His hair had started to fall out in chunks and sores were developing on his back and inside his hind legs as he was violently rubbing against the gates of his enclosure desperately trying to alleviate itching - of which the cause was unknown. Prince had given up But worse than that he was completely dispirited and you could see by his demeanor that he had started to shut down and give up. This was shown by the dull look in his eyes and standing with his head down at the back of his enclosure in a state of non-reactivity to his environment. Out with the Herbal Kit and whilst Prince took a little while to engage and trust me, the self-selection way is innate and doesnt have to be taught or learnt and Prince's need was great so it wasnt long before he had come forward and engaged. Prince is given and makes choices Prince's main selections were analgesics - Arnica Co2, Meadowsweet dried herb and Yarrow essential oil. He also selected for infection - Bitter Almond and Garlic essential oils as well as the diuretics Juniper essential oil and Hawthorn dried herb. All of these are available from our sister shop www.whitethornherbals.com By the end of the session I was cautiously optimistic as Prince had significantly brightened and was showing an interest in his environment and eating from a bale of haylage. He certainly no longer looked like a horse that was ready to be euthanised! However, he was still rubbing furiously on the walls and gates of his enclosure. So.... Water Buffet for Prince! Recognising that an itchy skin can be caused by toxins in the gut, I left some green clay with instructions to his carers to create a water buffet for Prince. This is created by adding a teaspoon or two to a bucket of water and offer alongside a bucket of normal fresh water. In the first few days post-session his preference was indeed the green clay water and the itching and his skin started to clear immediately. The caring owners continued to offer the extracts that Prince had selected at his session in order to keep the healing process going and to optimise recovery time. A full recovery for Prince! Within 3 days Prince was fully mobile again as the video at the beginning of the blog shows him trotting along quite happily. His itching ceased and his skin started to clear up. Prince went from being a hopeless case requiring euthanasia to an active bright happy chap with all symptoms alleviated. Well done Team Prince! Such is the Power of self-selection and the wonderful caring attention from loving owners!
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 Chica processing on herbs during her self-selection session Chica is a much-loved 17yr old Quarter horse in Arkansas. Unfortunately, she had a 'run in' with a chicken coop which left her with a nasty injury on her right hind fetlock which despite treatment from a couple of veterinary establishments, after a while became thick and stiff. If and when Chica cantered, she noticeably limped afterwards. Her owner Sharla, was particularly concerned about the pressure the other limbs were under, as they needed to compensate in order to keep the weight off of her damaged hind. Sharla contacted us after a friend of hers told her about the AZ approach and after filling out her feedback form, we sent over a Whitethorn Herbals Mini Kit full of extracts most likely selected by a horse with the issues that Chica was presenting with. As soon as they were received a session was booked and Carly worked with her owner through zoom guiding her through the session. Chica fully engaged from the get-go and responded well. One of her key selections was Arnica CO2 - one of the most powerful extracts in our range that clears the shock and pain out of a historical injury. She also selected Wintergreen, Peppermint and Yarrow essential oils - also strong analgesics. Sharla continued to offer for the following week of the session and reported a week later in our catch up call that Chica had a better demeanour, felt her eyes were brighter and she was cantering and trotting more than she had since the injury. Ten days later from our catch up call and we received a lovely message from a very excited Sharla, reporting that Chica had cantered 3 times that day with absolutely no sign of a limp afterwards. And a final update this evening informs us that Chica has now been reintergrated to the main herd. Good job Team Chica! PS - All the above mentioned extracts are available at our sister site whitethornherbals.com
 We are delighted to say that Prof Michael Huffman's (from Kyoto University, Japan) visit went extremely well with much information and ideas exchanged, plenty of laughter, good food and also some great advice on our research protocol. Prof Huffman is the leading researcher (particularly of primates) in the field of Zoopharmacognosy and has written many papers and books on wild animals self-medicating in their natural habitat. Prof Huffman wanted to come and see how the horse's ability to self-medicate worked in a domestic setting. So we introduced him to Earl and he was a model demo horse and an absolute Star! Prof Huffman has a deep desire to help animals have a better life worldwide. I think we can all get onboard with that! 😍 He has requested that we give another demonstration to his colleagues at Duke University in North Carolina - which we will of course happily oblige. After Mike (as he insisted we called him) left, the Team stayed on for a really Powerful Brainstorming session working on our vision for the future. It truly was an exceptional day and I personally am so grateful for all that helped make the day so special 🙏  Prof Huffman - field researcher in Zoopharmacognosy Really very excited about Welcoming Prof Michael Huffman to Whitethorn Equine Health on Monday 3rd July.
Whitethorn Team member Dr Silke Kleefeld contacted him earlier this year about a proposed research study and he is keen to get involved and as a result is visiting us to talk about our work here in Sligo. Silke has put in a massive amount of work to put our Project brief together which involves using a Shimmer3 which currently has proven to be the most effective way to monitor horses stress levels through Electro Dermal Activity (see study ref below). We are very honoured that such a prominent member in the field of Zoopharmacognosy is taking time out of his global work schedule to come and meet the team and learn of our work! Golzari, K.; Kong, Y.; Reed, S.A.; Posada-Quintero, H.F. Sympathetic Arousal Detection in Horses Using Electrodermal Activity. Animals 2023, 13, 229. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani13020229  Measuring horses stress levels through Electro Dermal Activity during the self-selection process Thanks to a significant amount of work carried out by Whitethorn Team member Dr Silke Kleefeld, we now have a project brief for our research study. This study will monitor and record stress levels during the self-selection process through the use of this guy pictured left (supplied by Shimmer research in Dublin) which moniters stress levels through electro dermal activity. This piece of tech was used earlier this year by Conneticut University to demonstrate how EDA is a more precise way of measuring horses stress than using the horse's heart rate (ECG). Professor Michael Huffman from Kyoto University, Japan, has shown an interest in our work and plans to visit us in early July. We are very honoured and excited to recieve such a prominent member in the field of Zoopharmacognosy to say the least! More about his visit and our research studies in the coming blogs.
 Brewer's yeast for the microbiome Our customers have been asking for Brewer's Yeast and after some searching we found a good quality source which is inactivated and preservative free from the continent (unfortunately we couldnt find any locally). As many of you will know, wherever possible, we always choose products and packaging that minimise the impact our services have on the environment.
Brewer's yeast is selected by animals to improve and support the microbiome in the digestive system. The microbiome is often compromised by antibiotics, wormers, inappropriate diet and also stress. Offer dry on a plate - please do not mix into feed. Click on the link for more details: Clays, Mud, Brewers Yeast & Beeswax  Russell also gives the track a thumbs up! Pictured left is part of our new track system that we are trialing on our summer grazing fields (roughly 5 acre field) for the horses. The track width varies in places and goes along side the boundary river and our forest.
We have noticed a significant increase in the amount of their activity which can only mean an improvement in their fitness and health! Also to note that the summer grazing has an abundance of wild herbs such as eyebright, ladies mantle, ladies bed straw (used to stuff mattress') wild iris', meadowsweet, cleavers, violets and so on! Definitely a success so far and we look forward to putting in place an all-weather surface as soon as possible!  Interview with Equitas Delighted to be given the opportunity by Helen O'Hanlon from Equitas to spread the word about how we came to be and what we do:
Tell us a little bit about yourself? I grew up in leafy suburban Surrey in Southern England. In those days the tv was black and white (I kid you not!) and of course there was no internet (how did we survive?) so I spent most of the time in the garden either making herbal potions and storing them in the tree house or building farms in the gravel drive. I used to move the gravel around to make hedges and roads and spent hours planning out my model farmyard and animals. Happy innocent days! To continue reading go to: www.equitas.ie/interview-with-carly-hillier-whitethorn-equine-health/  A big Welcome to Silke! We are delighted to announce that Dr Silke Kleefeld has joined the Whitethorn Team! Silke will be heading up our Research projects 🧐which currently includes assessing the recovery rate of race horses when given the opportunity to self-select herbal extracts post-race vs race horses not having access to herbal extracts post-race 🐎.
Silke has a PhD in Natural Sciences and came to Ireland in 1998 to work as a researcher at the National University in Ireland, Galway. She worked for over ten years as technical support within the area of Biomedical and Pharmacological Research and is now Senior Technical Officer within the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences at the University of Galway. As a horse lover, Silke was looking for alternative health methods to support her Connemara pony George and came across Applied Zoopharmacognosy ❤ After completing the Foundation and Masterclass Levels with Whitethorn Equine Health she became very interested in researching more about the mechanisms of how herbs help the body to heal. A Big Welcome on board to Silke!🙏🙏🙏  Study Equine Pharmacognosy with the American University Emirates Whitethorn Equine Health are very honoured and indeed humbled to be approached to teach Equine Zoopharmacognosy to students at the American University Emirates in Dubai.
The University approached us late last year and we have been working tirelessly behind the scenes to create course content which is part of a wider program of Equine Complementary Therapies. This is the first time that Applied Zoopharmacognosy has ever been on a University curriculum in the world and the Team at Whitethorn Equine Health are incredibly proud to be the first to represent this modality at such an esteemed establisment. Gratitude to all of you - our supporters, our colleagues within the industry, our clients. And most of all to the Plants and Horses - our greatest teachers! For any that may wish to explore further click on the following link: Study Equine Pharmacognosy at UAE |
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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
December 2025
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