Equine Case Study

Jazz the Horse

I have owned my horse Jazz for seven years since she was four years old, and during this time she has had numerous health problems. When she was six years old she developed a respiratory allergy when at grass in the autumn and winter; her salivary glands swelled up and she became very lethargic and exercise intolerant. After numerous tests and supplements I was advised that the best way to keep her comfortable and able to work was to keep her in for at least six months of the year.

At the beginning of last year she became slightly stiff behind and deteriorated very rapidly to the point that within two weeks she struggled to walk five minutes down the road. After a bone scan and x-rays she was diagnosed with arthritis in her neck and both hocks, on veterinary advice I nearly put her to sleep, her eyes were dull and she seemed very depressed. After having various treatments including steroid injections in her joints she was comfortable enough that I decided to retire her and give her the summer at grass.

Although still looking a little odd behind she did quite well over the summer and seemed fairly happy wandering round getting fat. However as soon as the damp weather came her respiratory allergy started to return and she began to look tired again. As she would go stiff being kept in over the winter without exercise and turnout not being an option I decided that the kindest thing would be to put her to sleep. As a last resort I asked my vet if we could look into alternative treatments. I contacted Nick in September 07 and after coming to see her he felt that her problems were due mainly to a weakened immune system and started treating her with a homeopathic remedy for her allergy and a blood nosode for her immune system. Within weeks she seemed brighter in herself, a lot of people kept commenting on how much happier she seemed.

12 months on amazingly she’s still with us. Her allergy has been managed well enough that she has been turned out for 4 or 5 hours every day over the winter (last year we struggled to turn her out for an hour) even when it’s been very wet and she’s now living out all the time. In herself she is bright and lively, so much so that over the last month or so she’s being playing in the field charging around so much that she’s been making herself stiff from doing too much! Because of this on Nick and her other vets advice I have started to bring her back into very light work, she is now managing 30min walks in hand each day and for the first time last week I rode her for 20 minutes something I never thought I would do again.

Nick has made up a second homeopathic remedy for days she looks stiff but at her last trot up the vet said she looks 99% sound. Everyone who saw her this time last year is amazed by how she’s doing, she is defiantly behaving like a different horse.

If Nick hadn’t started treating her in October I honestly don’t think she would still be here, I started her homeopathic treatment to try to give her a comfortable retirement the fact that I have even considered doing any exercise with her shows how far she’s come and riding her was a bonus I never thought would be possible.”

Dr. Nick Thompson
BSc (Vet Sci) Hons, BVM&S, VetMFHom, MRCVS.

Holisticvet
The Veterinary Practice
The Bungalow
Slaughterford
SN14 8RH
United Kingdom

Email: nickthompson@holisticvet.co.uk
Tel: 01225 487778