laminae by the AVA’s (AVA’s are vessels that connect an artery
to a vein and act as shunts to bypass the capillary bed). more of the wonderful Microbes needed to keep our earth, our
animals and us healthy.
Susan’s theory proposes that the primary event in Laminitis is
actually the formation of Oedema with in the foot. This occurs
when excess fluid accumulates in the extra cellular spaces of
the tissue, due to either abnormal leakage or fluid from plasma
(like a systemic inflammatory response) to the interstitial
spaces, or when there is failure for the lymphatic system to
return fluid from these spaces back to the blood. The Biodynamic Agriculture System was Rudolf Steiner’s
legacy to us in order to try and preserve our world and our
health into the future.
What causes this increased permeability?
•Toxins
•Immune reactions
•Bacterial infections
•Vitamin C deficiency
•Trauma
•Mineral-corticoid excess
•Acute kidney failure
•Liver disease causing a decrease in plasma proteins.
In the practice of classical herbal medicine this makes perfect
sense, and as such we treat horses with EMS and Laminitis
with a 12 week course of “Blood Cleansers” which are herbs
that aids intracellular fluid balance, promotes lymphatic
drainage and encourages the elimination of metabolites and
excess hormones.
Rudolf Steiner and Biodynamic Agriculture
The truth is that none of this is new to us. Rudolph Steiner
highlighted the need to keep beneficial microbial populations
diverse and flourishing in a balanced eco system as part of his
philosophy that we are all living in a synergistic alive system.
He also discussed that major disturbances to this system
was going to result in reduced soil health. The earth and
the soil that grows our food and keeps billions of plants and
insects alive along with air and water, is critical for the world
populations to maintain health. You cannot separate any being-
animal, insect or mineral because we all breathe the same air,
live on the same earth and drink the same water.
We live in a complex system made up of smaller
diverse eco systems and each of these systems impact the
weather on a macro level, as we impact the soil on
a micro
level.
Every time we use Round
Up or similar poisons
on the soil, it kills
Page 30 • The Australian Quarter Horse Magazine • March • April • 2018
Herbal programs as the only solution to promote natural
Equine Intestinal Microbiota
On my own property in Bathurst NSW I used the Biodynamic
system to maintain a healthy environment for my horses and
as a result had never experienced the problems that you see
today with laminitis and equine metabolic syndrome.
My first experience of this syndrome was about ten years ago
when I bought an extremely expensive new horse from a stud.
The perfect storm of the long distance trip, the carrier feeding
lucerne hay and the horse’s initial overweight overfed sy