18/09/2025
We ran a workshop last month which combined our Following the Herds’ Lead experience with foraging and preparing foraged plants for the herd this winter!
The herd here have a good variety of plants to forage themselves, they are able to self select what they want to eat and what they may need medicinally any time, however different fields have different plants in them and they don’t have access to all the fields at one time…
The past two years has been harder in terms of the herds care and wellbeing, with Arthur being the grand age of 41! Ebony 39 and two thirds of the herd over 30 we are now in different territory in terms of what the horses need. Many of them have worn down teeth and we are recognising they aren’t able to digest the grass and nutrients like they used to and we are now supplementing many of them with extra feed to help keep the weight on.
I trained in zoopharmacognosy over 12 years ago, this is where animals self select and medicate with plants. In environments where an animal does not have access to plants they can forage themselves we, the human, can bring in the plants (and oils) and offer them to the animal to see if they want it. It is important to offer rather than mix into a feed so the animal can choose which medicinal plant they seek.
This year I have decided to make some macerated oils with plants such as nettle, calendula and willow bark, some of which won’t be readily available in Winter and might be a good tonic for them. I will offer them to the herd as and when I think appropriate to see if they want any.
We also made some healing balms such as calendualr and yarrow for minor wounds and skin and comfrey for muscle and bone aches.
These can also be used for us as well as the animals and each participant took one home with them!
