 This is Pablo – a 22yr old Cob gelding from a treking centre. He came to us in September of last year because the owner of the treking centre said he had had a hard year and infact he did look pretty tired and shut down when he arrived. He wouldn't interact with any of the other horses and just ate and stood away from the others. He also had a history of Urinary problems. His presenting symptom’s included pain over the kidney area and wouldn't tolerate any pressure (noted when grooming) and very thick yellow custardy-type urine. Sometimes he would strain to pee and always made an awkward skewered type of stance to facilitate stalling. And with the winter that we had there was significant rain scald to tackle thrown in for good measure -again particularly over the kidney area.
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 Topper and his Barley Grass smile ! We were happy to have Topper, a 26yr old gelded cob from Island View riding stables to stay over winter. Topper spent his working life giving Tourists rides on the beach in Blackpool promenade and is now in retirement. His passion for Barley Grass was only equaled by his passion for banging his legs on the ground to relieve his itchy legs......  Whitethorn Farm at the base of Knocknashee Last weekend we held the first Equine Zoopharmacognosy Workshop at Whitethorn Farm. It was an absolute resounding success, with participants from a wide range of the equestrian world – including veterinary, supplement manufacturers and medicinal herbalists.
Participants journeyed from as far as Wexford and Cork to spend two days learning the theory and practice of Applied Zoopharmacognosy. The first day kicked off with a presentation giving an insight as to how and why and on why horses self-medicate. This was followed by a demonstration with a mare Tizzy, that we have worked with previously. She selected mostly supporting constitutional herbs.  Had an interesting result with calming essential oils this morning. Although the story started three days ago when I long-reined a feisty mare along the lanes that was spooked by a scattering flock of sheep. To cut a long story short this culminated in an unplanned pirouette that Camilla Speirs would be proud of, followed by me water-skiing along behind for 10m's, an equine equivalent of a hand-break turn, and then a U turn to finally examine the 'woolly monsters' that were disappearing over the hill at a brake-neck speed. We recovered well and returned home. Today, whilst tacking up I could see the anxiety levels rising, so I offered Frankincence (for fear), Jasmine (for comfort), Valerian (for calming) and Violet leaf (for anticipated fear). After inhaling and injesting in varying combinations, she plodded out onto the lanes like an old granny, not once suspecting the sheep of ambushing us - she was an absolute paragon of virtue and a delight to work with! TEAM SHEEP-BUSTER !
Warning to competitors: Valerian is on the anti-doping list for performance horses and is considered a controlled substance
The approach of Carly Hillier and Whitethorn Equine Health really help my 7 year old jumping mare. "Lux Easy" injured her suspensory ligament on her left front leg about 12 months ago. After a resting period of 9 month I took her back into work. Even though the ligament was fully healed, the two front fetlock joints started to swell up all the time but mostly after hard training or a jumping show. I brought her to different Vets and got her joints injected. Despite all efforts the swelling never went down fully. As a last resort I called Carly and her legs improved nearly instantly. Now about 8 weeks later Luxy and I are back jumping 1.20m classes:-) So thank you very much Carly!!!  |
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Hi! My name is Carly and I head up the Whitethorn Team. I am also a lifelong lover of Dogs and Horses. When my mare was having regular episodes of Colic I looked around for a solution and found Applied Zoopharmacognosy (also called the self-selection method and free choice botanicals). I was so impressed that I trained in this fascinating effective herbal approach and have gone on now to train others. That was over a decade ago and I am now part of the Whitethorn Team and work with horses and dogs all over the world to help them restore emotional and physical health. As part of the support we offer, we also supply herbal remedies at our online shop along with providing workshops and one-to-one mentoring (Onsite & Online) on how to work with them. We truly hope that you enjoy and maybe learn a little from our blog. Carly and the Whitethorn Team, Sligo Ireland Archives
July 2023
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