By Faye Birkin

In 2006 a very special, red chestnut Arab gelding called Champ came into my life. He was about 11 years old at the time, and apart from suffering from a terrible history of founder and seedy toe, he also had 3 dormant sarcoids on his body, that had up till then, been growing relatively slowly and not causing too much trouble. One was inside his ear, one in the centre of his chest and the other on his flank.

Then, an unlucky combination of a particularly hot summer, a bad year of flies & Champ scratching up against trees and rolling, broke 2 of these

April 2008

 sarcoids open. Of course, this is one of the worst things for sarcoids… Once disturbed, they began to grow, literally overnight. Nothing I did helped. The more I tried to keep them clean the more inflamed, irritated & sensitive they became. They began oozing and bleeding constantly as well as growing at an alarming rate. The first thing I did, was to extensively research sarcoids and their treatments, and, to say the least, I was not comforted!

All the traditional treatments were similar to how you would treat a cancer, ie freezing, radiation, chemo, surgery etc etc. And in the end you are left with only about a 50/50 chance of actually getting rid of the sarcoid for good, whereas in many cases, they return & spread! By this time I was getting extremely worried, as Champ”s sarcoids were growing aggressively and were causing him considerable pain.

 In desperation, I called the vet out and he confirmed what I already suspected. He said that yes, we could try treatment, but there was never any guarantee of success. He suggested I start with a  topical treatment called Xxtera…So, I started using Xxtera and within a few days my poor horse was in such agony that he literally cringed when he saw me

June 2008

After about 3 weeks of this torture, with absolutely improvement and my horse still in agony, I began to question what on earth I was doing! Did I not use herbs for everything else? Had I not seen their healing properties in action time and time again?!

Feeling like I needed the help of a trained herbalist, I emailed (and sent photos) Robert McDowell & explained the situation. He said to put Champ on his Sarcoid program immediately. I ordered through his website and within a week or so I started Champ on the External tincture: It contains the following herbs…as explained by Robert McDowell…
“Echinacea, Thuja, Equisetum, Comfrey, Mistletoe, Vervain and Violet Leaves. In addition it contains the following Bach Flower Remedies

Late July 2008

Within 2 weeks I began to notice a significant improvement. Another 2 weeks after that the 2 biggest sarcoids on his flank fell off, as did the one in his ear! Within 3 months there was no trace of any of the 3 sarcoids, apart from the hairless

September 2008- The biggest Sarcoid had completely disappeared

 patches where they had once festered and oozed. I still marvel over the wonderful healing of those seemingly undefeatable growths every time I see my horse. So, rather than trying explain the changes I saw, I have posted the series of photographs I took while Champ was being treated. I do think they speak much louder than words!

Faye Birkin

Note: Robert McDowell’s website is www.herbal-treatments.net.  You can email him with any queries you have, he is extremely knowledgeble and helpful.

 His email is: info@herbal-treatments.com.au
I currently have another horse on his Melanoma treatment, and hope to have that testimonial up soon!

The combined effect of these herbs and each of their range of actions is to clear toxins from the blood directly using the effects of Echinacea, Thuja and Mistletoe, each of which works on different type of metabolic, bacterial and viral debris; to stimulate the systems which carry such material out of the system (Equisetum and Violet Leaves which stimulate discharge through the bowel, skin and lymphatics). The Nervine Vervain is included to support the nervous system which is more susceptible to skin problems and Comfrey is a healer. The Bach Flowers actions are self evident.”