Big Mama Aude can barely put weight on her front left hoof. Her heel is HOT to the touch and it is probably an infection/abscess in the hoof. But is illness, injury, or disease JUST a physical phenomena?
And if the mind/body/spirit are ONE, then what wisdom is carried within the physical malfunction? What if the soul is using the body as a vehicle to deliver a message to us…? If our horse is using physical illness or injury to carry or express messages meant for us, then they cannot release the imbalance until we receive the message. This is what happened with Aude. She had an important message to give my husband Ian and I, about our youngest son going to England to pursue his soccer dream. After we received her insightful and important message, the physical remedy below helped her heal very quickly – which she could, now that her message had been acknowledged and received.
I’d never had a horse with a hoof abscess before, so I had to do some research; soaking in a bucket of medicine, applying medicinal compresses and wrapping the entire foot, puncturing the sole to drain the infection/fluid – yikes! I knew none of those treatments would be tolerated by Aude, nor would they work in our environment – aside from any considerations of efficacy.
However, one of my most popular posts on my gut healing blog (253,000 views, 413 comments) is an article on natural remedies for perianal abscess and fistula. Aside from the location of the abscess, the same principles of trapped infection, difficulty treating the inaccessible locale, and helping infection to drain, all apply to hoof abscess as well.
Hoof abscess home remedy formula
So based on my current knowledge treating a similar condition, I mixed up a formula for Aude’s hoof of:
- 25% DMSO*
- 75% Wild oregano oil**
*using 99% DMSO solution packaged in a glass bottle
**not Essential oil, but a commercial brand that is already in a ratio of 3:1 olive oil – Joy Of The Mountain and NAHS are good brands
- SHAKE to mix, and store in a glass bottle, with a glass dropper and shake well before each usage.
If you’ve never worked with DMSO before, it is an extremely potent substance, so please read these safety instructions first!
Based on my research, I figured I would apply this solution to the sole of the infected hoof. But nope! Madame Audelina absolutely refused to lift her hoof and told me to apply it to her coronet band and heel instead. Of course, I listened to her.
As I watched the formula penetrate down through the hoof, I realized the wisdom of her instruction. Of course, let’s use gravity to flush the formula through the hoof! This made so much more sense than applying medicine to the sole of the foot and relying on the beleaguered hoof to be able to draw it upwards – against gravity. Der.
I also gave her lots of dried echinacea, blessed thistle, marshmallow leaf, vitamin E and flax oil. I sprinkled/poured these over pure alfalfa pellets (no grain!). I also offered her the echinacea on it’s own, in a bucket, so she could eat as much as she wanted/needed.
Natural remedy for hoof abscess
Here’s what I did with Aude that healed her abscess in 3 days.* By Day 3 she could walk on the barn road (with 3-inch chunks of rock on the surface) and by Day 6 she was trotting and galloping in the field and gravelled paddocks.
1. Clear all dirt/debris from the fetlock downwards. Spend some time massaging (gently!) the coronet band and heel. But listen to your horse – if they don’t want massage, or just super gentle strokes, follow their lead.
2. Using a glass dropper, dot drops of the DMSO/wild oregano solution all around the coronet band and all over the heel. Expect to use 4-5 dropperfuls of solution to treat the hoof. Apply once per day.
3. Expect to see some discomfort as the formula penetrates – it is itchy! Don’t help your horse to itch, but don’t stop him either. You shouldn’t touch the hoof or leg again once you’ve applied the formula. But allow your horse to move, rub, or itch as their body wisdom directs them.
4. Do not confine the horse or restrict movement. Movement increases health and promotes blood flow – both of which help heal infection.
5. The formula can be abrasive to the skin, so if you see the skin excessively drying out, flaking, or looking painful you can apply the formula, wait 30-60 minutes, and then apply a layer of cold-pressed castor oil. Castor oil also helps with circulation and soothes irritated tissue. If you don’t have castor oil, then comfrey salve or calendula cream would also work well.
Note: About 6 months later, I used this same formula with Posa – she could barely put her foot down and it was also warm to the touch. There was good-sized hole in the tender area of her sole. After gently cleaning out the hole, I squirted a dropperful of the formula into the hole and Posa let me hold the hoof up for a minute or so while it sank in 🙂 Then I applied it as detailed in Step #2 above, for the next 4 days, and Posa was fine – back to normal.
*Important: I truly believe Aude’s healing was so rapid due to the fact that we immediately went into the messages her body was giving us. We are all mind/body/soul – so if we just treat the physical body, healing can take much longer and sometimes not work at all.
Many times, the entire point of an illness or injury is to get us to listen to messages from our soul. So the physical body cannot heal until the message is received. Yes, the physical healing remedy or process is important, but it is usually not the point.
We now have wild oregano in the LTYH Shoppe! So click here to view or purchase .
We offer FREE SHIPPING in the USA, and while you’re there, check out the other 100% natural supplements, healthy anti-inflammatory oils, and dried organic herbs we have!
p.s. Be sure to check out the JINI SAYS tab on each product in the Shoppe for my personal tips and recommendations.
Difficulty listening to your horse?
Even if we are experienced meditators, our own anxiety and frustration during stressful times can block us from being able to tune in and listen to our horses. Even professional animal communicators can have difficulty connecting with their own animals and may need to hire someone else – because our own emotions, agenda, ego, fears, stories, etc get in the way.
I find the degree of my resistance is usually proportionate to the size of the block/saboteur that does NOT want to brought into the light – because that would threaten my current homeostasis (which it is the ego’s job to maintain at all costs). So if you find yourself resisting meditation, or your usual method of connecting to your horse, start by owning it.
Then, either hire someone to help you (or a skilled friend), or ask for a dream, or practice ‘automatic writing’ or do EFT Tapping, or hypnotherapy, or use medicine cards to help guide you. If you don’t currently have a good technique for intuitive listening to your horse, here’s what I do – give it a whirl, or use it to stimulate ideas to craft your own way of connecting/listening. It’s all good 🙂
Jini Patel Thompson is a natural health writer and Lazer Tapping instructor. She began riding at age 2 in Kenya, and got her first horse at age 8 in Alberta, and so continues a life-long journey and love affair with these amazing creatures.
You listen and gain much by doing so. So many live entirely within the confines of the mind and what it says; and/or limit themselves by what the five senses provide when there is so much more. Opening to the core when we question, is an exercise toward seeing in a new way. Answers are often upside down; moving us or being pivoted to see, forgive, act, or be. If we are serious when asking The Devine, the response is often painful but that pain is necessary toward true letting go and healing. It takes bravery and openness to move into a new Wisdom Teaching and to let it saturate us. It means active involvement and often requires action on our part. When done climbing that mountain, we can turn to gaze thankfully upon where we have been, enjoy our new freedom, for a while, and rest, or we can begin another new descent into another time of revelation. Every minute of every day there is a new sunrise and a new sunset. May your journey continue in its fullness and blessed by wisdom,strength and serenity.
Oh I LOVE this Claudia – SO SO SO true!!! And YES, “Answers are often upside down” – we humans are so literal by default. It takes practice to be able to go ‘loose brain’ and gather all the inputs and let them saturate us and be willing to stay open, often stumbling, as we fumble our way to illumination.
And no matter how many times I walk this path… TRUST is always hard. It’s a word that sounds/seem so safe, settled and calm. But walking/living trust?? That’s just darned hard.
OMG, this was so fun!! I was talking to you guys as if I was there with you while watching this! Ha! It was great having Ian there, he’s got a dry sense of humor that really added to the conversation 🙂 Especially after seeing him with the birds of prey in the last video. And of course Guliz too, hearing her perspective. And both of you, color-coordinated!
Glad you let Hugo go. I know when I was 14 and I was living in England (we had just moved from Italy, bad choice!) I hated it and told my parents I wanted to come to the US. It took me 4 yrs to manifest it, but I did. I can totally feel Hugo is hugely invested, and whether this is short or long term, what fun! He can practice creating his dreams.
I can’t wait for you/the horses to be on land and have space to move. I can’t wait for MY horses to do that, but for us it is going to still be limited space. Hopefully, you will find an amazing property where the horses can have so much space to roam!
And thanks for the info about hoof abscess. Going to get some DMSO in case… I am already using the oil of oregano and I now always have some on hand.
Have more videos with Ian there! He adds a whole new layer. And he was so right on about the horses, the scratching, and then the peace. 🙂
You know Vittoria, I just had an idea… why don’t you think about letting your horses out into the unfenced area from time to time? This could be a real adventure for you. Maybe you start with just letting 1 out with you. It is highly unlikely that any single horse will go too far away from the herd – and when you head for home, it is likely s/he will follow you. Feel into that. See if you/they are ready, if it would be fun (or maybe just stressful??). You may get them to the place where you can all go out together for a a couple hours a day. I found that setting them up to know that they all got alfalfa (their favorite) when we came back, meant they wouldn’t just stay out there all day.
SO much is unknown with our family/herd at this point! Hugo wants to be in the UK full-time, but no one wants to move there with him. My daughter is in her last year of high school and then?? I REALLY want to get at least some of the herd onto drier land for the winters as it is just SO terribly yucky here once the rains start… So we will just have to see what shakes down over the course of the year.
Hey, for your herd, why not just do solar-powered electric fence with t-posts? I saw a video with this great spool of thick electric wire and you only had to put a post every 50 feet – easy to unwind and roll up again if/when you need to move the fence. I bought some t-posts by the box (50 per box) for quite a nice discount. You could fully fence your place in a day 🙂
I am just seeing this this response Jini! I looked up this page because Dakota has an abscess (not 100% sure, but almost).
I am letting the horses out occasionally (Dakota is out several hrs every day). They have already ruined much of the shrub steppe environment where they walk 😢 but that’s the price we pay. I am working on remediation for the land where possible, and that will be a constant. I have purchased the local grass seeds and wildflower mixes. Planting is just before the snow comes.
The sage grows back pretty fast, but not the bitterbrush which people hate because it’s flammable, but it is a main food for the deer in winter. But I digress….
The problem with posts is that the ground is rocky, or just hard pan, and unless you do it in the spring, you cannot get a fence post in, unless you have a mechanized auger, which we don’t.
We managed to hot wire the existing fence (they had ruined it by pushing into the piers and wires), and we do plan on more fencing. We now have the manual post digger, the one to remove the posts, and have learned a ton!
I better go and put the DMSO and oregano on Dakota’s hoof. Will report back.
Yes I hear you – most climates have that “best time of year” to fence. So you have to plan and get all your equipment ready to go in advance.
Here we’re best NOT to fence in Spring – too wet, like pushing posts into squishy mud. And then for many areas, we’ve had to go back in the later summer and pack around the posts with a gravel+fines mixture, tamping it down to get it to set nice and hard around the post.
It’s an ongoing learning curve – like so many things!
I just recently used this formula with Posa – she could barely put her foot down. So I squirted a dropperful into the hole and Posa let me hold the hoof up for a minute or so while it sank in 🙂 Then I applied it as detailed in the post for the next 4 days and she was fine.
Jini…your husband is just such a satisfying soul! Really appreciating his presence in the last two videos! Also his new name for Montaro…is so perfect! We have said before how much the horses can enjoy our Nick names and special words that we apply to them! Mr Mount-Ian is just perfect! I am very moved by your husbands energy and mannerisms! I have always resonated deeper with the masculine energy then feminine …so it’s not unusual for me to feel this way! But he is definitely one cool cat!
The herd has once again brought the situation you are facing to an awareness and consideration that has touched down deep in your thoughts! There behavior while you were all there and the looks and breaths and actions of all of them …but especially Ma-Dam Audelina…was just so clear! Life is tough…but that doesn’t mean we don’t take that particular path! I so value and respect…you listening to your son and letting him follow his dream! Age is just a number…the soul …is forever …and in some ways ageless…! Compromise is also always a choice! Things don’t have to be either or? Finding balance that helps all deal with tough circumstances is such a way to flow with instead of against the stream of life! Once again these messages go out like ripples and affect us all!
Buck and Banner both have pigeon fever…&I have been trying to understand the message?
Do you ever feel injury/sickness….is just that? Or do you believe it always has a purpose or message for us to feel/hear? After seeing this from your herd I will be asking for more clarity from the herd I share life with? Hoping since it can be so difficult for me to hear…when it comes to sickness and or injury…that they can come to me in a dream!
So powerful, so profound, so soul stirring…internal growth, health, energy. Love this!
✌🏼❤️🐴
Awww thanks Michelle – he’ll be well chuffed when I show him your comment!
I believe illness/injury always carries a message. But sometimes that message can be as simple as:
Move more
Drink more water
I need probiotics
I need more protein
etc.
If it is something serious, or chronic, then there is definitely going to be a spiritual/emotional component. Things (especially with children) can often be karmic contracts.
Dreams are a great way to receive messages. So is lucid dreaming, automatic writing, hypnotherapy, etc. Each of us has certain ways that work well for us – keep going and you’ll find yours xox
Hi Jini, I just found your post here and ordered DMSO (I already have OOO on hand). I have a gelding with whom I have been battling bilateral front hoove abscesses for well over a year, going on 2. I have been desperately searching for something to help him and I am looking forward to seeing if this will do the trick. Thank you for sharing this information.
Oh please keep us posted Shannon! Would love to hear how it works for your gelding and how you apply it, frequency, etc.
As always, thank you so much for sharing your experiences, knowledge, compassion, and love. I have been overwhelmed with gratitude for being lead to LTYH and the validation all living IS connected by energy. Fortunately, I refuel with positive energy on LTYH..
I used Jini’s DMSO/Oil of Oregano formula for my mare, that had been trying to heal seedy toe for 4 years. I had tried many different approaches to connect Calypso with her healing pathway. I am very happy to say that this formula was what she needed to finally heal the deep infection within her hoof. I also used the gravity method when applying the blend; it worked for Calypso.
Peace & balanced healing to all, Paulette
Paulette – it healed!! That is fantastic!!! Especially knowing how long you struggled with it. Wonderful news and thanks so much for letting us know 🙂
If anyone wants more backstory on Calypso’s issue, see the comments from Paulette on this post:
https://listentoyourhorse.com/natural-wild-oregano-thrush-remedy-for-horses-hooves/
These horses look like they need more physical care…flies, feces, ungroomed…unclean areas possibly contributed to the infected foot. The field area was wet, & (must assume) was full of feces. I agree with some other comments:these horses would benefit from greater & more frequent care & grooming…Please give them more physical comfort…I think you’ve got the spirtiual covered!
Not sure which other comments you’re referring to… but I understand how their environment could look like a crap-heap for people unfamiliar with a Pacific Northwest (or UK or Ireland) climate.
The horses have extensive dry, sheltered areas, with 2 feet of drainage gravel underfoot. It takes 3 hours per day to remove manure from these dry areas to keep them clean and dry and to stock their slowfeeders with low-sugar hay.
We do not groom most of the horses daily because:
a) They don’t want to be groomed – most of them are wild and don’t even want to be touched
b) You can groom them and they will go straight out to the muddy field to roll – because the mud protects them from the insects.
We spend a lot of time helping them scratch/itch wherever they like and removing hair when they are shedding etc.
I have 4 barn helpers who rotate for 7-day/week manure removal and care. So not to worry, their physical needs are well covered.
Hopefully that gives you a better understanding of this herd (their likes, desires, preferences) and also of the challenges of this environment. If you continue following my blog or videos, you’ll get a bigger picture as time goes on. Thanks for stopping by 🙂