| When, two years ago, he lived in a large barn with
many other horses, Marinello started to cough. ‘Even I coughed
in that place’ said the owner, ‘although none of the
other horses there coughed’. (This is an indication of the
closeness between this 11 year old castrated pony and his owner.)
Marinello received several treatments to cure this cough but it
never really went away.
‘Every time I intend to sell him he starts to cough, I cannot
sell him when he coughs. We like him but my daughter has outgrown
him and he needs to find somebody who can work him regularly.’
‘He coughs when he is in his stable and when he starts to
trot. He doesn’t cough at other times. Sometimes we find some
clear mucus in front of his stable door. He even coughs if I work
him in a covered riding school.’
At the age of five, Marinello was nearly put down for aggressive
behaviour. One testicle was not descended when they castrated him
as a 2 year old foal. For some unknown reason, he was only partially
castrated, the inguinal testicle being left behind. Luckily, two
years later somebody had the sensible idea of removing the other
testicle and since then he has become ‘the softest lump one
can imagine.’
‘He is anxious, very anxious: he keeps his eye on everything
and will disappear as soon as possible if something happens.
He cuddles you constantly, he will rest his head on you. When you
ride him you have to sit quiet on him. When you kick him whilst
riding he is off in a blind panic. He loves being ridden and jumping’.
‘He likes to be the boss in the field: he would fight until
he is on the floor. He doesn’t give up. He thinks he can win
against the other gelding (castrated horse) that is bigger than
him. (This, I consider to be a left over from his years as a semi
stallion, although the behaviour is still very pronounced.)’
‘He will mate the mares when they are in season, but only
when they rub their bum under his nose. Otherwise he doesn’t
bother them although he likes to groom with them .’
‘When we go out riding, he would prefer to be in the front
but would not fight for it. In the field he would immediately put
all the other horses in place.
He always keeps an eye on everything.
In the field he gallops around like Bambi in the Walt Disney movie;
he enjoys himself.’
‘He gives you 200% during work as long as you don’t
kick him. If he is kicked he panics and runs off.
Every time when the cough stops and I decide I will sell him, he
starts to cough again.’
When I ask what one word would really explain his state of mind
the owner told me: insecurity.
On this I make a repertorisation:
The modalities of the cough were very clear: it is rare that they
are so explicitly expressed by owners: cough only on trot and when
inside. (He was the only horse coughing in the large barn.)
I considered rubric 3 and 4 as one rubric to indicate his sensitivity
to the least intervention from the rider. Although we could argue
whether admonition or reprimand are the right terms to use, they
indicate very well the over-sensitivity of Marinello.
| 1 |
1 |
COUGH
- EXERTION – agg. |
41 |
| 2 |
1 |
COUGH
- ROOM agg. |
18 |
| 3 |
1a |
MIND
- ADMONITION - agg. |
18 |
| 4 |
1a |
MIND
- SENSITIVE - reprimands, to |
15 |
| |
kali-c.
|
nat-m.
|
puls. |
spong.
|
bell. |
brom. |
bry. |
chin. |
coc-c.
|
dulc. |
|
|
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|
1 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
|
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
- |
1 |
1 |
- |
1 |
- |
|
3 |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
2 |
- |
- |
1 |
- |
1 |
|
4 |
- |
1 |
1 |
1 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
- |
2 |
Out of the four remedies that cover the three (4) symptoms, Pulsatilla
is the one that seems most suited. The observation that he started
to cough every time the owner intended selling him suggests that
there is an important attachment from Marinello. Out of the four
remedies Pulsatilla is the most attached one, looking for protection.
Kali-c would fight the attachment because he would like not to need
anybody but realises that he can’t do without his family,
Natrum-mur will have ‘emotional’ difficulties with the
attachment and Spongia does whatever it can to find its freedom/being
detached.
I gave Pulsatilla 30c twice per day for 3 days.
The cough disappeared within a week and one month later I found
out that he had become much more secure. This was the first time
the cough had disappeared altogether. There was no relapse of the
cough in the next three months.
Central to the remedy pulsatilla there is protection/need for protection.
Pulsatilla will use the protection without allowing the other to
exist really. There is always a selfish streak to pulsatilla. The
others will be won over through submission and kindness. A child
will walk up to the doctor and sit timidly on his knees to make
sure the doctor is not going to harm him/her. The submission and
kindness of Pulsatilla is there to win the protection of others.
|