I thought some may be interested in a current case of a horse whose home is on the side of the highest mountain in Ireland - Croagh Patrick. Ben was purchased by Marie from a dealer and as a 16.3 ex-hunter he was in bad shape. Unfortunately along with physical scars he is also an obsessive wind sucker and Marie has had great difficulty keeping any weight on him, even though she gives him as much feed as he can possibly eat. It has got so bad that it has come to the point that she winces when she takes his rug off dreading the sight. When I first went to visit, the stables were located up high in the mountains with fantastic views but wind that would blow all cobwebs out of existence. At the same time whilst the farm had no electric, running water or sanitation - just a turf fire to boil a kettle on, it had a real Irish charm.
When I brought my kit out from the car, I was practically mugged by horses that seem to come out of nowhere, so I retreated quickly into a corner of a stable to work with Ben. There was nothing he wouldn’t eat, he was so desperate to find what he needed to gain relief. Whilst he had a bit of everything, he showed the most interest in a highly nutritional Barley Grass powder (high in magnesium and other minerals), Comfrey Macerate (comfrey leaves macerated in sunflower oil for inflammation) plus peppermint essential oil (for digestion).I left the chosen plant extracts that he had selected with Marie to give him when he wanted.
A few days later Marie emailed with some good news. She said that whilst the wind sucking had not fully abated Ben had started grazing away from the outskirts of the field (where he had used the posts to facilitate his obsession with wind sucking) and had now started to move into the middle of the field to graze. She also said that he had started to look for affection which he hadn’t done previously. So all in all Ben had done well in making a start in his long journey back to health. And I had a pretty awesome cup of tea that only a turf fire can make -with views across the West of Ireland that just cannot be matched.
Next week I shall report on the next session where Ben took another giant leap on the way to regaining health.
Until then, have a great week.
Carly
