Peggy is my Chestnut Thoroughbred Mare so it’s not often she is perfect!  But right now, after struggling to heal a sarcoid on her off shoulder for some considerable time, she is perfect, as it is totally healed! Sarcoids are ugly things and we’re often left wondering if sarcoids can be treated naturally and effectively. For a long time I avoided taking photos of her on that side, as I didn’t want anyone to see the embarrassment an ugly sarcoid can cause. It’s like eating all the chocolate in the cupboard and pretending it never happened (surely it’s not just me that does this). Sarcoid ..read more

As all showies know, getting their horses into the ring just right every time, is not easy.  One of the conundrums is getting the balance right between body condition and energy levels. Most judges want to see horses and ponies in big condition, but at the same time able to show off their paces with energy yet calmness! As a result many show horses are over fed & over supplemented to get them fat & shiny but they aren’t fit and they have too much energy for the job. Basically a lot of them are off their faces and of course are going to react fearfully to the atmosphere especially ..read more

Sally Mills from Pine Mountain in Qld has been a client for many years.  Sally has bred some lovely Trakehner horses and her beautiful mare Scally delivered her first foal in text book style on 20th November. Here is Scally just before foaling looking a picture of health on her VF Natural Diet which she has been on for many years.  Raspberry Leaf is added for broodmares for at least a month before foaling and continuing through until the foal is a few weeks old.  Being the highest plant source of Folic Acid, it aids conception, delivery and quick expulsion of the afterbirth.&nbs ..read more

Renee Staffleu from Linthorpe Qld has been a client for several years.  Recently she was in touch about one of her horses Leggo who had sustained a very deep cut to the neck which we both thought required stitches, but she was unable to get a vet to attend to him in time. So we decided to disinfect with salty water, pack it with Manuka honey, and bandage to bring the edges of the wound together to facilitate the healing. I sent an anti-microbial herbal prescription for Leggo to take orally and he progressed very well. As the wound healed Renee switched from the honey to my Artisan Skin Ba ..read more

Back in May last year Lynda Sells from Jimboomba Qld consulted me for help with her daughter Tatum’s  9 year old chestnut Thoroughbred gelding Possum. Their vet had diagnosed a viral infection with highly elevated inflammatory markers and the blood test came back positive for Ross River Fever with a very high titre level of 5120.    He also had a severe degree of pastern dermatitis on all four of his lower legs. Lynda was advised to consult me by a friend whose horse I had treated for Ross River Fever some time back and who had remained sound in work. Possum was treated for ..read more

Faecal Water Syndrome as it is now known has become common in the last two years. Initially it was particularly associated with horses who were subjected to extreme and continuing rainfall and flooding, and who were forced to eat waterlogged grasses and poor quality hay. Contamination of this fodder with disease causing bacteria, fungi and other microbes was very likely, with scours as well as FWS a common result. The two conditions are different, with scours the manure is very sloppy (in severe cases projectile) whereas with FWS, manure coloured water is passed before and/or after manure and ..read more

Published in Horse Vibes Magazine Nov/Dec 2020, is this great story written by Amanda McWhinnie …. A practising equine herbalist for 25 years, VICTORIA FERGUSON has been instrumental in the healing of many injured and sick horses – but few needed her help quite as badly as Aussie Bob. Victoria Ferguson nearly didn’t answer her phone when it rang one afternoon in June. It was, after all, a Sunday, and the call was from an unknown number. Fortunately however, she did pick up. The call was from South Australian Bryan Littlely of the Rise Relief Centre near Victor Harbor, where off-the-track raceh ..read more

COMFREY Symphytum officinale (pic Comfrey growing in my garden before the drought). Right now Comfrey is springing back from its winter dormancy and drought decimation in places where it has rained and is ready for use by people smart enough to grow it. Comfrey is famous for its unique ability to aid the body in the speedy and firm uniting of fractures. Research confirms that it stimulates formation of bone cells, connective tissue matrix and collagen precursors and cartilage matrix cells. The wide ranging actions of Comfrey make it one of the most useful for horses and their humans, especiall ..read more

Even though I get a lot of international requests for consultations, I usually refer them on to colleagues where possible, but when John Martyn contacted me from County Galway in Ireland, with his Irish Sport Horse filly foal, I was happy to help. The filly was only 4 weeks old, the vet diagnosis was joint ill, but I treated her for radial nerve paralysis. John had not named her but I encouraged him to do so, so she was named Sprite.  We had some Irish luck as my herbal prescription sent from London arrived in Ireland within a matter of days. More luck came in the form of herbs growing in ..read more

When Sallie met Percy back in 2013 she fell in love with the very handsome Percheron gelding. She bought him even though he had a severe case of thrush, and a week later her farrier gave her the bad news that it was a hoof canker. At that time she was living in Nimbin where conditions are often hot and wet, perfect for all hoof problems. Sallie researched the problem extensively and so began the long road to try to heal him, trying myriad different treatments with little success. Fast forward to March 2018 when a chance meeting with Sallie led me to treating Percy. They had moved to Tenterfiel ..read more