Ellen Collinson grew up in the North of England, started riding at 9 years of age joined the pony club, hunted and showed and show jumped ponies, in later years I continued to hunt and rode point to point but the point to pointing was cut short due to a bad fall. I went to work for a very good small trainer called ‘Freddie’ Dickinson, he used to train National Hunt horses and Point to pointers in the winter and produce show horses in the summer. In his younger days he rode for Lady Yule and won at the White City on several occasions. He was an exceptionally gifted horseman, with a deep understanding of horses psychology long before the current ‘horse whisperers’, he was a brilliant feeder, and used to say regularly that races were won or lost in two places, ‘one in the feed bowl and one at the start’ he was also a great believer in herbs, and used to use herbs as a natural feed ’balancer’ and also as a natural ‘medicine’ I was very lucky to have worked for such a knowledgeable man who taught me so much and I have tried to continue in my work the way he would have done.
Then when I was living in Ireland I met an Alpine gypsy who told me about Iridology, which is commonly practiced in Europe, especially Germany. I studied human iridology to learn how it worked, on what basis the iris represented the body, then I turned my attention to the horses eye and found the subject fascinating. I spent a long time observing post mortems, and also went to the local ‘knocker’s yard’ to compare the horse’s eyes with the state of the organs and structural state of the horse.
Iridology is based on the principle that the markings of the iris of the eye indicate accurately the state of the condition, showing organ strings and weaknesses and especially constitutional inheritance. This aspect of iridology means that problems can be detected long before they can turn into an illness.
In Ireland, Ted Walsh was one of my first clients and if anyone asked him if he could help with a problem horse, he said ‘no, but I know a woman who can.’
As well as Iridology consultations I am a qualified herbalist and supply some of the top competition and training yards with my products. These unique and successful combinations are made up either as powders or tinctures and are extremely potent and are sold as Ellen Collinson Herbal Products. Olympic dressage rider Kirsty Mepham said ‘At first I was sceptical about using Herbal Bute and Kidney Herbs for Dikkiloo my horse I took to the Sydney Olympic Games as I was cautious about feeding him anything different. I was recommended to use them after a consultation with Ellen Collinson, the equine iridologist. Ellen identified that Dikkiloo had a blockage on his left hand side, around the kidney area. She asked me if he was sore in that area and also if he was a ‘bit short’ on the left when ridden. I confirmed both of these observations. As she had so accurately described him without ever seeing him move, I decided to give the herbs a go.
The course of Kidney Herbs and Herbal Bute lasted a month, but I noticed a difference in a few days. Dikkiloo became looser and had more energy.’
Des O’Neil writes ‘I heard about Ellen from friends within the racing industry. Some of the trainers had told me of this lady who practised iridology and was an outstanding herbalist.’ When Lights and Music fractured his pedal bone in training the vets said there was a 90% chance he would never be sound again.’ I called Ellen to see Lights. She recommended rest and Herbal Bute, Lights was only four. Within six months he was sound. Within a year he was racing again and as a six year old he won the Fairyhouse festival and won again at the Punchestown festival.’
‘I strongly believe without Ellen and her Herbal Bute, Lights and Music would never have raced again.’
I am now being approached by more vets who are using my products and recommending them to their clients, where they have seen the benefits to other horses I have treated with success.
Anyone interested in learning this very useful skill can contact us for course details. The Iridology course is divided into 10 lessons, it is an online course with a final exam. It is a diploma course and once completed you will be added to the web page as a qualified practitioner.
For a list of qualified equine iridologists for your area see the list under heading Equine iridologists.