June 2015

Case study –Topper, his itchy legs and the 'onion layer' factor !

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 equalled by his passion for banging his legs on

A Barley Grass smile!

the ground to relieve his itchy legs. I suspected that his extensive feathers hid a colony of mites as is often the case for horses that are kept in the vicinity of chickens.  With this in mind, as part of an initial session I offered him Neem oil  – the reaction was instant and extreme. He repetitively banged his feet in turn onto the matted stable floor in such a manner that can only be described as similar to a pneumatic drill on turbo setting. It was so fast and hard as he worked round on each leg that I was feared that he would dislodge his shoes or worse still cause internal damage. It was however, over within a minute.  After that episode, he stopped itching for a couple of weeks and then restarted again. Thinking that remaining eggs may have hatched,  I offered the Neem again and whilst he took a few inhalations here was no hint of the extreme pounding that he’d exhibited earlier. The itching subsided for a while but then in the night as I lay in bed I could hear the hoof-pounding again. The following morning I offered the Neem again – no interest whatsoever. So back to the drawing board and out comes the kit again....

To cut a long story short, during the following session the most popular oil selected by Topper  was Rose Otto  and Neroli. Rose is often selected by horses that are holding anger and emotional wounds. Neroli is often selected by horses that are holding grief and loss. Topper inhaled both readily and then indicated by means of his body language that he wanted the Neroli applied between his back legs – which I did. As I applied the oil he went very still, his head lowered, his eyes became still and soft and processed. After that session he stopped banging his legs and upon returning home to Island View riding stables the proprietor remarked the same. 

This case reminded me of the ‘onion concept’ in helping animals (and people!) restore health. It is often my experience that there are layers to work through before true healing occurs. In Toppers case the mites were really a secondary symptom to what was an energy drain in the area resulting in a reduced immunity thus enabling the mites to thrive. No-one other than Topper can say what was going on in his head - what he’s been through that would result in an energy drain in his legs. We can only make a tentative guess of the journey he has been on, but we can be honoured to have been part of it for a very short while.