When called to help an animal it is so wonderful to see their interest immediately sparked by the scents of the oils, only yesterday a very irritable mare couldn't get enough of vanilla oil, an essential oil known for it's therapeutic effects with irritable animals. The mare didn't know that's what it was for, just recognised that the scent and taste of this oil made her feel better. Generally, we do not give enough credibility to animals for experiencing emotions, but everybody who is close to horses knows just how emotional they are. They experience jealousy, fear, joy, grief, anger just like the rest of us, though they can't express it to us as easily as we can.

I work very much with the emotional aspect of an animal, as just like us, emotion can be the root cause of any illness or dis-ease that has set in. Some incident that may not cause us any worry may have a significant effect on a horse, we can rationalise it in our world, for a horse it may not have that ability. Each time I work with horses and indeed any other animal, they always select an oil that primarily helps an emotion as part of the total remedy. I've watched horses faces change as tension drops away, when the essential oil has helped them release a long buried emotion, or stood by with their owner as they have remembered past abuse and have hid in the corner of their stable before dropping into a deep sleep, letting sleep heal their emotional scars.

Our emotions work very closely with our immune system and when that becomes overloaded, then illnesses and ailments set in. Many common equine ailments; COPD, Laminitis, brittle hooves, Mudfever, Rainscald, Sweet-itch as examples all respond exceptionally well to essential oils. A pony with a typical case of chronic COPD wanted a powerful emotional oil before taking the usual essential oils offered for self-selection in COPD cases. With a typical case of COPD the following oils are usually selected by the animal, garlic to strengthen the immune system, peppermint or spearmint which have anti-inflammatory properties but also open the airways, great mugwort a powerful anti-histamine and sandalwood for its soothing properties with respiratory infections. As the self-medication is always on an individual basis, the horse may choose to inhale some but with others he may want to lick. This in itself is fascinating as with some he'll lick them with the back of his tongue; absorbing them into his blood stream quickly, with others he may take them from the top of his tongue to take them into his digestive system.

With this particular pony the wheezing had noticeably eased by the time I left and during the harvesting which started a couple of weeks later and, had in the past caused significant discomfort, there were no lapses.

The other a chronic Mudfever sufferer, who was quite a spooky horse was quickly helped by strengthening his immune system by offering him essential oils such as vetiver or violet leaf for inhalation, which is known for helping spooking and the application of a gel with oils known as powerful remedies for Mudfever. In a couple of days, the Mudfever was gone and the skin was quickly healing and the horse was much more confident and forward going. Mudfever can always be a torment to both horse and owner, however in laboratory trials garlic oil outshone the other remedies trialled. Garlic oil on it's own is a very powerful antimicrobial and antibacterial, however it should never be applied directly to the skin as it may cause a severe skin irritation but always blended with other essential oils to avoid this possibility. Therapists will offer other essential oils for the horse to select such as yarrow for its anti-inflammatory and emotional release properties, german chamomile for its anti-inflammatory, anti-histamine and soothing properties for raw, cracked skin, roman chamomile for skin disorders and especially those with an anxious disposition and lavender which will stimulation new tissue growth and is analgesic. The selected oils are then blended in a gel which is both cooling and soothing and applied to the affected area and where a horse has demonstrated a strong interest in a particular oil this is made available to him for inhalation or ingestion. This combined approach then strengthens the immune system by helping the horse emotionally and physically helps the body deal with the mite invasion.

Some of my more challenging clients have horses that are perfectly healthy but may lack confidence or are difficult characters. The essential oils can help and it also bring the owner or carer much closer to the horse concerned, as the owner is offering the horse something to smell or taste, if they choose, which makes them feel infinitely better. There have been many remarkable instances where I've helping a physical ailment but there have been profound emotional changes as well. A horse with sarcoids was exceptionally aggressive with other horses and would lash out as well as refuse to load into a horse box. I was helping the horse heal his sarcoid, but the owner took him to a horse show a week into the aromatic therapy and noticed how much calmer he was, not lashing out once and then a couple of weeks later he calmly loaded into his box without any of the usual resistance he normally insisted on! Another example is of a young mare that was quite bolshy and spooky and whilst she took a while to become interested in the oils and aromatics being offered to her, when she did she became a much calmer and more confident horse over a couple of weeks.