ENGLISH VERSION self.“ It worked so well for my back that I repeated the experience with my horses.” Thus began a long period of learning, with the sisters training through books, courses, conferences, and practical experience.“ This field of study takes us back to the origins of plants and their interaction with humans. Buds contain the properties of a plant’ s flowers, fruits, and leaves all at once. Lime tree buds, for example, combine the calming properties of the flowers with the diuretic qualities of the sapwood, which is the most recently formed part of the trunk.” The Kowal sisters’ knowledge can be surprising at a time when many people struggle to distinguish an ash tree from a maple or a beech. They explain:“ Apple tree buds, combined with others, are used to help manage difficult heat cycles. The fig tree is the ultimate anti-stress tree. Alder is nicknamed‘ the firefighter among buds’ because it helps extinguish the fire of the stomach. By combining different macerates, we obtain incredible synergies that reveal or enhance the qualities of particular plants.” Another idea they emphasize is that buds harvested from trees growing in our own region may have a stronger effect on us than buds originating from Africa or elsewhere.“ We grew up on this soil and are intimately connected to the elements that surround us.” The sisters also mention the mysterious mistletoe bud, which absorbs charac- teristics from the plants it parasitizes. These properties combine with its own and require particularly careful handling.“ Gemmotherapy currently uses around sixty buds that have been studied, but thousands more remain to be discovered!” says Emmanuelle. The sisters have marketed their products under the Joy Animal brand for the past four years and serve a highly diverse clientele:“ Show-jumping yards, eventing stables, racing operations, especially among trotters, and veterinarians. We also have product lines for dogs and cats, but horses account for 75 % of our sales.” Gemmotherapy was already being used for horses before the creation of their company, but practitioners generally relied on products formulated for humans. By contrast, Céline and Emmanuelle Kowal work exclusively for animals and use dosages specifically adapted to them. The buds used in their preparations are harvested in the wild by professional gatherers belonging to a cooperative in Auvergne.“ It is an environmentally responsible practice that respects harvesting sites by never taking more than one-third of a plant’ s buds. Harvesting is not something just anyone can do because it requires extreme delicacy to avoid damaging these young tissues.” A bud traumatized by careless handling would, in their words,“ switch off,” wither in a sense. It would no longer be able to offer horses, or humans, the mysterious and ancient virtues attributed to it.
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BREED FOCUS
Whether Purebred Arabians, AQPS horses or ponies, they embody the full diversity of horse racing. A closer look at these essential sectors that continue to inspire and captivate.
AQPS
RIVOLI: THE FIRST GREAT AQPS AT AUTEUIL
BY ALICE BAUDRELLE
At the end of the 1960s, Rivoli made headlines by becoming the first AQPS horse to defeat thoroughbreds in Auteuil’ s most prestigious races, the Grande Course de Haies( Gr. 1). This son of Burgos was bred at Haras de Saint-Voir by Maurice de Lageneste, the grandfather of Nicolas de Lageneste.
Today, the dominance of AQPS horses over thoroughbreds in many elite races surprises no one. Yet the breed’ s designation carried a rather pejorative connotation 60 years ago. AQPS horses gradually earned
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