that horses have a natural judgment
for what is good to eat and
what is not. Any worries about my
horses eating poisonous plants,
trees or flowers were unnecessary.
Sebastian instinctively knew which
plants and flowers were healthy to
eat and which ones were best left
alone. The yellow buttercup, for instance,
horses never touch. Sebastian
had just clearly shown me that
by smell and instinct he knew that
the flowers he ate were not poison
and were safe and good to eat.
Later that day, I looked up the flowers
the horses ate by name in my
herb book and read up on their
healing powers: yarrow, clover,
raspberries, vetch, apple blossoms.
They were all nonpoisonous and
nourishing. Yarrow with its small
white flowers which bloom in late
Spring has been known for its medicinal
properties for many centuries.
Its blood cleansing ability has
helped many
people restore their
health. Raspberry
leaves and bushes
are full of vitamins
and nutrients that
most people in
today’s medical
world have forgotten
Horses are able to decide
for themselves which
plants, small trees, and
flowers are edible and
which are not.
as they have turned from
natural remedies to pharmaceutical
Horses are able to decide for themselves
which plants, small trees,
and flowers are edible and which
are not. People sometimes might
give their horses things not good for
them, but in the pasture the horses
know for themselves what is edible
and what is not. When Sebastian
ate the bouquet of flowers right
out of my hand that morning, he
taught me that horses really do
have a very natural instinct for
herbalism.
Karin Matey is the author of My
American Horse Family and Sebastian’s
Adventures: Diary of a Champion.
For more information, please
EE
How mighty and bold the trees
stand around the edge of the
fields. Trees exhale the oxygen without
which we would not be able to
breathe or survive. Like trees, flowers
have healing properties that the
wild and domestic animals know
and instinctively take advantage
of. If I had somehow managed to
remove most or all of the beautiful
wildflowers and plants from my
meadow, their nourishment would
have been lost. I would have also
removed the beautiful butterflies,
bees, hummingbirds, dragonflies
and many other species of wildlife
by eliminating their natural habitat.
One morning before leaving my
horses in the pasture to get ready
for work, after picking wildflowers
for myself and my spa, I walked
over to my horses and gave them a
hug and pat before walking back
to the house. My horse Sebastian
took me by surprise as he simply
ate the whole
bouquet of flowers
right out of my
hand! I worried
that some of the
flowers could be
poisonous to him.
I knew how potent
some flowers could
be. I had to get ready for work
soon and could only stay a few
more minutes to observe him and
make sure he was not going to get
sick. To my relief he was just fine.
Sebastian knew exactly what he
was doing before he decided to
eat the whole bouquet of flowers
right out of my hand. He took a few
seconds to carefully smell them
and let his lips run over the flowers
before he decided to eat them. He
did not know that I had intended
to bring the flowers home to my
spa but thought that when I let him
smell the flowers I was giving him a
treat!
I walked home with no flowers
for my spa but with a new insight
about horses and their natural
instinct for herbalism. What Sebastian
taught me that morning in a
humorous way proved to me
medicine.
visit her author website at
www.karinmatey.com.
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