All horses need to be active to stay healthy and sometimes the activity can create soreness (just like for us peeps!).
There are many plants with properties to help our horses (and ourselves) ease pain and promote deep healing.
Simple essential oil of peppermint mixed with an equal amount of olive oil and rubbed into sore muscles will reduce pain quickly. Peppermint is not for pregnant or lactating beings or the very young.
Feeding specific herbs, usually a small palm full of the dry plant, for specific healing can jump start the equine metabolism into the restoration of health and soundness.
White Willow Bark is "Nature's aspirin" with equally effective anti-inflammatory and pain relieving properties and the bonus of containing stomach soothing properties. I use it for horses who are sore or have swellings and feed 2 tablespoons of the powdered herb per 1,000 pounds of the horse's weight, once or even twice a day.
For old, set injuries, I add Turmeric Root powder, 1 to 2 tablespoons per 1,000 pounds. Turmeric can be fed forever, it also has anti-tumor, skin healing and circulatory benefits.
When a horse has sore muscles, a Vitamin E supplement can help and a daily half to one ounce of milk of magnesia can supply needed magnesium for muscle repair.
One important aspect of soundness is hoof health and the herbs Rose Hips and Sea Vegetables (like Kelp) will build healthy hoof structure. The bare hoof is also, in most cases, a more sound foundation for the simple, single digits that horses stand and walk upon! The metal horseshoe does not allow flexible expansion of the hoof as nature intended.
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What I found inspiring and uplifting from the one night and one day I spent with them was the sense of compassion for each other, the horses and all the people they were helping and meeting. I was left feeling like I could do anything I decided to do. I needed to meet these beloved beings!
