Thousands of years ago around the end of the last ice age, horses were the size of dogs, they also lived in forests and mainly survived off of what was on the forest floor from leaves, to bark and even to fruit. Over time they evolved and got pushed out of the forests into the grasslands and developed the need for speed as out on the grasslands were predators. Eventually humans decided to domesticate them and put saddles and carts on their backs, build cities, fight in wars, farm the land and move us from one location to another. Now they are used for sport and lesiure. Plus world wide horses and donkey are still used as working animals today often neglected and miss treated.
What is it
This follows the process of zoopharmacology (zoo – animal), (pharma – medicine/medical with this part of the word is the prefix/suffix of the pharmacy which is the place you get medicine from) (ology – this means knowledge) so this word basically means animal knows it’s medicine. Animals do know there medicine they inhabit a natural method of medicating themselves this is known as self-medication and they do this through a behaviour known as self-selection where an animal for example a horse selecting specific plants, tree browse, herb, flower and or other earthly materials such as clay or honey (in the wild there are species of bees that don’t sting and so therefore horses are able to go and stick there muzzles in a bee hive and consume honey).
For this treatment I will offer your horse a selection of plant material and aromatic things like essential oils and hydrosols, I also offer the horses a range of herb infused oils which horses love and benefit massively from, the plant material selection will very due to the time of year and what is available in my area that I am foraging in. I will bring things like fruit and different types of grass powders for your horse or donkey to try. Not every horse will consume everything and with the aromatics if your horses don’t appear interested and are standing in the back corner of the stable, they might well be interested because the horses sense of smell is ten thousand times stronger than us humans and sometimes the aromas can trigger or bring up something for the horse that may be difficult for them to process and only sometimes they may share something with me to share to the guardian.
Why would your horse benefit from my treatments?
- Reduces stress and boredom
- Encourages natural foraging behaviours
- Builds confidence and curiosity
- Supports emotional regulation and relaxation
- Deepens trust between horse and human
- To give them an experience like no other.
- To give them the freedom of speech, to be heard and to voice opinions.
- To give them choice over what they need/want to eat or smell.
- To give them an opportunity to let go of things that no longer serve them.
- To give them a chance to tell their story.
- To give them a moment to relax and trust.
- To help them heal/recover from injury.
- To help them through tough changes in life like yard moves, new herd members and people, transitions like weaning and when the start preparing for their ridden or driven careers.
What a session might include
- I will tart off with the aromatherapies using the hydrofoils and essential oils as this will help them to open up to me and to trust me.
- Then I will offer them culinary oils infused with herbs for abit of enrichment if they chose to consume the oils they will lick them.
- Then depending of the time of the year I will offer them fresh herbage and tree browse. I will also have a selection of dried herbage with me to offer to them in the winter months when the hedgerow is less abundant. \
- Then I will have a selection of grasses to offer them.
- Then I will finish with some honeys and fruits
- along the way I will educate you on the nutritional value and health benefits of everything I use with your horsel.
A different kind of “work”
There’s no pressure, no agenda, and no “tasks to complete”. Just space for your horse to explore, express, and regulate in their own time.
For horses who need more than exercise—they need experience.
EMH Therapy 