A Holistic Approach to Equine Influenza   

As a Naturopath and horse owner myself, I thought this information and these few simple procedures may have benefit.

Viruses and bacteria are nature's way of ensuring survival of the fittest, so with a little understanding of their purpose we may be able to dispel some fears surrounding them.

The nature of Viruses and Bacteria is that they are opportunistic, so by following a common sense approach we are able to limit their "opportunity" to invade the host.

Invasion only happens when the host is “susceptible”; that is the “energy body” is somehow diminished. For both horses and people this susceptibility can be physical, emotional/mental or at the level of spirit/will.

Being healthy is not always determined at the level of the physical body (for example if we are forced to do something we really hate doing for a prolonged period of time our “spirit” will be depleted thereby affecting our energy/immune system)

Equine flu, similar to Bird flu is more common where the animals and birds are housed not in keeping with how nature intended. Remember the “biological systems” of the horse have remained the same for thousands of years but our expectations and demands on the horse have increased dramatically.

A healthy, positive mind free of stress is probably the most important factor for wellbeing not only for humans but also our animal friends, along with making sure your horse's environment is kept as natural as possible. Also make sure your horse is given stress free exercise, ideally has other horses for company, plenty of fresh water and that his/her paddock is kept clean.

A spell of warm whether following rain is a breeding ground for new viruses so I would also recommend giving each horse half to 3/4 bulb of fresh chopped garlic together with about 1 cubic inch of ginger (these can be processed together and mixed with nightly feeds) for about 3 days (no longer than 5 days at a time). Spring is the perfect time to take your horse our walking to give him/her access to grasses and weeds (herbs) not available in the paddock.

You horse is a herbivore and instinctively picks what he/she needs not only for food but also for medicinal purposes (as a student I conducted my Herbal research on these observations and was amazed at the healing properties of the "weeds" my horse chose). I have also seen some amazing medical recoveries by horses merely given access to these local weeds.

After many years of observation, research and study I now know that to regain health it can be the simple changes we make that have the greatest impact. The Holistic approach means that these “simple” changes can be something practical that we administer on the physical level or changes made by our approach, attitude or our “intention” with our horse. The holistic approach also means that when we have a problem we are open to any or all of these factors potentially being involved.

We are, at present unable to “go out” with our horses therefore it might be timely to explore an inward journey with our horses; to fine tune our “connection” with our horse and balance body/mind/spirit or………… maybe give them some time off just to be horses. This holistic service evaluates the “health” of the horse on the 3 levels of body mind spirit.

Traditional medicine primarily treats the physical symptoms; which of course is essential and particularly important in acute or life threatening situations however it does not always present the whole picture and give a holistic perspective in many other cases of dis-ease.

A holistic Practitioner is of the view that “disease” can often manifest at the physical level if the “higher” energetic levels are depleted. Meaning, if we take into account the emotional, mental and spiritual “dis-ease” as well we can often more successfully circumvent any immediate and future problems.

Example….over the years of practising holistic medicine I would dose up with garlic if I ever experienced early flu symptoms, then as I understood holistic principals further I would, when presented with these same symptoms ask myself  “what thoughts/ feeling or events have occurred recently to deplete my system?”  Then I saw that as I worked through and resolved these issues in some way I strengthened my “core energy” and no flu symptoms ever appeared.

We can not only do this for ourselves but we can also work at this level with our horse’s health and wellbeing. We can often circumvent illness by an understanding of and a remedying of the deeper causes of a problem.

The horse is an extremely sensitive animal and it has been my experience that many horses have been conditioned to “hide” or internalize symptoms of stress from their owner.

After a thorough assessment (during a Holistic Consultations) it allows the Holistequine Practitioner to intuit any of these stress factors which might be depleting the animals system resulting in a lowering of the immune status

Stress in horses as in humans is unique to each individual AND it can originate from any of the levels of body mind and spirit……...stress is “any factor that upsets the homeostasis of the body”. It is the one single factor that will lower our immune system allowing for a virus or bacteria to invade the host.