Certified Veterinary Homeopathy by Dr. Glen Dupree

As a horse owner, what are your main concerns when it comes to veterinary care? Will it work? How much does it cost? Will it test?

If you have ever asked one of these questions or one like it, have you been satisfied with the answer conventional Western medicine has given? Or have you been left wondering if there was a better option?

Many horse owners have asked these questions and have begun to search for a better form of medicine to answer their concerns. I would like to suggest that it is not necessarily the medicine which has left them disappointed but the medical philosophy which has governed the use of the medicines which has failed them.

Not every health issue can be addressed with a pill or an injection. Indeed many "illnesses" seen in our horse population today are really issues of management, nutrition, housing, training, tack fit, and over use of conventional medications. If our health care philosophy does not address these issues, and address them in such a way as to improve the horse's overall health and performance, then that philosophy and its attendant health care system is lacking.

Seeking alternatives to current health care options is not difficult, although it may be daunting at first. It may require a different definition of "medicine", it may require that old "truths" be reexamined, and it may mean opening up to new ideas that seem strange and foreign. The end result may be nothing less than a healthier, better performing horse that costs less to maintain and treat - and who will not be disqualified by a failed drug test.

Good medicine should begin before the horse ever reaches the farm. Ample turn out/pasture should be available as should a clean, well ventilated, well lit stall. Pasture maintenance should include manure and parasite control and forage management. Proper species-appropriate nutrition should be researched and provided. Perhaps more than any medicine, these simple steps will help ensure the health and fitness of your horse. Far too many horses are confined in inadequate stalls, restricted from appropriate pasture time, and are fed a ration too high in concentrated grains or pellets and too limited on good grasses and hay.

The horse should arrive on the farm with a job (dressage, jumping, racing, cutting, pleasure, trailing, etc) and with the tack appropriate for that job. The tack for the horse should be fitted to the horse and adjusted as the horse changes. Shoeing/trimming should be balanced and tailored to the horse's job.

The rider should be trained and ready to work with the horse. As simple as it sounds, many horse problems stem from the inexperience/inadequacy of the rider. The load the horse carries should work with the horse and not against it.

Once on the farm, parasite control for the horse is a must but does not necessarily mean the horse must be doused with chemicals. Manure control, stall cleaning, and forage management will all help eliminate both intestinal parasites and flies.

Each of these is as important to your horse's health as any medicine ever given.

At this point we can start looking at medicines. The first place to start is with supplements which will ensure proper gut function and digestion. Probiotics and digestive aids are a must, especially if the horse is to be fed a ration high in concentrated grains or pellets or if they have ever been treated with antibiotics, antiinflamatories, etc. This medicine may not treat anything specifically but will prevent a multitude of potential symptoms associated with dysbiosis.

Perhaps now we can consider the medicines to use if the horse actually gets sick. Conventional medicines are designed and used to eliminate the symptoms the sick horse produces. This sounds good but it may not address the reason the horse is making the symptoms. When you start looking at treating the cause of the illness (the fundamental imbalance of the patient) rather than the result of the illness (the symptom the patient is producing) the world of alternative medicine opens before you.

As a horse owner you certainly have the option to use conventional medications. You also have the option of using Homeopathy, Herbal/Botanical medicine, Chiropractic, Massage, Acupuncture, and many other forms of medicine. Each of these "alternative" therapies help restore and improve the horse's health with minimal risk of side effect and without showing up on drug tests. Of equal importance, these therapies are used to improve the horse's over all health so that the continued treatment is not necessary.

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