Finally: Horses, Herbs and Energetics Explained
Equine Herbal and Energetics was featured in Horse'n Around magazines Nov/Dec 2016 issue.
Equine Herbal and Energetics, the first herb book on plant energetics and equine health is here and well worth the wait. Authored by two of the foremost voices in whole horse health -- Stacey Small, creator and founder of Sore No-More liniment, Equilite Herbals and Botanical Animal Flower Essences, founding publisher of Holistic Horse magazine, and Andrea Baldwin, founder of Equibotanical an education source of the traditional uses of our plant allies.
Equine Herbal and Energetics has won praise from such integrative veterinary medicine practitioners as Judith Shoemaker DVM, Joyce Harman DVM and Holistic Horsekeeping author Madalyn Ward, DVM, and equine ecologist MaryAnn Simonds, MA.
What are plant energetics? Historically, various cultures have developed and used systems of healing based on the temperatures and tastes of herbs or foods still used today to bring a body back into balance. Knowing the taste and temperature specific to a plant can help horse owners anticipate the actions it may have on their horse’s body. There are six categories of herb flavors – Sweet, Sour, Acrid, Bitter, Salty and Bland – and some herbs fall into combinations of these categories. An herb's temperature – Cold, Cool, Neutral, Warm, Hot, Dry and Moist – provides additional information to understand how an herb will affect a horse.
“When you go to tack stores or search online for helpful supplements for horses, energetics are rarely mentioned and 'packaged blends' may not be correct for your horse,” Small says.
How and why different herbs affect a body energetically is key to selecting the correct plant(s) for your horse. Centuries-old cultural understanding of how energetics of plants, herbs or foods impact the body are being lost as herbs are perceived as having a pharmaceutical role, rather than as food horses might choose if able to roam and graze freely.
“This is the book I've been waiting for. Finally, someone has put all the known information on our favorite herbs in one convenient place. Most importantly is the focus on the energetics of herbs. The energy of an herb affects how it interacts in the body and with other herbs. In my opinion, using an herb without understanding its energetic nature is like trying to play a game without a rulebook,” says Dr. Ward, author of Holistic Horsekeeping and Horse Harmony. “Considering an herb's energetics, like a playbook's rules, facilitates a common goal rather than individual forces acting randomly or against each other. Congratulations to the authors for a job well done.”
“Looking at the whole horse can help you choose the most appropriate food or herbs“, says Baldwin. “Our scientific-minded culture tends to think in terms of fixing one aspect of a body rather than looking at the whole.”
“With a plethora of herbal supplements on the market it’s hard to know what to choose,” says Small. “This new understanding of the language of plants can empower a horse owner to better help themselves and their ‘best friend’.”
Equine Herbal and Energetics is the perfect pairing of two talents, working together for more than two years, they brought to fruition a project that began over two decades earlier. Now, Small and Baldwin feel, is the right time for the message of energetics to be brought forth and shared with horse owners and caretakers.
About the Authors
A lifelong passion for horses, herbs and healing brought Stacey Small and Andrea Baldwin together. A shared desire to protect and advocate for the equine partner led them to collaborate on this book. Both are herbalists and graduates of David Winston’s Center for Herbal Studies. Creator and founder of the Sore No-More liniment line, Equilite Herbals, and Botanical Animal Flower Essences, Stacey now resides in Florida and may be reached at stacey@spsconsults.com Andrea is founder of Equibotanical (www.equibotanical.com), dedicated to empowering others to restore balance in mind and body through education of the traditional uses of our plant allies. She resides in Georgia and may be reached at baldwinandrea29@gmail.com
