More goats, and bovine this time

Fantastic: We have just received more photos and updates on our work in France from Dr Bernadette Lichtfouse




Tom, Dr Bernadette Lichtfouse and myself

We have been told that several farmers have started to use the oils…with very promising results. One farmer has created a blog and another has begun recording data on quantities selected at the farm below, (where we did our first demonstration/talk).



French goat farmers carry remedies for the herd to choose from

The heard in the photo below suffered mainly from nematode infestations, they are exploring clove oil (blue bucket), however not surprisingly garlic essential oil, which has the potential to paralyse the worms within 15 minutes preventing them from reproducing, was favoured (green bucket). What we then saw was fascinating; there was a sudden noise that caused the goats to run in fear to the other end of the paddock, however one remained undisturbed. She was very underweight, most likely worm ridden (see photo below). An innate response would have been to run with the herd for protection, but the garlic would be of greater interest to her survival.


Goats selecting clove oil



One goat stayed behind selecting garlic when the heard left

We spent the final afternoon working with bovines, they were in a beautiful setting in the French countryside. We collected water from the river and put a selection of oils in buckets. They all seemed pretty healthy, but we were interested to see if they needed a particular oil. We offered peppermint, melissa, garlic, clove, green clay, thyme and rose oil. Melissa (generally selected for viral conditions) was the favoured and they finished a 5 litre bucket while we were there, the next favourite oil was clove and a couple selected rose, one of the couple had just given birth, and the other had reproductive problems.

A very busy October: updated 22.10.12

Having returned from our success in France I was invited to talk to thirty students of Natalie Lenton's school of canine massage therapy in Worcestershire.

I spent a very enjoyable day giving a presentation on Applied Zoopharmacognosy and worked with two lovely and responsive dogs during the afternoon session.

We have had an immense amount of positive feedback from this day with many looking at how they can use zoopharmacognosy to calm anxious and nervous dogs. This will then deepen the effects of the canine massage.

Aside from the dogs, we had a rather unusual occurrence. One of the students became aware of an aroma in the demonstration, and then announced to the class, that for the first time in her life, she was able to cross her left leg over her right. She did this subconsciously, and had tried many different therapies without success, and had little understanding why she had this physical problem.


We have also had a Canine practical weekend at Tilley Farm this month, and while this was going on we were also invited to talk with 1st year students from Bristol University. Martin and Lynn represented me, and they gave a demonstration at Holly Hedge. This in turn was followed by the apothecary course that was enjoyed by all.

The month continues with a talk this weekend at Sheila Harpers (International Dog Behaviour and Training Programme), finishing at the end of the month with the Equine practical in the Dorset countryside at Bittles Brook Farm.

Below are a few of our photo highlights so far:

Being introduced by Natalie Lenton

A lot of processing going on

The first step to success for a dog very fearful of polished floors

Jane did a great job teaching the apothecary day and everybody took home a selection of herbal remedies from creams to anti parasitic sprays.  Jane's expertise as a medical herbalist provided a great learning experience with a variety of wood barks and herbs. There was a great atmosphere in the classroom with old and new students sharing their stories. There were faces that I had not seem for a while and it was good to see everyone again. We will have dates up shortly for the next apothecary day in Spring 2013.

Tracy hard at work

The class get to grips with a recipe

Focused teamwork

Cooking underway