Articles About Equine Iridology

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STONES, by Mercedes Colburn ND, MHH

I would like to introduce Solo. Solo is an Arabian stallion owned by Rhea Hastey of Castroville, California. Rhea is an Arabian breeder and an equine iridologist and Solo is one of her Stallions.

I met Solo five years ago when he was brought to our farm for an iridology appointment. Rhea wanted his eyes done to be sure he was in good health. Solo was a beautiful well-mannered stallion and we felt, at that time, his eyes were showing a clear intestinal system, good breeding and good health.

For the last five years Solo has lived at an Arabian training center that feeds alfalfa hay to the horses. In April of 2005 Rhea was starting to see signs of colic. She called her veterinarian immediately. Solo had colic twice in three days and the following day was taken to an equine emergency clinic in the area. Diagnosis: Enterolith and gastric ulcers. He arrived at the clinic for x-rays of the abdomen. The x-ray showed he had a large enterolith in the large colon and was taken immediately into surgery. After surgery, Solo spent 11 days in intensive care. Rhea was very happy that the veterinarians had saved the life of her friend and partner even through her bill was now close to twenty thousand dollars.

This is not the largest enterolith that we have seen or have heard of, but it seems to us that it happens more when feeding straight alfalfa hay. We believe that this hay can be hard on most horses but the Arabian horse doesn’t seem to be able to handle straight alfalfa (due to stones) at all.

The horses we have here eat only grass hay. We use probiotics along with a vitamin and minerals supplement and we don’t seem to have any intestinal problems.

On May 9, 2005, Solo was discharged from the clinic. The doctors from the clinic wrote out instructions for his diet: Supplement: add apple cider vinegar to the feed starting at 1/4 cup once a day and slowly increasing to 1 cup once a day. This will help to dissolve small stones.

Feeding: AVOID FEEDING ALFALFA HAY, as it contributes to stone formation.

There is an area inside the iris of the eye of the horse that historically, has been able to show there is trouble ‘starting’ in either one of the flexures inside the large colon of the horse. The flexure, found in the right eye, is called the pelvic flexure and the flexure in the left eye is called the diaphragmatic flexure. The pelvic flexure will show in the right top corner of the eye and the diaphragmatic in the top right hand corner of the left eye. Both of these flexures (or turns) have a long tube that flows into the turn. This tube, and turn, can easily be impacted. The film below is Solo’s eye taken five years ago. You can see an area (marked) showing in a lighter color than the rest of the iris in the pelvic flexure. We know now that this marking is showing an acute lesion in that area and possibly the beginning of a problem.

We did not know back then where the flexures were and how they could show us impending problems. With the help of Doctor Dena Eckerdt, in California, we are now able to see many problems before they manifest.

The picture above, taken five years ago, is showing (lighter marking) where the impending problem was. It was in the top right hand corner (above the pupil) of Solo’s eye. It is also showing stress lines (white markings in the bottom half of the iris). These markings were showing that there was some kind of problem within the body of the horse. Unfortunately, for Rhea and Solo, both of these signals were missed five years ago. Equine Iridology has come a very long way since then and today we, along with many veterinarians that use this tool, are saving horses and owners from experiencing the same thing.

Today, Rhea Hastey is an Equine Iridology Technician and a valuable member of our research team. Solo is still a beautiful mannered stallion that now is fed grass hay along with his probiotics and vitamin/mineral supplement. Solo is recuperating from his surgery and feeling and looking better every day. I believe that we have not heard the last from “Capt Han Solo”.