INTEGRATIVE CARE
The slow feeding
MOVEMENT
TIPS TO GET YOU STARTED
FEEDING FOR HORMONAL
balance
CROSS WATER WITH
CONFIDENCE!
Treat allergies with
NAET
OPERATION
Gelding
The Canadian Horse
CAN WE SAVE
NORTH AMERICA’S “OLDEST BREED”?
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EquineWellnessMagazine.com Equine Wellness 1
Conte 20 10 FEATURES 10 FEEDING FOR
26 NAET FOR
What and how you feed your horse can either increase or decrease his stress levels, and affect how his body functions.
Nambudiprad’s Allergy Elimination Technique could be what you’re looking for to alleviate your horse’s allergy symptoms.
HORMONAL BALANCE
14 HEALTHY LAND,
HEALTHY HORSES - PART 1
A sustainable approach to your equine lifestyle.
16 OPERATION GELDING
Through this innovative program, the Unwanted Horse Coalition gives groups a way to host low-cost gelding clinics and help prevent the problem of unwanted horses.
20 THE CANADIAN HORSE: NORTH AMERICA’S “OLDEST BREED” IS ON THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION
In the same year the Canadian Horse celebrates its 350th anniversary, it also finds itself listed as critical by The Livestock Conservancy. Find out why this breed is worth saving, and how to help.
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Equine Wellness
HIS ALLERGIES
28 CORRECTIVE
46 HELP HIM
CROSS WATER WITH CONFIDENCE
Help your horse navigate water obstacles with ease by increasing his trust in you, and preparing for positive progress.
TRIMMING IN FOALS
50 LONG
36 THE SLOW
Trailering long distances can be stressful for horses and people alike – learn how to keep your horse healthy and be prepared for any emergencies along the way.
Sooner is better than later.
FEEDING MOVEMENT
It’s rapidly gaining in popularity, and no wonder. These tips will get you started and help you select the best slow feeder method for your horses.
42 SAYING GOODBYE
Acupressure for equine hospice and grief care.
DISTANCE HAULING
57 HOW’S YOUR RIDING PROGRESS?
Are you feeling stuck? Here are some tips to help you become a better student, and move forward with your riding.
nts 46
14 COLUMNS
DEPARTMENTS 6 Editorial
8 Neighborhood news 24 Green acres
23 Product picks
25 Business profile:
31 Special advertising feature
The Bare Hoof School
40 Equine Wellness resource guide
32 It’s elemental!
45 Heads up
33 Business profile:
53 DVD review
SciencePure Nutraceuticals Inc.
53 Social media corner
34 Holistic veterinary Q&A
60 Marketplace
54 To the rescue
61 Classifieds
56 Homeopathic column
62 Events
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5
NAET
for his al lergies
Nambudiprad’s Allergy Elimination Technique could be what you’re looking for to alleviate your horse’s allergy symptoms. By Donna Kelleher, DVM
Y
ou may have heard of NAET, but don’t know much about it or how it works. Short for Nambudiprad’s Allergy Elimination Technique, it’s an energetic method of identifying and treating individual allergens with the combined use of chiropractic and acupuncture. The chiropractic involved with NAET is not standard chiropractic and does not diagnose or fix subluxations – rather, it involves the energetic opening of spinal segments.
I use NAET as part of a holistic program, and often achieve fast results with additional balancing herbal therapies. Horses are very responsive to this approach. Relief often occurs within a few months, and sometimes with just a few treatments, depending on the duration of symptoms and the age of the animal. The best time to address seasonal allergies to grasses or insects is in the winter, in order to be preventative. For example, if you have a horse with increasing symptoms during every summer’s rush of allergens, why not think ahead and prevent them a few months sooner?
Learning, understanding and using NAET effectively takes time to cultivate. It’s considered by some as fringe, or even more unusual than other more accepted forms of holistic medicine (such as acupuncture, chiropractic, herbal therapy and homeopathy). Therefore, very few practitioners utilize it for animals. I have found it invaluable in treating the exponentially growing tidal wave of food and inhalant allergies.
IDENTIFYING THE ALLERGEN
AN INTEGRATIVE APPROACH TO ALLERGIES In horses, both food allergies and inhalant or contact allergies can cause hives and extreme pruritus or itching. We tend to think these symptoms are an insect bite reaction, for example from culicoides or oncocerca (no-see-ums) as well as mosquitoes and other biting insects. While this is indeed often part of the problem, and NAET certainly helps identify the culprits, the horse’s immune system has to be already in a compromised or weakened state in order to be so highly reactive. Food allergies can also give rise to non-seasonal or year-round hives. Alterative and allergy-clearing herbs like burdock root, dandelion root, yellow dock root and nettle leaf, as well as bioflavinoidrich foods and supplements (quercitin, bromelain, rutin, vitamin C) can help prevent the release of excess histamine. Regular medicated shampoo or those with essential oils can be very helpful in protecting against secondary bacterial or yeast infections as well as repelling insects. 26
Equine Wellness
When using NAET, the allergen identification process is performed through muscle testing, but when working with animals (or human infants) a surrogate is used. The surrogate is most often the horse’s guardian. During the allergen identification process, the surrogate holds a small glass vial of an allergen sample that consists of water and the allergen’s energetic vibration, which is more or less like its signature. Muscle testing is performed while the surrogate holds the vial anywhere on the horse’s skin with one hand, and extends his or her free arm towards the practitioner. The surrogate is asked to keep the arm extended as the practitioner gently tries to push the arm down, and to exert the same upward force the practitioner is using. If the surrogate’s arm becomes weak under the gentle downward pressure, this indicates sensitivity to the allergen contained within that particular vial. This sequence is repeated with several different vials of individual allergens. Typical allergens tested might include different types of hay, grass, grain or pellets, vitamins or herbs, bedding, and a vast array of insects.
THE ALLERGEN CLEARING PROCESS During the allergen treatment or clearing process, the glass vial containing the identified allergen is secured to make tight contact with the horse’s skin. The practitioner then uses a massage tool or activator along the spine of the animal, gently tapping the spinal nerve segments along each side of the spine.
Mick the Mustang Mick was a two-year-old Mustang adopted from the BLM. One day in July, he woke up with hives – his entire body swollen from head to toe. He also had fluid in his ears and his muzzle was so swollen he had trouble eating. Along with homeopathic Apis and herbs to help with Mick’s acute symptoms, I used NAET to treat his allergy, which we determined was to mosquitos and no-see-ums. Keep in mind that once acute symptoms are cleared, there’s a danger of chronic recurrence to certain allergens, but NAET is great for preventing this. Using steroids or antihistamines does not teach the body how to “self heal”. NAET and other holistic approaches teach the body that the pathway to homeostasis can be followed and memorized in case of a later disruption. If you don’t have a holistic veterinarian skilled in acupuncture, you can use Western medicine to quell a horse’s acute symptoms. But it’s very important to understand that without help, the body will often recreate the symptoms if you do not work on prevention. NAET is a wonderful tool for this.
Afterwards, acupuncture or acupressure is used to open the immune gates or immune points. Stimulating points like Spleen 6, Liver 3, Large Intestine 11, Large Intestine 4, and sometimes Heart 7 can eliminate allergens. Dr. Nambudiprad chose these immune points because of their long-term use in Chinese medicine, and because she realized treatments would not hold unless the animal’s root core or immune system could be accessed in a reliable way. These points are all located on the legs, aside from LI 11, which is below the knee or hock joints. Most horses allow needling of these points, but if that isn’t an option, acupressure or gentle clockwise circles for 30 seconds per point can be just as long-lasting. Sometimes animals with skin inflammation have particularly reactive points at first, and will not allow needling. But after improvement, the skin is cooler to the touch and less inflamed, and the horse allows needling. Donna Kelleher, DVM graduated from Washington State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. During her senior year at WSU, following an internship with Dr. Allen Schoen, she received the Grady Young Scholarship for the International Veterinary Acupuncture Society course. In 1997, she was certified in veterinary chiropractic through the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association. In 1998 she began training in herbal medicine through the American Herbalist Guild and focused her studies on the use of Western herbs. In 2000 Dr. Donna began receiving NAET twice a week to identify and clear countless individual allergens. The experience led her to take the NAET course and become certified. Wholepetvet.com
Equine Wellness
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