Carly is delighted to have been asked to represent the Equine Zoopharmacognosy Industry at the Equine Touch UK Conference in October. She will give a talk on how and why horses self-medicate on herbs and essential oils, along with looking at Case studies of horses that have benefited from this modality. Animal self-medication (or Applied Zoopharmacognosy) compliments bodywork modalities such as Equine Touch, Physiotherapy, Chiropractic, and Shiatsu. Extracts are offered during a body work session in order to support the releasing process. For example, Yarrow, Sweet Marjoram and Peppermint essential oils are known muscle relaxants and are often selected whilst bodywork is in progress. Black Pepper is also often selected for sore muscles whilst Rose otto is known to reduce adrenalin and can support the horse in letting go during a session. Carly is  looking forward to spreading the word  further and continuing to inspire Body workers on the benefits of Equine self-medication at this years Equine Touch Conference! A big 'Thank you' to all at Equine Touch Uk for this fine opportunity!

We are delighted to give a big Welcome to Tilly and Greta to Whitethorn Farm. They are joining the Team as part of our commitment to the non-use of herbicides or pesticides which we have never used here at Whitethorn Farm. They are primarily in charge of weed control and are great candidates for our interspecies grazing programme! They are experts in self-selection and the first extract that Greta (brown goat - British Alpine) selected was Arnica, whereupon the stiffness in her gait completely disappeared. Tilly's initial selection (the white Saanen Goat) was Yarrow essential oil (ingested) and later on Garlic and Clove essential oil (possibly for worms). At one point we noticed Greta itching and so offered  Neem powder. She requested a topical application and the itching ceased. She also inhaled Neem oil but did not choose to ingest. They both enjoy seaweed and rosehips every day and now as the weather is getting colder, some cereal. An interesting behaviour with goats, is that when they select an oil, they often request a topical application between their horns on their poll by lowering their head to the bottle. The picture above is  of them shortly after they arrived. They are now enjoying rest, recuperation and retirement after a very productive life producing many kids and much milk.  See below for more recent pictures of them - a lot done but more to do! They are in their senior years but great characters and a huge addition to the farm. We love them!

At last weeks online Canine Level 1 Zoopharmacognosy workshop we worked with Pippi. Pippi, as you can see,  is a beautiful very friendly 3yr old Otter hound and as a dog is rather anxious and always on alert. Pippi selected analgesics which was surprising as she showed no obvious symptoms of pain. On the first day she selected Cornflower Floral Water, Rose Floral Water, Wintergreen essential oil, St John's wort macerate, Sandalwood essential oil and then promptly went to process at the other end of the room. On the next day she selected similarly (analgesics) but had less St John's wort than the previous day and added Comfrey macerate to her selection as well as Arnica Co2. She processed a lot more deeply on the second day with deep leg and body twitching. Izzy intends to continue offering at home and we look forward to hearing how she reduces her intake of analgesics as the healing progresses. She was a model demo dog and we are very grateful to Izzy for bringing Pippi along!
Please note: Aromatherapy oils are not suitable for the zoopharmacognosy approach. All our extracts are specifically sourced for the self-selection method.