Please allow me to introduce myself, I’m a holistic veterinarian, Jean Hofve, DVM. Even though I was a small animal vet (specifically cats!), I have always adored horses…and now that I am retired, I can indulge that love–and do something to really make a difference for our equine friends.
A few years ago, I was teaching a class on flower essences to the volunteers at Colorado Horse Rescue. There, I met a gal who had just adopted a beautiful chestnut mare. Rosie had severe COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, also called equine asthma, but nowadays known as RAO–reactive airway disease).
Being ever-curious, I did a little research on this disease, which I’d barely heard of in vet school. I was horrified by what I discovered. I thought only a few horses had COPD, but it turned out that virtually *every* sport horse has early microscopic lung disease that could easily progress to its most severe form: a career-ending, debilitating condition.
Well, that stopped me in my tracks, and I wondered, what can I do? Those beautiful horses I just watched yesterday vying for a spot in the Olympics already have lung damage! Why don’t people know more about this? So my first project is to educate horse owners about what’s really going on.
But the obvious problem with education is that it isn’t enough to run around like a crazed Chicken Little and say “Horses are in trouble!” I needed a way to help these horses. I looked around and discovered there is very little help available. So the second project is working with my good friend and master herbalist Michelle Kalevik to create natural herbal mixtures to help equine athletes minimize the ongoing lung damage and heal what’s already there. We’ve gotten a good start, and there is more in the pipeline. Check us out at www.equinawellness.com.
