Fungus and/or Bacteria

[Wendy Milner <wendy@wendy.cnd.hp.com>]

It seems to me that many of the hard to cure problems that
our horses get are a combination of fungus and bacteria,
rain rot being one of them, scratches are another.  I've
come up with a "magic" solution that so far has not failed
me.  You can easily make this at home.

1/3 tea tree oil
1/3 lavender oil
1/3 lemon grass oil

Tea tree treats the fungus. Lavender treats the bacteria and greatly aids
healing. Lemon grass is antiseptic, and keeps the bugs away.  (In general, 
you mix a maximum of 3 essential oils together.  If you start using more,
you risk screwing up the formulas and nixing the benefits.)

You still need to clean the affected area throughly, picking scabs
and such.  I use ebson salts and water.

You MUST, absolutely MUST, clean everything that touches
the horse with bleach (or other disinfectant), including your hands, 
after you treat the horse.  This will prevent you from re-infecting
the horse, or other horses.  Put 1/4 cup of bleach into a small bucket
of water, soak all your brushes, rags, and everything else you use
in the bleach water for several minutes.  Rinse clean. 

The only side effect I've encountered is dryness.  This I treat with
the old stand-by castor oil.

The more I find out about essential oils, the more I am a believer.

--
Wendy

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 Wendy Milner                     HPDesk:   wendy_milner@hp4000
 Hewlett-Packard Company          e-mail:   wendy@fc.hp.com
 Mail Stop A2-5UB3                Telnet:   898-2182 
 3404 E. Harmony Rd.              AT&T:     (970) 898-2182
 Fort Collins, CO, 80528-9599     FAX:      (970) 898-2038