, courtesy of
the Oregon Ag in the Classroom
Foundation. Contact: 503-364-4431
http://northwestagshow.com
FRIDAY-WEDNESDAY
JAN. 17-22
American Farm Bureau
Annual Convention and Trade
Show: Austin Convention Cen-
ter, 500 E. Cesar Chavez St., Austin,
Texas. This is your opportunity to
help set the agenda for the leading
voice of agriculture. Participate in
educational workshops to advance
your leadership skills, expand your
business acumen and gain deep
insight into the trends and reali-
ties impacting food production.
Contact: https://annualconvention.
fb.org/
SUNDAY-TUESDAY
JAN. 19-21
NFU Women’s Conference: Cat-
amaran Resort Hotel and Spa, 3999
Mission Blvd., San Diego, Calif. This
conference will not only prepare
attendees for success in agriculture,
but it will also provide them with
their own network of women farm-
ers and ranchers they can reach
out to throughout the year. Con-
tact: Hannah Packman, hpackman@
nfudc.org, 202-554-1600. https://
nfu.org/womensconference/
MONDAY, FEB. 3
Oregon Blueberry Confer-
ence: 8 a.m. Salem Convention Cen-
ter, 200 Commercial St. SE, Salem,
Ore. This is the Oregon blueberry
industry’s annual meeting and fea-
tures a variety of presentations and
other informational sessions. Con-
tact: http://oregonblueberry.com
503-364-2944
THURSDAY, FEB. 20
Idaho Hay and Forage Confer-
ence: Canyon Crest Event Center,
330 Canyon Crest Drive, Twin Falls,
Idaho. The association’s annual con-
ference and trade show will be in
a new venue this year in Twin Falls.
Contact: 208-888-0988, www.ida-
hohay.com
FRIDAY-SATURDAY
SEPT. 25-26
Pacific Northwest Christmas
Tree Association Trade Show:
Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel,
8235 NE Airport Way, Portland, Ore.
This is the annual meeting and
trade show of the Pacific Northwest
Christmas Tree Association. Contact:
http://www.pnwcta.org
or mail it to “Newsroom,” c/o Capital Press.
Include a contact telephone number.
Letters to the Editor: Send your
comments on agriculture-related public
issues to opinions@capitalpress.com, or
mail your letter to “Opinion,” c/o Capital
Press. Letters should be limited to
300 words. Deadline: Noon Monday.
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twitter.com/CapitalPress
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Index
Markets ...................................................9
Opinion ...................................................6
Correction policy
Accuracy is important to Capital Press
staff and to our readers.
If you see a misstatement, omission or
factual error in a headline, story or photo
caption, please call the Capital Press news
department at 503-364-4431, or send
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