Horse Self-Selects Herbs to Help with Metabolism & Weight Regulation – Part 1

Cobra has asked for herbs to help with his metabolism – let’s see which herbs he chooses and how much…

Allowing our horses to self-medicate, according to their body wisdom, is hugely empowering for both us and our horses. It also deepens the trust, and therefore the connection and intimacy of our relationship.

Because Juliet was so trusting of Cobra’s wisdom and allowed him to direct the process, he was able to invent and show us the entire aromatherapy piece – I was gobsmacked! I never would have come up with that on my own.

For those of you who know your herbs, you may be wondering why we weren’t offering certain herbs that you would definitely have offered for this issue. The simple answer is that those were all the herbs we had on hand! I normally buy all my bulk herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs, but since Covid closed the border, we’ve been getting absolutely caned on Customs fees up here in Canada. So the herbs you see are all that remain from the normally large selection I have on hand. But notice how that doesn’t matter, and it’s still very effective for Cobra.

I hope this video has given you some ideas and inspiration… even if you don’t have a doctor-garden for your horses to self-select from, according to their needs, or if it’s winter, you can still offer them all the herbs, minerals and omega-3 oil they need, using this combination of your intuition, and physical cues from the horse. This is such a worthwhile endeavour to get fluent at! But the super easy way to get started is by just offering a few herbs to start. Or, make up one or two of these herb blend recipes.

Along with Lazer Tapping, listening to my horses, key remedies using DMSO, wild oregano, etc, these horse-selected herbs are yet another reason my vet bills remain rock-bottom. In fact, we haven’t had a vet out here since Makah was castrated 2 years ago. If you follow this blog, you know we’ve had plenty of injuries and health issues during those 2 years! But the bigger your natural medicine-bag, the more resources you have to assist with long-term, root-level healing. It’s a total win-win.

You can watch Part 2 here.

Horse Self-Selects Herbs to Help with Metabolism & Weight Regulation – Part 1

10 thoughts on “Horse Self-Selects Herbs to Help with Metabolism & Weight Regulation – Part 1

  • February 14, 2021 at 2:56 am
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    I am sure you would love Caroline Ingraham zoopharmacognosy website. She has lots free resources and online webinars for self selection of natural remedies – for horses dogs and cats. I love her work and her new online work.
    There are many fascinating chronicles written up from case studies and peoples experiences.
    (I have no affiliation, I love this way of working with animals )

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    • February 14, 2021 at 10:49 pm
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      Oh yes I love Caroline’s work!

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  • February 14, 2021 at 3:15 am
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    Absolutely fascinating! Love it! As soon as I can find a bulk herb supplier I am going to try it with my guys.
    Thanks to all for sharing the wisdom.
    much love
    Erin 💚🐎🌳

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    • February 14, 2021 at 10:50 pm
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      Wot fun! It would be interesting to see which herbs your guys prefer… being in such a different climate.

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  • February 14, 2021 at 6:28 pm
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    Life is always coordinated topics! I am so interested to see if this helps Cobra in the ways he wants it to? Especially since I have recently read some interesting stuff about species appropriate feeding!

    So as Jini knows we recently added a new family member Roofus to our family! He is a Red Bone Hound and age guessed between 1-2! Since Dreamers (17yr Arab/Pinto) founder a few years ago and continued annual sensitivity to spring grazing (California.. so only green part of the year) I have really dove deep into nutrition for the horses which lead to myself and my husband deciding to eat plant based foods only …in late November of 2020! Also influencing this decision was watching various documentaries about industrial farming practices! I myself feel so much better in a lot of ways and so far want to stick with this approach with continued fine tuning and new continued healthier and healthier choices to see what helps me feel better and better! This (spring) is usually the time of year Dreamer starts to decline and then I need to lock him up and provide a green free area! I have tried a lot of herbs and different Whole Foods and concoctions …but have never tried self selection!

    Instead after Banners two colics I have stripped all the four Horsemens nutrition back to a minimal approach! This includes very small amounts of minerals if any for Dreamer and little to mostly no herbs with some CBD for Banner for pain fed extremely sparingly with minimal grass hay pellets! They also have unlimited tested Teff grass hay and whatever grazing is available! They all seem good especially Banner… but it has only been a few months!

    So for Roofus I was feeling I wanted to do things more intune with how I feel about food now? Especially since our last two dogs had quite a few medical issues at the end and only lived to 12! So as the universe does it guided me to a post that had nothing to do with dogs but one of the comments was about feeding dogs! I inquired and it lead me to a group that believes in Species appropriate Rotational Mono Feeding (RMF) and fasting! I read a lot and decided to try it as I knew kibble (which I had been feeding with cooked meat) was not the way I wanted to keep going with Roofus! Something was telling dig deeper! Because There’s just to much disease when it comes to dogs! We are now on our fifth day and even before I started I cut his kibble way back to prepare him for the transition then did a 24 hr fast!

    So this group believes the body when fasting will unload and start the process of getting rid of the toxins stored in the fat! I observed just with the diminished amount of kibble his body was already showing signs of detox (if that indeed is what it is) as parts on his body mostly his head started swelling up ears eyes muzzle and having a lot of bumps! We started with a one day fast (as I am such an over doer I couldn’t do more) and then two plant then one meat! But since Roofus had just been nuetred (got him from a rescue) and given a whole round of vaccinations and probably flea/tick poisons I know he has a lot of toxins to unload! So it will be a process if that’s what’s happening and so far it’s extremely interesting watching his body do things it had not done before I started this process!

    Here’s the main part I am curious about and would love to hear others opinions on! The founding member of this group also believes in Natural terrain theory versus Germ theory!
    From my understanding and limited reading so far….This basically means the body creates or heals all! There are no germs/bacteria/viruses that are from outside influence only what the body (DNA) creates to unload the toxins that are created inside itself because of what we put in or on it! Like I said I am just learning and reading on this so don’t all that much ? On one hand I do believe in the bodies wisdom to heal! But It’s hard to believe that things such as chicken pox (an example they used in a tube video they had) are not spread from child to child instead they are the body detoxing from what is put in it…The timing on this and colds flus and other viruses just seems to suspect for me! I mean someone in your immediate family gets sick and then you do to…it just seems to much of a coincidence? That the body shows the same symptoms of detox at the same time or shortly after? Especially in this time of Covid!
    I have seen some of your private posts Jini and I get a sense you have an opinion on Covid! I also know you have spent a huge amount of energy and time to learn how to heal the body? I am not trying to be political in any way I am just very curious of this idea about the body healing itself with or without species appropriate feeding! That basically herbs are just another form of medicine that the body will have to detox from? Again with horses and humans and so many other species meant to eat plants this seems so contradictory in itself has herbs are basically a form of food? This definitely seems not to jive since horses/herbivores would self select so many different varieties of plants …if they have enough variety space and freedom!

    This is all very interesting to me and I would so appreciate learning more based on other’s perspectives & mostly experiences? Especially with Dreamers situation as I want him to live as free as I can allow ….all year long! I definitely think exercise is also a key part of this equation for all souls …!! Dreamer has shown me many signs he needs to move more so he and I are now implementing a system he dictates on how slow or fast or how long we do theses sessions! But I truly believe he is telling me the answer is more and more movement to help him burn the extra sugar /starch this time of year! So I have been watching him extra closely and I saw a funky couple of steps so I got worried …although all other observations say he’s still processing the spring green on 2-3 acres ok? That day I insisted he move at Liberty so I could evaluate his quality of movement and willingness to move ..on the other 9 acres and he did amazing! He even looked at me longingly when I put him back with the others like I could of done way more! So I truly feel he knows it’s his trade off for staying in as open area I think is safe for the time of year! He moves a lot already but it’s just not enough for his self! I know a track is also helpful and I am getting one set up …but I still feel he needs more high adrenaline movement that can really get his heart pumping and help burn fat! Looking forward to anyone who wants to chime in on health!
    ✌🏼💚🐴

    Reply
    • February 19, 2021 at 12:15 am
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      Well in my experience, something (herbs etc) is a toxin that will need to be flushed IF the body doesn’t want/need it.

      We keep coming back – again and again – to the gold standard of *listening* to the body. Our minds will never be able to come up with a better diet/system/protocol than that of listening to the deep wisdom of the body. And then actioning what the body wants.

      So with animals, if we’re not able to hear them very well, we can offer them access to a doctor-garden, where they can self-select what they need each day or two. If they were foraging in a suitable size range, they would naturally do this.

      The more we try to ‘manage’ our animals, the more we remove them from their natural instincts/wisdom. So that’s where the difficulties can come into play. Can a horse who has lost touch with it’s natural signals actually make a natural choice??

      Then when horses/animals enter into spiritual relationships with humans, they often use their bodies to message the human, or ‘force’ them to lean into painful areas the human doesn’t want to look at – and will ONLY do so “for the sake of the horse”. So that complicates things further.

      Each of us just has to walk our own path. The fastest way to get to a whole, natural, healthy relationship with our horses – and to allow them to BE healthy and whole – is to lean into our own crap! Healing our own woundings, trauma, dysfunctions, etc is actually the fastest way to heal our horses/animals. That’s been my experience. xo

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  • July 17, 2022 at 2:25 pm
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    Great video! Thank you for sharing. I’ve done this method with my girl. She loves calendula and skullcap. I am curious, now that Cobra has self- selected these particular herbs and minerals how often will you give them to him?

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    • July 17, 2022 at 9:45 pm
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      All is by intuition – if he asks, I offer. When he no longer needs them, he doesn’t ask. If I were not sure of my intuition/communication, then I would just offer them whenever I felt I should, and then let him choose. It’s all good 🙂

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  • November 11, 2024 at 1:26 pm
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    I love it! How long does a 1lb bag of herbs generally last? And how often do you give them the option to eat the dried herbs? I know my horses would love this.
    -Amelia

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    • November 11, 2024 at 5:13 pm
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      Hi Amelia – 1lb is very hard to judge because the weight vs volume/mass varies widely from herb to herb. Best is just to order some and get going. Give yourself permission to experiment with your horses and for them to start a conversation with you, where they show you what they like, what they want, how often, etc. Have fun! Make it playful and this will keep it light and easy.

      Reply

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