Rosemary Oil

Hello all!

Once again, I will be doing this post in bullets, as it is faster, and I have a senior project proposal to finish tonight! :)

• First of all, this oil should be diluted well before use; it is very strong.
• Carole Faith recommends that it not be used on pregnant mares or other horses that may have high blood pressure.

Aside from that, it can be used as...

• Fly repellent mixes.
• To treat lice.
• A circulatory stimulant - it combats water retention, sluggish circulation, toxin buildup, and rheumatism.
• To treat respiratory tract problems.
• It blends well with lavender.
• It's helps aid the immune system.
• Promotes general health and well-being.
• Aids concentration.
• Combats mental fatigue.
• Relieves conditions from nervous dispositions.
• Antiseptic.
• Hepatic (aids the liver)
• Tonic
• Benefits the stomach
• Eliminates toxins by promoting sweating
• Pain relief
• Prevents buildup of microbial infections
• Massage - increases localized circulation and warms the muscles

This oil is fairly inexpensive in comparison to others.

As usual, these facts are all taken from Carole Faith's Essential Oils for Horses, which can be found for sale on Amazon.com and has a lot of helpful information about using aromatherapy with horses besides just the properties of many different oils. 

Geranium Oil

Not really sure if these are geraniums or not...I just wanted to use one of my own pictures, and this looked similar to what I found when I searched "geranium" on Google. lol

Jumping right into it...bullet points today!

• Antidepressant
• Helps with stress-related conditions
• Anti-inflammatory properties
• Healing properties
• Relieves tension
• Affects the endocrine system (probably why it is helpful with depression)
• Natural fly repellent
• Helpful with wounds because it has styptic properties (helps to stop bleeding)
• Diluted geranium in witch hazel can help with bruising
• Combats intestinal worms
• Fungicidal properties
• Astringent
• Antiseptic
• Diuretic
• Balances the nervous system
• Liver stimulant (it seems to me that this would probably further help rid the body of toxins)
• Lymphatic stimulant (would help to fight infections)
• May cause changes in temperament
• Helps cause calmness because it is balances hormones
• Recommended not to be used at the end of the day because it may keep the subject awake

There you go! 

As usual, these facts are all taken from Carole Faith's Essential Oils for Horses, which can be found for sale on Amazon.com and has a lot of helpful information about using aromatherapy with horses besides just the properties of many different oils.

Grapefruit Oil

I chose grapefruit oil for this week because I use a type of face wash that has grapefruit extract in it (LOVE it), and it made me wonder about its aromatherapy properties - so I pulled out my handy dandy essential oils notebook that contains all of my notes that I have collected thus far about oils.

Well what do you know!

I found out that grapefruit oil helps with mild depression, calms the nerves and anxiety, and helps with performance stress.  This all dealing with horses' reactions, but it stands to reason that it would have close to the same effect on people - if not exactly the same.  Hmm.. Maybe this is why I am drawn to this particular face wash more than others I've tried in the past; I usually deal with a fair amount of stress from school.

It also has antiseptic properties, is a digestive aid and increases appetite, and is an astringent (also good for face washes!).  It is also said to help deal with confusion, jealousy, worry over the past, frustration, and indecisiveness.

I think I'm beginning to see why I like this scent so much...

Lemon Oil

Lemon is one of my favorite scents.  I love it.  In my Scentsy warmer, one of the scents I burn most often is called Coconut Lemongrass, and I also love cutting up lemons - it leaves my hands smelling pleasantly lemony for a long time afterward.  Amazzzingg. :)

Anyway, lemon oil must be used carefully because too much can cause skin irritation and sensitivity.

Lemon oil helps with circulation and regulation of blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, etc. It helps with arthritis and rheumatism. 

 It can also be used as an astringent, antitoxin, and insecticide (which means it is put to good use in fly repellant).  

It promotes sweating, which helps to rid the body of toxins.  It can be diluted and applied around wounds because of its antiseptic properties, to clean the wounds and help them to begin healing.  Lemon oil also relieves muscle spasms.  It reduces temperature and fever, and it produces white blood cells, which help to fight infections.

It also helps stop external bleeding and stomach bloating.

Lemon and Chamomile are supposed to be good for maintaining immunity against infectious illnesses and viruses.

You should never leave lemon oil in the sun because it is phototoxic, and you should also never leave the lid off of it for extended periods of time because citrus oils oxidize faster than others and can cause skin irritation and sensitivity.

As usual, all of the information in this post is from Essential Oils for Horses by Carole Faith. :)

Black Pepper Oil

Black pepper oil is an oil to be extremely careful with.  As to be expected of black pepper, it is an irritant when experienced in concentration.  However, it is not toxic - only irritating.

It can be used in massage and is a great muscle relaxant.  I've read that it is a good oil to use on older horses - not necessarily in aromatherapy, although I have met one horse who couldn't get enough of the smell of it.  It is good for these older horses because it helps ease arthritis and rheumatism, muscle aches and pains, and is a circulatory stimulant, which helps with stiffness.  See what I mean about it helping older horses?  Does that sound like any elderly horses you know?  Or for that matter, maybe some elderly people?

It stimulates the appetite, aids digestion, and can relieve colic symptoms.

It can be used for mild pain relief and promotes general health.  

For horses of any age, it can be used with muscle sprains/strains after any kind of exercise.  

These traits were all taken from Essential Oils for Horses by Carole Faith.  

One remedy that I read about last summer when researching things to treat Orion's legs with used black pepper, lime, eucalyptus, and peppermint oils mixed into a base of sweet almond oil (which, by the way, is the base I use to mix my oils in, and Orion doesn't mind it).  The oils were mixed with 3 drops of eucalyptus, and 1 drop each of the lime, peppermint, and black pepper oils in 10 mL of sweet almond oil.  It was massaged into the legs to treat overworked tendons or muscles.  

Bergamot Oil

I've always heard of bergamot oil termed as the grief oil.  I decided to do this one in light of Jake's death.  Orion hasn't really been showing grief symptoms (unless you count having an extremely bad attitude the first couple of days I had him out after Jake died), but I knew that Jake's passing would be coming soon because he was so old and had been in pretty bad shape for a while.  His system just couldn't function the way it used to.  So something I've wondered if I would need to use to help Orion with any grief or depression he may go through was bergamot oil.  So far he's been fine, but here is why I considered it.

According to Carole Faith's "Essential Oils for Horses" book, bergamot can be used in the following ways:

It lifts the spirits and encourages appetite.  It boosts the immune system and helps with anxiety and despondency, as well as lack of confidence and stress.

It can also be used as a general tonic, and can be used to combat airborne bacteria when used in a spray.

Bergamot relieves the itching from stings and insect bites and can be applied to cuts, wounds, and other skin conditions as well.  It is known as an antiseptic and helps to heal wounds and provides pain relief.

It soothes and settles the stomach, aids and stimulates digestion, and combats intestinal worms and parasites.  It can also be used with urinary infections.  It is also a laxative and has diuretic properties.

Peppermint Oil

Hey everyone!

Sorry it's been so long...finals week and all that.  I didn't get to write another essential oil post on Monday, so here is this week's, albeit a few days late. :)

Peppermint can be used as aromatherapy or in a massage or ingested.

It can be used for respiratory tract problems, pain relief, muscle spasms, circulation stimulation, arthritis and rheumatism, aches and sprains, muscle and tendon problems, and extreme physical and mental fatigue.

It clears the head, assists mental fatigue and nervous conditions, and it boosts the system.

It is supposed to be the most natural stomachic.  It's an antiseptic.  It helps the liver.  It promotes sweating and therefore eliminates toxins.  It can be used to treat intestinal worms.

The thing to be careful about is that using this oils with other homeopathic remedies can negate their effects.

According to edensgarden.com, inhaling peppermint oil can help to curb the appetite and prevent overeating.  Inhaling it before and after a workout can also help to boost your mood and reduce fatigue.

Peppermint on a cotton ball (just a few drops - like 5) can be placed in your vacuum cleaner bag or vents to help freshen up the room.

Lavender Oil

Hello all!

I decided to try something new for Mondays. From now on (hopefully - time allowing) I'll be posting about an essential oil.  You know, that stuff used for aromatherapy or massage?

I've talked about it on here before, and most of you probably already know that I've been using it with Orion.

So, I thought I'd try to post a little something every Monday so that you can learn about them along with me.

A lot of the information that I have is from this book:

Check it out if you're interested in this stuff. It's worth the money.


  Today's oil is lavender.

Lavender can be used for almost anything.  Seriously.  If you look up the uses for it, the list is ridiculously long.


Some of the uses listed in Essential Oils for Horses are these:


- Wound management
-General soothing and healing
- Natural fly repellent
- Antiseptic (which is why it's good for managing wounds)
- Pain relief
- Sedative
- Antispasmodic
- Bactericide
- Decongestant
- Cell renewal
- Antidepressant
- Can help sinusitis, asthma, and bronchial problems
- Prevention of infections of the respiratory tract


It can also be added to preparations for the following:
- combating ticks and parasites
- lice
- ringworm
-spots
- bites
- abscesses
- most dermatological problems
- inflammatory situations regarding skin and muscles
- stomach conditions
- general liver health
- anti-toxic oil

I've been using it for myself lately also.  I've often heard that it is calming and relaxing, and when I ordered my own bottle to use with Orion, it came with a small pamphlet titled "45 Ways to Use Essential Oils."


One of the things it suggested was to put a couple drops of the oil on a tissue or cotton ball and place it under your pillow.  (It actually said to add a drop of lavender and a drop of chamomile oil, but since I didn't have chamomile, I just did 2 drops of lavender.)  It's supposed to help you sleep.  I've been doing this for the last week or so, and I've really noticed a difference.  I sleep much better now, and when the oil's scent starts to wear off after two or three nights, I've noticed that I start to become more restless at night.  When I add a little more the next night, I'm fine, back to sleeping well again.


Also if you go to the Edens Garden website (this is the company I've been getting my oils from), you'll find a page titled "40 Ways to Use".  It has pretty much the same things that are in my pamphlet, so you can see them there. :)


Also, you can buy any of the oils from this company in my store and not even have to leave this blog. :)


Let me know what you think of these oils and if you like the idea of a weekly oil post!

Horses and Puppies, Part 2

Today was an excellent day!  We spent about half an hour to forty-five minutes playing with the pups, then brought Orion and Kit into the barn (it was pouring the rain).  

Kit "reading". lol  (If I'd caught this just a few seconds earlier, it would have been better - she was very intently looking at the book.)

Jake: Poke! 

We didn't ride at all, since it was so nasty out.  One way out to the road was out of the question because of hunters, and the other way, through the yard, was out too - the paving stones that make the walkway were super slippery, and both horses had enough trouble on them yesterday that I didn't want to risk taking Orion onto them when they were at least twice as bad like today.  

So instead, we played and groomed.  I dried Orion somewhat and squeegeed him (that term sounds so funny! haha), then did some aromatherapy/massage stuff.  Yesterday I put a little bit of diluted lavender oil on him.  He had liked the smell of it and tried to grab the bottle out of my hand, but once I started putting it on him, he wanted no part of it.  Today, I mixed 3 drops of lavender and 2 drops of peppermint (which he loved when I let him smell it - he was stretching to try to reach it when I took it away from him) with 10 mL of sweet almond oil as a base.  He ended up spilling the container with the mixture onto the towel that I had with his stuff, so I just used that part of the towel to wipe his nostrils and muzzle, which put the oil on him that way.  He stood quietly and breathed it in and relaxed within five minutes. He seriously went from freaking out about the fact that we had chased Jake away from him (so that I could actually move around the stall) to standing quietly with his head down and his back leg cocked, ears drooping to the sides.  I've never seen him so relaxed.

A few minutes after I finished with the oils, he did this:

I don't know if you can actually tell from this pic or not, but he had his head resting on my shoulder.  He stood like that for about five minutes.  Just quiet and chilled out.

  

This is where the pups live; Ed and Linda fenced it in so that they couldn't get into the barn.  The horses sometimes fight over space, so it would have been dangerous for the puppies.  Orion really seems to like them.  It's cute. :)

We also figured out that Kit loves, and I mean LOVES, peppermint oil.  It makes sense; she's addicted to these peppermint treats that Chelsea gets for her.

This is how chilled out Kit was after about 15 minutes of just standing and breathing in the peppermint dilution.

The following pictures show what Orion's attitude toward Chels has been like for the past two days.  He doesn't seem very fond of her for some reason...:

Now, when Orion put his head on my shoulder, I was surprised.  He's never done anything like that since I got him.  So, imagine how much greater my surprise was when I sat on the manger railing and he came over to me; I started doing little T-touch circles on his ears, and after a couple of minutes, he put his head in my lap!

He stood like this for at least fifteen minutes.  I was sooo happy.  It really felt like we bonded a lot more today. :)

Woody (aka boss horse), mad at being kept out of "his" barn.

Staredown

So, after everything today, I found out that Orion was a bit possessive of me.  I was still sitting on the manger, he still had his head in my lap - although he was more alert to his surroundings and not quite as relaxed because Chels was walking around and trying to keep Woody from coming in.  While Chelsea was busy, Kit came over to try to pick on me (nudging, lipping, nibbling, that sort of thing), and Orion was instantly stretched across my lap and in her face.  He wouldn't let her anywhere near me...

This was one I snapped while he was warning her away.  You can't see it because they were so close (he literally was stretched across my lap to get to her), but his ears were flat back against his head, like "No, mine!" 

I felt kinda special after that. :)

Busyness and aromatherapy

So, I have two papers, two quizzes, a reading analysis, a presentation, and four days of work left before Thanksgiving break starts for me!

That being said, you probably won't be hearing much from me on here from now until Saturday or Sunday.  I will have my nose to the grindstone trying to get everything accomplished.

Also, don't forget to look at my store periodically.  If I get any spare minutes of free time this week, I'll be gradually adding stuff in little by little.  I've already begun a mental list of things I want it to have.  If you go there now, you'll notice that I've added a couple of new sections - Bach Flower remedies and essential oils.  Both are things that I haven't tried yet but have read a ton about and am eager to experiment with.  I ordered a few essential oils for Orion the other night. The ones I got are now displayed under "Orion's stuff".

As an explanation to which ones I got - lavender is great for just about anything.  If you look up the things it can help with, the list seems endless.  Black pepper, lime, peppermint, and eucalyptus, diluted in sweet almond oil, is supposed to be a good for treating tendon and muscle injuries, as well as pain, when used in a massage directly to those muscles or tendons.  While Orion's tendons are pretty much back to normal, I thought it would be good to have these on hand for when I start riding more (Thanksgiving week I have plans to ride with both Chelsea and Liz and I'm looking forward to seeing how he does).  If he shows any signs of soreness or lameness, I can use the oils to see if it helps over the course of the week.  It might also be a good idea to use them anyway before riding as a precaution.  

Whatever happens, those are the oils' uses, and they're available through my store, as well as a whole host of others, in the "Essential Oils" section.  And if you're interested enough to order a couple to try out, you can order them directly from my blog.  It's through Amazon, so that's where the order would come from, and your Amazon account is what you would be using.

If you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask. :)

With that, I will bid you adieu, and I hope that everyone has a wonderful week!

Some Plans for Orion...

So, Ethan is coming up to see Orion today (hopefully) with his sister and maybe their mom.  I'm not sure who all is on the roster for the visit. lol  But I'm excited.  I can't wait for all my friends to meet Orion.  I think he could win over anyone.  He's so sweet and gentle and gorgeous.  I mean seriously, all he has to do is look at me with his big eyes and his ears pricked and I freakin' melt.  He's that cute.  And so far he's responding well to me, which is great.  No real bond there yet, but it's a good start so far.

I'm going to read about some stretching exercises to do for his legs and some massage stuff while I wait for some definite plans to be made for later today.  Everyone is busy right now, so I don't want to bother them about it at the moment.

I think one thing I'm definitely going to do today, because I think it's so damn cool, is lunge him. I've tried explaining how it's done to Ethan, but I think it's something that you can't understand the allure of until you actually see it in action.  It's all about body language, as Liz told me.  She had to teach me the other day because I had never done it before.  I've read about how to do it, but not actually done it.  And really, it's not that hard; it just took me a few minutes to get the hang of it.  Every time I stopped driving Orion around the circle, he didn't just stop.  He actually came to me.  It was so sweet.  I couldn't believe it.  He may have just been trained to do that; I'm not sure.  But one thing I did notice was that on that day, when I put him back out in the field, he immediately came into the barn and waited for me to come in.  I'd only been out there twice before, but when I put him in the field, he just went on doing his thing, eating and walking around.  Sunday though, he came and waited for me.  Whether for treats or because he wanted to be around me, I don't know.  He got both though.  I started teaching him to "kiss" while he was there. lol

I think that lunging might be another way I can start to build a bond with him.  Simply put, when you lunge, if you do it right, you're speaking the horse's language.  Facing them head on is aggressive.  It's what a head mare will do when one of the herd is in trouble or needs put in their place.  When you turn sideways to them, it's passive.  It's like saying "Okay, you can stop now."  So they do.  They stop.  

One of the things I'm interested in doing with Orion is join-up.  It follows the same kind of rules as lunging does.  You act aggressive and send them out to the outside of the circle, except in this case, you don't have a lunge line attached.  They are free.  They move around you in that circle, and eventually, they will want to stop.  In the herd, it's like asking permission to come back in after they've been chased away.  The signs that they want to come back to you are fixing their inner ear on you to show you they are paying attention, dropping their head lower, and licking and chewing.  Once they've done all of this, they'll usually come into the middle with you if you let them stop.  And remember, nothing is attached to them, so no one is making them do it.  You resume a passive position, and they decide to come to you.  

It helps build the bond stronger, because you've proven to them that you can speak their language and they got to make their own choice about you.  It builds trust.  I want to do that with Orion someday.  For now though, I'll just stick to gentle lunging, because I don't want him to work too hard with his legs being the way they are.  Sometimes join-up can take a while.  I don't think it would with him, but I don't want to risk overworking him.  So that will be saved for another day.

For right now, I'm sticking to reading my new book on essential oils so that I can learn more about aromatherapy and how it can be used.  I want to learn all I can before I start it with him so that I can make the most out of what I do. :)

And that's what I'm going to go work on right now! :D