Horse lessons learned on an Elephant Stand

During one of our advanced equine massage classes over the 2010 winter, we took a break from the usual trigger points and Pranic Healing to explore the trail course that had been set up for the Ranch Versatility Competition that had been held the previous day. The course included an "elephant stand"- a raised platform that is just big enough for a horse to stand on. One of the horses I worked with that day was Shekhinah. Shekhinah is a Danish Warmblood and Ferronato’s show and demo horse.

When we got to the elephant stand, Shekhinah would willingly step up with her front legs, but wanted to step the front legs down when stepping the hind legs onto the platform. The idea is to get all four legs on the stand, so after asking Shekhinah a few times with the same result, I asked Ferronato for assistance. Shekhinah stepped all four legs on the stand for Ferronato. As she stepped down, Ferronato told me to watch her hips and low back as Shekinah got down off the stand. It was easy to see that she was very tight and stiff in the area as she stepped down. At Ferronato's suggestion, I took Shekhinah aside and spent 10 minutes (or less) massaging her lower back and hips with a combination of trigger point and myofascial release. We then returned to the elephant stand where she proceeded to step up with all four feet on my first request A lightbulb went off in my head- it wasn't a behavior or training issue behind her unwillingness to get on the stand with all four legs in the beginning- it's that it was physically difficult and painful for her to execute the maneuver because of the tension in her body. I began to wonder, “How many ‘training’ issues are really bodywork issues?” It seemed that Shekhinah really benefited physically from the massage, but it also increased our understanding of one another for me to acknowledge and address that she is a physical being with a body that has physical limitations.

Nicole Sulick

Dandelions: King of the Herbs!

For our new section, “Herb of the Week”, I thought it might be nice to tweak our readers just a little in their thinking by starting off with herbs that have a history of being mistaken for a weed. One of the things that continues to both delight and frustrate me on my own herbal education is how so many of the really good things my horses needed for enhanced health have been literally right in front of me the whole time! Over the years I have put a great deal of time into pasture maintenance and now it seems the weeds I used to pull out of the fields in my younger years are the same herbs that I am putting into them now.

Few herbs do as much, or are as underappreciated, as the Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale). Every part of this herb is healing and nutritious. The flowers provide mild pain relief, the leaves are an excellent diuretic, and the roots are a wonderful liver tonifier which also provides support to the gallbladder. This herb is often a first choice to bring an out of balance system back online, as it helps the body assimilate nutrition more effectively and eliminate wastes, which is sometimes all a body needs to right itself.

Dandelions are everywhere and because they have been treated like a weed, i.e. sprayed with noxious chemicals, one needs to be careful about harvesting. Herbs are best if they are fresh and organic, so if you don’t know for certain that your Dandelions are clean, move on to some you do. Also don’t be fooled by imposters. A Dandelion’s leaf has sharp tooth-like appearance (hence the name, which in French means ‘lion’s tooth’) and its leaf is the texture you would expect to find in a salad at a nice restaurant. The false Dandelion, also known as “prickly lettuce”, has rounded leaves, with a furry, prickly feel to them, (something you would definitely send back if it came with a nice meal). It does not possess the healing properties of the Dandelion.

This herb we feed fresh to all our horses. In the spring especially we dig it out of the yard, rinse off the roots and feed it by the fistfuls. In the past we have had working students dig up a big bag of dandelions and then store them in the fridge, so that we can feed Dandelions to Nehalem with every meal. Dandelions were one of the first herbs we tried to get Nehalem to eat that she refused, and like Cleavers (the other herb Nehalem originally boycotted) now she can’t get enough Dandelions, literally we have started collecting seeds. When Dandelions around the home site go to seed we encourage the kids to pick them, making wishes by blowing them all over the yard. We know what we wish for, more Dandelions!

A fun, healthy way to experience Dandelions is in the spring (the leaves are the least bitter this time of year) pick some leaves off of your more robust plants (that have not been exposed to chemicals) and mix them in with your salad at a dinner party. See if your guests can identify the tasty addition to their normal greens.

Introduction to Equine Massage Class

Introduction to Equine Massage (aka Equine Massage 101) is one of our most popular classes. The goal of the class is to provide students with an introduction about what massage is and how it can benefit themselves and their horses. Each class is designed to maximize and retain learning of the material by utilizing the three main learning styles visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.

Each class begins with a classroom component, in which hand-outs are given detailing what is covered in the up-coming class. During this time questions about homework, previous classes or general life experience are answered. Once students have had time to review the class material and had any questions answered the class moves into the Hands On phase, where horses participating in class are moved allowing everyone to study the various gaits of the horse. Students are taught insights into injury prevention by learning how to visually identify problems in equine movement and locate its most likely point of origin with Gait Analysis. To further integrate motion and movement of the horse, students explore and confirm with touch what they have just seen with their eyes. The class then practices the material in the hand-outs while under supervision of the instructor. In each class, students get the opportunity to see and touch a variety of different horses with different massage needs, muscle types and previous injuries. Class ends with another Q&A period, while watching the instructor provide professional massage to a horse utilizing techniques practiced in class as well as ones that will be taught in future classes.

In this class students can expect to learn: safety, correct posture when giving a massage, basic physiology and anatomy of the horse, gait analysis, receive exposure to a wide variety of different massage styles and the ability to practice those techniques on a number of different horses and ponies, be introduced to emergency massage, learn to identify basic problem areas and problem behaviors that lead to the most common causes of injuries in horses, and develop a new way to communicate and enhance their relationship with horses.

Cleavers

Cleavers (Galium aparine) are the first herb we tend to teach people how to identify on Herb Walks since they have a sticky, rough texture that sets them apart from other plants. Cleavers tend to like shady wooded areas that are moist or near water. They are a wonderfully useful herb that has been mistaken by most of us as a weed, due to their seeds (those irritating balls that get stuck to your socks and pants which must be pulled off by hand before throwing in the laundry).

Internally, Cleavers are a mild, subtle herb that is best known for assisting the lymphatic system. Cleavers are an excellent blood purifier, assisting the body in removing waste products. They are also known for speeding up the healing of gastric ulcers, and relieving inflammation of the upper digestive and urinary tracts.

When feeding Cleavers, fresh is the way to go. It is important to harvest Cleavers prior to flowering; once you see the white flowers the plant has lost much of its potency. Last year we were blessed to have Cleavers growing all over the trail course at Whispering Meadows Equestrian Center, where our horses were boarded. Working students were taught to identify the herb, and as part of the daily feeding routine students went into the trail course and gathered up arm-loads of Cleavers, passing them out among our horses as they walked down the aisle way. It was interesting to see how the different horses responded. Some of the horses couldn’t get enough, and students had to make multiple trips, while a couple wanted none at all or only a few of bites. This is one of the many benefits to feeding herbs fresh, as most horses know intuitively how much they need of an herb and that amount can change daily. Since Cleavers have a rather short life cycle making Cleavers Vinegar (see recipe below) while the plant is at its most potent level is an excellent way to insure you have some on hand for the year.

We often refer to Tipping Points in a horse’s health. If a disease, such as cancer, has taken over the body, the horse will reject the things that would make the body healthier. When the horse’s body is healing and on the mend, they start to crave things that are good for them and this is the Tipping Point. Our mare Nehalem’s experience with Cleavers is an excellent example of this phenomena. When Nehalem first came to 3TF, she was severely underweight and the lymphoma had taken over much of her body. At the time we didn’t know it was cancer. Whenever a horse comes to us, the first thing we do is a detox and to slowly start to change the horse’s nutrition to something more suitable for the individual needs of that horse. I remember trying and trying to get Nehalem to eat Cleavers (as well as Dandelions) when I first got her and she just refused, while all the other horses around her were more than happy to eat her share. It was a couple years before Nehalem reached her Tipping Point and finally started to crave herbs and supplements that were good for her. Now Nehalem eats armloads of Cleavers; she can’t seem to get enough! We have high hopes that this season we will be able to collect enough Cleavers to last for the entire year and get rid of the last of Nehalem’s lymphoma.

Recipe for Cleavers Vinegar:

Lightly pack a clean, sterilized canning jar with cleavers (several handfuls to a quart jar), and fill the jar with cider vinegar (unpasteurized and organic vinegar is best!) Leave the jar for 3 weeks, shaking occasionally. After the herbs have steeped, strain your vinegar into another sterilized jar for storage.

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Answers About Lymphoma

We asked some questions this week on our Facebook page about equine lymphoma. “At what age does equine lymphoma typically strike? Which sex is more likely to get lymphoma? How long does a horse with lymphoma usually live after diagnosis?”

To answer: lymphoma usually strikes between the ages of 5 and 7. It’s more common in mares, and typically the horse will die within a year of diagnosis. In lymphoma, some lymphoid cells become cancerous, and grow in an uncontrolled manner. It typically includes a large amount of swelling at the tumor site, as the lymphatic fluid collects in the area. Equine lymphoma is not contagious, nor is it heritable.

Nehalem is typical in that she is a mare, and her lymphoma struck at approximately age 5. Those of you who have met her or seen her recent pictures are well aware of how much swelling she has experienced in her lower jaw, at the tumor site.

However, unlike most horses, she has lived with it for over 6 years, and is now stronger and healthier than at any time since her diagnosis!

Our treatment protocols for her include a broad range of massage and healing techniques, dietary supplements, and a specially designed blend of herbs, created for her by Heather Nic an Fhleisdeir of Mrs. Thompson’s Herbs, in Eugene.

One of the biggest hurdles we've faced in trying to heal Nehalem's cancer is that for optimal healing she needs to stay on her herbs consistently. Given the current economy and the need to provide for the other rescued horses, we sometimes have to reduce the extra supplements she receives. In order to help us keep her on her herbs consistently, Heather has generously helped us organize a fundraiser for Nehalem, so that we can purchase a 6 month supply of all of her herbs in advance.

If you would like to help by making a contribution toward her herbal treatments, you may donate through our PayPal account or send a check (links and address are in our sidebar) or contact Heather at(541)686-6136 in order to help us purchase herbs through her directly. As a 501c3 non-profit, donations made to Three Treasures Farms are tax deductible as allowed by law.

Please join us over the next few weeks, as we share some stories and pictures about Nehalem’s life, and explain some of our healing techniques, as well as profiling all of the herbs that we use for her. We look forward to sharing more about this mare and her fascinating history!