Elly’s story – A grieving pony with a fear of cars

Elly arrived to join our little family herd one cold and bleak January. My Mum, our lovely friend and I clubbed together to give a safe home to a sad and grieving pony who had captured our hearts. She was very thin and withdrawn when she arrived. She was also terrified of cars, with good reason.

Elly was a New Forest pony who had lived on the forest close to where we kept our horses. We had become used to seeing her with her friend, a chestnut mare, on and around the lane where we had our field. One day Elly was standing outside our field, all alone and we were very upset to learn that her friend had been killed by a car at the end of the lane. Over the following weeks Elly started to spend a lot of time outside the field gate, seeking comfort from our horses. She didn’t seem to have bonded with any of the other ponies who were wild grazing nearby. This seemed very strange, knowing how New Forest ponies naturally herd together.

When we made enquiries about this little pony, we learned that Elly had been hit by a car the previous summer and that tragically her foal had been killed in the incident. Elly had been injured and taken off the forest to recuperate. She had bonded with this one other mare on her return and now her friend had also been lost in the same way. It was unbelievable to think that this young mare had experienced so much trauma and had been through so much, both emotionally and physically.

When Elly joined our herd, she would stand apart from the other horses and even after several weeks she wasn’t bonding with any of them. She was improving health wise and was gaining weight, looking brighter and was starting to bond with us and yet she seemed very sad and disconnected. If a car came by her on the lane between our field and the farmyard or into the yard area, she would panic and run away. Given that there was a tractor and truck that needed to come in and out frequently, we were going to need to find a solution to help her to overcome her fear.

I started offering essential oils to Elly to bring her emotional support for her past traumas and her fear of vehicles. Because she was a native UK breed who had been raised on the forest, I knew she would have had a lot of experience of self-selecting plants for their medicinal properties. Elly was consequently very interested in what was on offer in my Zoopharmacognosy kit and was very receptive to the healing. To this date she is one of the most memorable animals I have ever worked with, with essential oils.

Elly and I were in one of the stables overlooking the yard to do her first concentrated session of Applied Zoopharmacognosy. She was extremely interested in Rose Otto essential oil which is an oil frequently self-selected by grieving animals. It helps to reduce adrenalin levels which makes it extremely helpful in cases of shock and trauma. She was just beginning to relax when a truck arrived in the yard and the driver jumped out and left the engine running close to where we were. Elly panicked.

Luckily, I had bottles of essential oils easily to hand in my pocket and I pulled out Violet Leaf absolute which is a big favourite with fearful animals and those who have experienced trauma like Elly had. For her the truck meant pain and loss. Run away, don’t be near it. There was a connection between the object of her fear and the physical and emotional pain she had suffered. Elly inhaled the violet leaf and calmly stood beside me observing the truck with her head over the stable door! She went from blind panic to calm in less than a minute.

The truck was still there, so I thought this could be a golden opportunity to help Elly release some of her trauma. I offered her yarrow essential oil which is often chosen by animals who have had a traumatic experience or an accident. Elly’s lips trembled, she rubbed her nose hard on the bottle and licked at it. She licked a drop from my hand and then stood quietly next to me. I offered to stroke some over her heart chakra and she forgot all about the noisy truck with it’s engine still running and started to process the oil, her head held low and her eyes focused on a point in the distance. She came back to me to inhale Yarrow and Rose together with her lips trembling. She gave a big sigh and stood watching the truck as it left the yard.

Neroli was the next essential oil I offered. This one is often self-selected by an animal who has experienced loss, separation and sadness. I see Neroli selected by many horses and ponies, as they can often have lots of changes of homes and bond with a herd only to be moved to a new one. They feel the loss of their former friends. I knew Elly had had two other foals who she was separated from when they were still very young, as well as her foal who had been killed. She was really interested in it and inhaled it alongside Yarrow.

Elly wanted Neroli stroked over her chest and onto her forehead, dropping her head to accept the oil. Elly had also been hit by the car that killed her foal and had evidence of some scarring on her chest and left shoulder. It seemed very important that she wanted the oil physically on an area of her body that had experienced both physical and emotional pain. She suddenly started to vigorously paw the shavings on the floor and there was an incredibly loud crack from her neck and left shoulder, as if something was going back into place. She stopped pawing as soon as the crack happened and became completely calm.

Then Elly started to nuzzle the air beside her. She did this over and over and she was nudging at the air too. It was as if she was nudging a foal into position to drink from her. This went on for quite some time and the waves of emotion that came up and out of her, were enormous. Tears poured down my face, as she stayed lost in a trance of seemingly playing Mum to an unseen foal. Her lips trembled and her eyes were focused on the space beside her tummy, as if she could see something I could not.

When Elly had processed through these emotions and had stopped her nuzzling and nudging actions, I offered her Linden Blossom absolute to help to support her emotions. She licked ten drops and became playful and foal like in her behaviour. It was as if a great weight had lifted from her and I saw a new side of her personality. An enormous timber lorry came into the yard at that point and I was amazed to see Elly walk to the stable door to watch it curiously, rather than panicking. It had to do a very tricky manoeuvre past the stables and she just stood and watched the whole process!

When I took Elly to put her back in the field she insisted on investigating my car on her way past. She stuck her head through the open windows and had a look in the open boot! Her attitude had completely changed and she continued to be calm around vehicles from that moment onwards.

When I put her back in the field she whinnied to the other horses and rushed to greet them. None of us had heard her make any sound whatsoever before this moment. Katy who went on to be her absolute bestie, stood and licked Elly’s head where she had had the oils stroked on and there was a really sweet moment of deep bonding where it was as if Katy was caring for Elly as if she was a foal.

Elly was like a different pony after her first session and quickly became extremely cheeky, happily integrated into the herd and was calm when being led and tied up. She had lots of follow up sessions to support her and continued to self-select the essential oils for three months. Elly had been through so much and it was as if the essential oils had given her back her love of life and helped her to start again with new friends and people who loved her.

My full case study about Elly is published in Caroline Ingraham’s books ‘How Animals Heal Themselves' and ‘Animal Self-Medication.’

If you would like to know more about how Applied Zoopharmacognosy can help an animal in your life or if you are worried that your animal is grieving, depressed or anxious, please contact me. I’d love to help.