Natural Horse Therapies

Horses Love Aromatherapy …

Aromatherapy describes the therapeutic use of essential oils, diluted to a

manageable potency and used either directly on the skin or indirectly through inhalation. But essential oils are not all about smells. Aromatherapy has been proven to have therapeutic effects on both people and animals. At this point I have to mention one must always be cautious when using essential oils on animals (especially cats) as essential oils can be powerful and have damaging health effects on the more sensitive of breeds.

Essential oils are completely different from ‘fragrant oils’, as they are extracted from plants and herbs and are proven to have therapeutic effects. Fragrant oils on the other hand are often chemically manufactured or produced to provide a cheap smelling oil based product.

Each essential oil has a specific property – similar to herbal medicine – including anti-bacterial, anti-fungal and antiseptic qualities of the oil etc. Read the rest of this entry

Flower Essences can offer Emotional Balance for You & Your Horse …

Flower essences have a special place in my heart because of their ability to influence our emotional and spiritual wellbeing. I find horses very receptive to flower essences and will usually recommend both horse and rider take them together when seeking to balance any behavioural or emotional issues. This is because very often our horses will mirror or reflect any imbalances or problems we are working on, with both issues we are aware of, and issues we are not.

Dr Edward Bach, an inspirational physician and homeopath, developed flowerremedies in the late 1920’s and early 1930’s. Today these remedies are used throughout the world and are widely acknowledged for their gentle yet profound qualities. Read the rest of this entry

Remedies for Ringworm …

Ringworm is a highly contagious, fungal condition usually found on the head, saddle and girth areas of the body. The skin falls out and the skin is left scaly underneath. Multiple areas of crusty, scaly, hair loss break out, often in a circular pattern, healing first from the centre outwards. The centre may be healing while the outer part of the lesion is still spreading. The rings sometimes run together to form irregular blotches. These areas are rarely itchy, though can be. In the initial stages, small tufts of hair standing on end may be visible and when this hair then falls out, the skin below can form a scab that exudes serum. As this dries, the skin becomes dry and scaly. Lesions may originate on the head, neck or base of the tail and spread to any part of the body.

Horses can be infected from tack, grooming and saddlery equipment, stables, fences, vehicles and other animals (including rats etc). Transition between humans and horses and vice versa is also possible. Horses in poor condition, and young horses more commonly get this disease, and warm, humid conditions increases the likelihood.

Contaminated girths are the most common cause of spread in training stables and riding schools, where the sharing of equipment is common. Read the rest of this entry

What Every Horse Owner Should Know About Laminitis ….

I was recently asked by a client who was fearful her horse might be close to foundering to describe a little more detail on Laminitis.

I am going to dedicate this blog to Laminitis as I believe it is a good topic for all horse owners to be familiar with.

Understanding Laminitis is essential for all horse owners as ALL horses can potentially get laminitis, and the affects can be catastrophic and fatal. Laminitis can affect any horse, of any age or breed, at any time of the year. It can be triggered by a variety of metabolic or physical causes. The best way to combat laminitis is to know about it and to prevent it occurring wherever possible.

Laminitis is defined as a condition of the foot, where the sensitive laminae of the foot becomes painful and inflamed. The end result of laminitis, commonly defined as Founder, is defined as either a rotation of the coffin bone downward or a general sinking of the coffin bone downward. A horse may not necessarily suffer founder as a result of an acute laminitis attack, although steps must be taken to ensure this does not occur. Read the rest of this entry

Holistic Herbal Medicine for Horses …

Herbal Medicine uses remedies derived from plants to treat common illnesses. These herbs are dietary supplements that you can give to your horse in its raw form or dried, through teas (infusions), extracts, tinctures and oils or as part of a combined remedy. Herbal Medicine aims to not only treat the symptoms but to introduce improvements to your horse’s lifestyle and wellbeing.

Herbs have been used on people and animals for thousands of years across a range of cultures. Shamans, Medicine men and women, pharaohs, kings and field workers all knew the benefits of herbs on their people and animals. Some of the more common cultures to have used herbs on their horses were the native american indian tribes, the ancient greeks and the romany gypsies of Europe. Horses also have instinctively foraged on medicinal plants native to their grasslands gaining the necessary nutrition to heal and prevent illness. Read the rest of this entry

Cellular Nutrition

As an equine therapist, one of the things I get asked a lot about is nutrition. Is my horse getting everything he needs in his diet? What can I do to support my horse – when he is unwell? How can I make sure my horse is getting the correct balance of minerals in his diet?

I thought I’d spend today talking about tissue salts and their role in equine health. Minerals are an important aspect of a good healthy body. Good quality blood and well balanced cellular health will naturally lead to a body that is vibrant and alive. As is always the case, the macrocosm is a reflection of the microcosm. Or in other words, the greater whole can only be as healthy as the smaller components within it. What I’m really talking about here is good cellular health. When the cells of our body are supported with ample nutrition, adequate mineral balance and clean cellular hydration, the body is able to function smoothly and effortlessly. When our cells are starved of nutrition, dehydrated or deficient in essential nutrients, their ability to function is impaired and the body suffers. Read the rest of this entry

As an equine owner it is useful to have an understanding of Homeopathy.

Homeopathy is a fantastic modality that works holistically and enables you to treat your horse naturally without the use of drugs or potentially damaging substances.

Homeopathy is said to stimulate and strengthen your horse’s immune system and will not mask symptoms. When used correctly homeopathy is safe, inexpensive and easy to give to your horse.

In today’s blog I am going to give a brief overview of what homeopathy is, and the basic principles and uses of homeopathy for horses.

Homeopathy is a branch of medicine, which states that any substance that can cause symptoms of illness in man or animal can also be used in the treatment of any condition showing similar symptoms.  The principle of likeness between a ‘disease condition’ and its remedy is pivotal in the development of Homeopathy. The closer these two components, the greater the likelihood of success in treatment.

Homeopathy is a system of medicine that treats each person or animal as a whole. Read the rest of this entry

Improving your Horse’s Digestive Function

Diet and Nutrition play a crucial role in our horse’s health, more than most of us give credit to.

In today’s modern world, it is a sad but important fact that we cannot always rely on a products label to inform us of its nutritional strength. Commercial feed companies are very skilled in marketing their feed products to their consumers as the “healthiest and best available”, with “everything your horse requires”. However every horse is different in their requirements as so too are their body type, size, breeding, work demand, soil and pasture quality, personality and health status. Feeds mixed to obtain profit and set formulas rarely cater to this variance.

Mixing your own feed may well be more time consuming, but it offers you an opportunity to tailor make your horse’s feed to provide them with exactly what they require, in digestible form and with often a fraction of the cost.

Consider several factors when assessing nutritional requirements: Feed quantity, quality, variety, appropriate body-type feeding, and suitability to your horse’s workload. Also consider easy-digestive ability (explained further in this article) and individual supplementation. Exploration of these topics is a worthy time investment that will bring great rewards to your horse’s health.

When exploring how to increase your horse’s health and vitality, it is essential to look at good digestive health. In Traditional Chinese Medicine it is said where the health of the stomach is good the prognosis is good and where the health of the stomach is poor, ill health and disease will always be present. In modern medicine also and in veterinary science, a healthy digestive system is the key component to long-term good health. Read the rest of this entry

Getting to the Guts of it – Healthy Nutrition

As people feeding our horses, feeding appropriate to the equine digestive system is a vital consideration. And to do this requires we know exactly how our horses digestive systems functions.

Horses digest differently from people. In people the stomach, with its enzymes is a dominant part of digestion. Food passes into the stomach for processing and breaking down, into the small intestine for absorption and finally the large intestine for any last absorption requirements. Horses on the other hand, as herbivores, have a long gut to deal with cellulose, which is relatively hard to digest and therefore needs to be held in the digestive tract for a considerable time. They are considered to have a foregut (mouth, pharynx, oesophagus, stomach and small intestines) and a hind gut (caecum, large colon, small colon, rectum and anus).

The large intestine is the major site for the fermentation of fibre. As horses don’t need amino acids as much as people do, their intestines are considered to function completely differently from ours. The mucosal membrane lining the gut is a lot more absorbent than ours, and a large proportion of digestion takes place by fermentation, owing to the large number of bacteria in the gut. Foods can be held in the gut for periods of up to 36-48 hours.

Horses then are not designed for high starch diets. Any grain or starch orientated feeding must therefore be feed little and often, rather than in large quantities. A horse’s real energy input is best obtained through fibre (an increase in roughage, the perfect feed for the horses digestive system rather than an increase in grains).

Feeding your horse a high fibre diet will also result in less teeth wear and a decrease in dental problems, compared to a high grain diet that will inevitably lead to an increase in teeth wear. Read the rest of this entry

Acupressure Massage

Today I would like to talk about a topic close to my heart. As a fully qualified Equine Shiatsu Therapist I am a full believer in the benefits of Acupressure Massage! I have seen the results time and time again, and it has completely convinced me of this simple, easy to apply art, that is pleasureable to give and pleasureable to receive!

As a follow on from my previous blog ‘Regular Touch for your Horse’ you can choose to assist your horse with some simple massage techniques.

Massage can be used to boost your horses energy in areas you have found to be deficient (cold, flat, empty in feeling), as well as relieving tight or blocked areas on the body (hard, tight, hot or rigid areas).

Your horse will guide you in how much pressure to use, and as you learn to listen, your horse will also tell you exactly what they are in the mood for that day! I can’t tell you how many times a horse I have worked on will come to me and present body areas to me to be massaged.

Often the first time I treat a horse, I work slowly and gently to establish trust and safety for the horse. I allow a horse to move, to get comfortable and to communicate how they would like to be worked on. This is an important part of relating, and is the horses way of talking to me. Generally, I have found that if the first experience of massage is a pleasant one, that same horse will openly welcome more treatments, and invite me to work deeper and with more accuracy for the follow up sessions.

As always I feel the key to good Acupressure is in developing one’s feel. At a very basic level this is relatively easy. As one progresses along this path, you will find your level of sensitivity dramatically improves. Slowly and surely you will discover your hands ability to read your horse and relay to you important information about their health and wellbeing. Read the rest of this entry