Early on, when I got started with horses, I learned traditional ways to care for them. This involved chemical fly sprays, ointments that contained potential carcinogens and other questionable chemicals in a variety of products including their food.
Along the way, as I was learning, I was drawn to more holistic ways of caring for my horses. Following my heart, with regard to these ways, has led me on a path of discovery, healing and much healthier horses!
When I first got Calli, every year she would get bit up by the little No-see-ums that come out in May at our wooded home. They would bite her on her underside and she would end up having a crusty line of gunk from her chin to her udders! Definitely gross and I'm sure uncomfortable for her.
Things started looking up when I started using a plant based cleaner on these areas of her body. The crusty stuff started disappearing and there was not as much of it covering her underside. I was super happy about that! I had been learning about these new holistic care options and part of that process was removing the products that had toxic chemicals in them. The fact that I was reducing the amount of toxins in her world was making a difference for her and helping to keep these bugs at bay.
Adding an essential oil to her daily feed was another thing I did. It served to improve her immune system. It is such a huge benefit at a very small price! Adding the oil along with the spray (which also helps to improve her immune system) really made a huge difference for this "seasonal" problem.
Another piece of this puzzle that was beneficial, because it removed toxins and sugar, was getting rid of the processed grains that we had been feeding. Processed grains have chemicals and toxins added to them along with a significant amount of sugar (which causes inflammation). All of our horses are on an anti-inflammatory diet. It is better for joints, over all wellness and, I believe, makes them less tasty to the bugs too!
As we are now into another May, I am happy to say that its been quite a few years since we've had to deal with the crusty underside! And there are few and far between reactions to bug bites now that we have addressed removing toxins and improved immune systems.
If you're interested in knowing what products I used, check out this brief video...
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