My horse almost died … and ended up saving me!
by Kay Aubrey-Chimene
In 1992 I was so brittle and arthritic that I got out of bed and my foot broke. Just from standing. I couldn’t walk half a mile or stand for longer than 20 minutes without being in constant pain. I was a couch potato who frustrated my husband with my unwillingness to go anywhere or do anything. I was 32 year old woman who had been a top horse show competitor through my teens but became sick – without recognizing it – in college.
After many years away from riding due to health and economic problems I began to ride again. Not long after getting back into the saddle, a dear friend dragged me out to see a horse. It was then that I met my greatest teacher – his name is “Sport”.
Knowing that spending that type of money was certain grounds for divorce, I went along – only to look. Of course, it was love at first sight. A few hours later I was settling my new sorrel gelding, Sport, into a pen at a nearby stables and trying to figure out how to tell my husband that we were now horse owners.
My education began almost immediately. We began regularly riding with endurance riding friends who dragged us along for 4 to 5 hour rides. I would come home after each ride and sleep for 18 hours, taking handfuls of pain killers. I slowly gained strength and was surrounded by people who pushed me past my self-imposed limits. The next spring we headed to our first 25 mile endurance ride. Within the first few miles, Sport threw a shoe and ended up bowing the tendons in both front legs. An ultrasound showed that in addition to the new complete tears, his legs were full of scar tissue and adhesions from old bows. Two different vets pronounced that he would never be rideable again; that “he was only good for dog food”.
Luckily for us, my vet (and soon to be mentor) took a different view and advised me to try light therapy and nutritional support to help him heal. I promptly ran up the credit cards buying BioScan Tendon Savers as well as magnetic leg wraps and the entire Dynamite vitamin/mineral program (forgetting to mention that part to my husband, of course).
Six months of therapy and hand walking later we began riding and training again. All the old scar tissue had disappeared and Sport was sound and ready to go. But by now fly season had started. His reaction was much more severe than just swollen fly bites. Within weeks Sport had lost 150+ pounds and was rubbing huge sores that covered most of his body.
A biopsy came back with a diagnosis of “Equine Nodular Collagenetic Granulomas”. This was a fancy way of saying fly allergies complicated by immune deficiencies. We immediately went on fly alert: sprays, blankets, fans, feed-through wormers, oatmeal packs, etc. Nothing worked.
Sport continued to drop weight and by now the sores were too big to cover. Fly sheets or blankets were just pushed into the sores making them worse. Finally, he just stood unsteadily, head hanging, too tired to even run from the flies that tortured him. I steeled myself to losing my heart companion. Sport was dying.
I finally called another friend and mentor, who I knew to be into “woo-woo”, new age, alternative medicine. She then gave me the greatest piece of advice that I have ever received. “You don’t have a problem because of flies – you have flies because you have a problem.” Huh? She reworded it – “Flies don’t bring garbage – Garbage brings flies.” Sport wasn’t sick because of flies, the flies were attracted to Sport because he was full of garbage.
This single idea revolutionized how I viewed the health of my animals – and myself. We immediately removed all the poison from Sport’s environment (fly sprays, wormers, chemically-preserved sweet feeds) and put him on a detoxification regimen and immune system builders. Within eight days every sore on his body had dried up and scabbed over. He rapidly regained his weight and came back to amazing health. Now, along with a toxin-free diet, Sport gets immune system stimulants each spring and weathers the fly season with nothing more than a fly mask. We rarely even break out the herbal fly spray.
As Sport returned to full strength, I was reading and absorbing everything I could about nutrition, mineralization and detoxing the body. I soon realized that when it came to getting healthy there was no difference between my animals and myself. We began to remove processed foods, chemicals and high-fructose corn syrup from our lives. I started cleansing, supporting and alkalyzing my body and soon realized that I didn’t hurt anymore!
As I rode more and became more active, I rid myself of allergies, arthritis, digestive issues, even insomnia. My husband has been completely supportive and joins in on eating whole foods – and even took up the supplement regimen that I began taking. Now in my 50?s, I can ride for 50 miles, walk 10 miles, never use anti-histamines or prescription drugs. All of this I credit to the lessons I learned from Sport.
My biggest takeaway from this journey? Getting healthy is a 3 stage process: Cleanse, Nourish, Balance. It doesn’t happen over night – but it CAN happen. 15 years into my education with Sport, I am still in that process. And we are both going strong!
So what would Sport teach me next? He wasn’t finished … but more of his story later. Here’s wishing you and your horses a happy, healthy, loving life.
Namaste’ – Kay
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