and time will heal beautifully.
Thursday 15th July 2021
Timmy has a severe slash on the inside of his hock. The vet was called and we got the tetanus, anti inflammatory and antibiotic into him but that was all he would allow us to do. Although we tried to sedate him to clean the wound a bit he fought us, so in the end we decided to leave it over night and see how he was in the morning.
The next day the wound was weeping well but was mostly clean. He was not letting anybody near it and I respected that and just kept him in a separate field with my older mare Chocolate for a few days so he could rest and get over the shock.
Saturday 17th July
This morning I did healing session with Timmy and the crystal Labradorite. The inflammation process started yesterday around the wound, and by this afternoon had dropped into his ankle giving him a rather fat leg from hock to foot. Timmy didn’t want any essential oils or aromatherapy but did relax into a hose down which cooled the heat in his leg a bit and cleaned some of the excess liquid off that had weeped out and dried on his leg.
Sunday 18th July
I sensed I should offer Timmy German Chamomile Oil this morning and he inhaled this for about 30 minutes. At one point he tried to lick the bottle so I put some drops on my hand and he licked them off, and then inhaled some more. Later on we did some more hosing down and I added some of the oil to some warm water and squirted it into the wound and also onto the lower part of his leg. (The oil sticks and then is absorbed where needed.)
Monday 19th July
My usual vet came out to check on Timmy and said the wound was doing exactly what it should be doing, and was nice and clean, and he suggested that the best thing to do would be to carry on with what I was doing and see how he gets on. (I love a vet that doesn’t want to try and fix everything immediately – I am very lucky.) He gave him a second antibiotic just to stop any infection working its way into the rest of him, and suggested VetoMiel, or Vets honey which I should apply daily to stop scar tissue forming. Haha..Timmy wasn’t going to let me anywhere near him so I found a big syringe and squirted the honey mix as best as possible onto the wound.
22nd July
So a week later and the inflammation is going down. Parts of the wound are hardening, falling off and then hardening over again. All part of the process. He inhales German Chamomile oil sometimes (about every other day at the moment) but not for as long as he did the first time. When he does this I also add a few drops to the honey solution and squirt some onto and around the wound.
23rd July
I did an oil session with Angelica Root and Sandalwood this morning and the entire herd was there and supported this session, also inhaling some. Timmy inhaled quite a bit of both and also wanted to be massaged, so we did a light energy massage along his neck and back which he loved. It loosened up some of the muscled he has been holding tight with the pain from the wound. The wound has let go of a good layer of scabbing and is cleaning again.
Over the next few days Timmy would have the Vets honey on his wound every other day. He is also chose some lemon oil one day which he inhaled for a good while. Another day he had some ylang ylang oil, and he also ate about 50g of liquorice root when I offered it, but hasn’t wanted any of these oils or the liquorice since. He does return often to the German Chamomile oil and I am still adding a bit now and again to the honey mix.
August and September
Throughout August and September the wound went through cycles of hardening and scabbing, then sloughing off the hardened stuff and becoming clean again. Skin grew and closed the smaller would above the big one without any proud flesh. About the middle August I changed from the Vets Honey to buying honey from the supermarket, mixing a good amount with some hot water and adding lavender essential oil drops, letting it cool and then squirting it on to the wound. It did the same as the Vets Honey (but not half as expensive and the would continued with its cycle of cleaning, hardening, sloughing, and healing a bit more.
On 16th August Timmys’ leg inflamed again puffing up hugely around the hock, and then over next couple of days back down his leg into the ankle. The vet came to have a look on 19th and gave him a little help with an anti-inflammatory, but was not overly concerned. Apparently re-inflammation can come and go as a wound like this heals. A couplf of days later the inflammation was reducing quickly again. He liked being hosed down when it was inflamed to cool the leg down a bit.
By the end of September the wound is starting to slowly close up at the edges and it always looks like his body is pushing out the stuff it doesn’t want through the opening. We are just continuing with the honey and lavender wash every two or three days. I tended to put it on when large scabs have formed and it helps them to fall off. Timmy doesn’t like it at all if I put the solution on the wound when it is clean. Amazing how much he is taking charge of his own healing and all I need to do is listen.
October
During October I just continued with the honey solution as needed. We had no more inflammation, and basically I just watched Timmy carry on the process as the skin started to grow in and push out anything it didn’t want which would naturally blacken and then fall off.
On 28th October I was offering meadowsweet to the herd and he took loads of it. It may have been for something else other than the wound specifically, but sometimes you never really know why they select something. All part of their own process of looking after themselves.
Today 23rd November the wound is really closing now (and it is difficult to photograph becasuse his winter coat is growing in as well. The process continues and it should be fully closed by the New Year. He is a little stiff and we have started walking out to give the leg some exercise. He puts a good pace on, which he enjoys and often I am trailing a way behind him! When the wound has been totally closed for a month at least we will start to put a little bit more into moving and stretching and building up the muscles again, but slowly, slowly is the answer. We will go at his pace.
I am amazed at how Timmy has dealt with his healing. He has known throughout that he can heal himself. He deals with pain in his own way. And he has shown me that I am not needed as a solution, but I can help if I listen to what he wants. Mostly what he needed from me was space and time to do his thing. I was given the strength to give him that and both of us have come out better for the experience.
Part of any healing is space and rest to allow the body to do what it needs to do, without interference from the illusion of quick fixes, expectations, and the need to control the outcome. This applies to us as well as our animals. Take the time your body needs, not the time your mind thinks it can get away with.