10 years ago my traditional veterinarians went rogue.

When they’d come for a barn call, they started using the terms “traditional veterinary medicine says to treat this condition this way ….. but if you’d like to go the holistic route you could do this ….”

Natural remedies had always interested me, but health food stores overwhelmed and scared the tar out of me.  I didn’t know where to get reliable information.

Then it happened, my veterinarians invited me to a class at their clinic on the weird voodoo stuff they were using in their practice.  The information session was a buffet of information on magnet therapy, herbs, and essential oils.

There was something about the essential oils that captivated me. Those little bottles spoke to me; I knew I needed to get them for my horses. Plus, I trusted my veterinarians and knew they wouldn’t steer me wrong.

My horses had a variety of health challenges. Both of them had hypo-thyroidism (low thyroid) and my older gelding had severe insulin resistance which caused founder the year prior. He was a mess!

Not being a person who wanted to keep my horses on synthetic thyroid medication for the rest of their life, I asked my veterinarians to monitor my horses as I developed a natural thyroid protocol for them.  Honestly, I was out to prove if the essential oils worked. Who better to test them on but my own horses? They don’t know placebo effect, plus I had my vet supervising what I was doing for safety purposes.

After 10 weeks of using oils and nutritionals, both horses had normal functioning thyroids. That was over 10 years ago and they are still good to go without meds. I was so affected by my experience that I decided to immerse myself into learning about essential oils and nutrition. I thought, “How many animals are like mine?  I have to tell everyone about these little bottles of oil!”

In no way do I claim to replace veterinary care, people always need to have professionals guiding them. I am an educator and a resource to help guide people and their animals to exceptional health.   It is most exciting when veterinarians and doctors ask to partner with me to help their human or animal patients.

We can use essential oils for so many things.   A dab of calming blend on the ears can help a jittery horse or a first time rider melt away anxiety.   Critically ill horses can have incredible immune responses after the application of oils that fight virus.  Wounds heal faster without scarring or white hair growth.

My own hooved critters get oiled regularly as well. I use coriander oil on my older gelding in May to help his insulin level response from grazing on spring grass. Daily, I use a blend that help support his thyroid and pituitary so he ages gracefully. With his navicular left front hoof he gets a special set of oils that help the inflammation and soreness after physical exertion.

A few years ago my 14 year old mare got her leg caught in a metal gate.  One minute she was fine, the next she is holding her leg up and walking on only three. I put in an emergency call to the vet because I knew it was serious. Luckily, my first aid oils were on hand. While waiting for the vet to arrive, I liberally applied oils that I knew would help with pain, inflammation, bones, and connective tissues.  The vet arrived and said she didn’t think anything was broke but I would be lucky if she would even be broodmare sound because of the extensive soft tissue damage.

Refusing to accept my gorgeous show horse was now a permanently gimping pasture pet, I got aggressive with her recovery program.  She had oils applied from her hip to her ankle twice a day and electric current therapy twice a week.  Orally she was given high doses of MSM and anti-inflammatory herbs.  After a few months she was bearing about 75% of her weight on her injured leg. It took her a few years to make a full recovery, but now we are training to head back into the show ring in 2012!

Even with many years of using essential oils I regularly get reminded of their potency. Recently my 4 year old mare had a nasty snotty nose and cough.  It seems that in the spring and fall her respiratory system gets irritated from allergies. I used immune boosting oils on her spine and in her food and in two days her nose was no longer discharging and her cough was gone.

People often ask what the best way to learn about oils is. Answer? Start using them. Reading about oils and taking workshops is great; however, the best way to learn is through personal experience.  Put the oil on the part of the body where the problem is; it’s that simple. Don’t put oils directly in the eyes or in the ear canal because it hurts. Lastly, if the oil gets hot on the skin, use some olive oil or something like that to dilute and then wipe it off.

Start with the most pressing horse or human health challenges first.  Then build up a first aid response kit. There’s a big blue book of everything that’s a must have, it answers any oil question you could possibly have.  It’s like having a full time oil guru at your fingertips anytime of the day or night. My final encouragement for new oilers is to find a mentor who can answer questions and impart wisdom from their experience.

Jen Springer, M.S. and “Spook”

Jen Springer is a Holistic Nutrition Expert who currently serves 10,000 clients.  Her approach to health is refreshing and out of the box, yet makes so much sense.  Through her entertaining and informative webinars, blog posts, and personal recovery program Let’s Get Physical: Anxiety is NOT All in Your Head, her clients quickly get results even though they’ve spent years of chasing for answers. Jen has been a health educator and practitioner for the last 10 years.

Information on this article is not meant to diagnose, prescribe, or treat any illness or disease & is strictly for educational purposes. Seek a qualified health professional of your choice when starting any program.