 Having grown up in the saddle, Holly Llewellyn – founder of family run business Forest Farmacy – has always been surrounded by herbs and homeopathic remedies which made it only natural, excuse the pun, for her to partner with her mother, Irene, and create a totally organic business just for horse owners.
Back to nature
Animals have always played an important role in life at Forest Farmacy’s base in Durham and teamed with her five horses and beloved dog Toffee, Holly soon realised that creating a business to enforce this passion was a path she wished to follow. “I was often given Rescue Remedy at shows,” she says. “But having spent a lot of time on the circuit, I realised that there was a desperate need for a range of calmers that helped with the varying issues people and horses are faced with in the competition environment.”
“I would often find at home my ponies were foot perfect, but when I was at a show my own nerves and tension used to affect their performance,” comments Holly. “I would anticipate problems and my nerves and tension used to transfer from me to my pony, especially my mare Rosie. After she was in the championship at HOYS and suffered from extreme stage fright and claustrophobia – we looked in to what we could give her to help. Herbs and supplements made no difference, but flower essences seemed to really calm her down emotionally. It was this point that got me thinking, if it worked for her it could work for a whole range of horses.”
Combining her love for travelling and adventure, Holly went down under to study with Ian White, founder of the Australian Bush Flower Essences, and decided to put her knowledge in to practice using flower essences and a newer form of aromatherapy called hydrosols. The results were fantastic and so in 2005 Forest Farmacy was born.
 Winning back enjoyment
With the growing cost of competing, whether at local level or international level, Holly believes that the pressure is on riders now, more than ever, to achieve great results – especially with young riders and children. “I wanted to create a range of products that helped put the fun back in to competing and riding. By helping riders and horses to be calm andhappy they can reach their potential at a competition, not just in their arena at home! Whether it be stress, nerves, lack of confidence or performance problems, empowering riders and horses through plants and nature - and going back to basics like our ancestors is truly remarkable!”
The root of Forest Farmacy’s motivation
One of Holly’s main ambitions with Forest Farmacy is to educate people about the benefits of using organic products and ingredients for horses. “There are growing fears that the toxins in our environment could be leading to the increase in health related problems in horses,” says Holly. “A truly organic approach could not only reduce these risks, but feeding and using natural products is more in keeping with the way our horses would be in their natural habitat.” This is something that Forest Farmacy believes in greatly, which is why all of their ingredients are 100% organic.
Since Forest Farmacy has been going, Holly has received a lot of positive feedback. “One of our biggest highlights was in 2007 when our sponsored rider, Jo Barry, won two major championships at the National Dressage Championship with her five year old gelding Vivaldi – when she rang to say thanks I was over the moon!” Holly is also getting used to being thanked by parents at shows, “The amount of people coming up to me and telling me that the products really worked for their children and ponies is phenomenal!”
It was on one of her many international trips that Holly saw the work that The Brooke did for horses in poverty stricken countries. “I was horrified at the state some of these animals were expected to work in but overwhelmed by the work that The Brooke carried out so for every bottle of Winning Solutions sold we donate money to the charity to help them continue the amazing work they do.”
 Solutions to all problems
Forest Farmacy began with the Winning Solutions range, a collection of calming products based on flower essences. “There was a gap in the market place for the range because no other companies were targeting products that help with horses emotional reactions to situations – such as a lack in confidence – there were only generic calmers on our shelves,” states Holly. “I will never be without my favourite product from the range, Perfect Performance. It is so easy to use and my 17.3hh dressage horse who is a nervy traveller relaxes instantly when I use it.”
“Alongside the Winning Solutions we developed some topical applications as an answer to everyday problems such as bugs and injury, including our top selling product, Clean Limbs, which is a totally unique spray application to help relieve and soothe tired, hard working legs. There is no other product like it on the market for treating windgalls and splints, which makes it a great seller for us.”
“From there we moved on to organic show preparation products. My horse Porky has very sensitive skin and there was nothing available that was safe to use on him so we decided to combine the flower essences with naturally sourced organic ingredients to provide a range that competition riders could use safe in the knowledge that they were not harming their horse or pony’s delicate skin.”
 The latest addition to the Forest Farmacy collection is Organic Horse Power Powders. “We decided we wanted to be able to feed our horses organic supplements,” comments Holly. “So we worked with an herbalist and really went back to looking at how horses would self medicate and forage in the wild. Taking in to consideration the various shoots and roots of herbs that would be available to our horses throughout the different seasons; we decided to take a biodynamic approach to supplementing our horse’s diets. The result is a totally revolutionary product range which contains high levels of beneficial ingredients as well as seasonal alterations to the formulas to mimic the natural eating pattern.”
In addition to creating end user collections Forest Farmacy can also produce recipes for the trade. “We manufacture and supply bedding manufacturer Nedz with Natural Nedz,” states Holly. “The exclusive formula contains Manuka and Aloe Vera providing them with a safe, non toxic alternative to conventional chemical based treatments for their bedding. This is part of our ongoing commitment to helping educate horse owners about the benefits of instilling an organic and natural approach to every aspect of horse management.”
Back to the source
Forest Farmacy only uses organic aromatic waters which are the key ingredients for most of the product ranges. “They are sourced from all over the world,” says Holly. “Location depends on harvests and the weather but when possible we use organic producers in the UK, for example our Lavenders and Chamomiles are grown at an organic farm in England and our Lemon Balm is grown on an organic farm in Wales. We also like to support fair trade projects overseas ensuring that farmers in third world countries and poor communities get fair deals. A lot of the plants we use grow better in warmer, dry climates and I am very lucky that I get to combine my passion for travelling in order to personally source ingredients for our products from all over the world.”
“For example, we came across an amazing plant whilst we were riding in the sacred valley in Peru. It was a traditional plant that the Incans used as a fly repellent which we are now trying to incorporate into the range as the smell is fantastic and it has the most amazing properties to help with lice, mange, flies and insects.”
Recipes for success
 “We use ingredients that we have experienced results with first hand and my favourite ingredient at the moment is Greek Sage,” Holly tells us. “We had a horse that had a very nasty accident a couple of months ago where he tore the inside of his groin. He is a veteran who already has a collection of severe health issues, including severe peritonitis brought on by red worm damage as a youngster. With the use of Greek Sage internally in his feed and externally bathing the area every day for 3 weeks, it was amazing how well it healed, especially considering he is a shiverer and as he has grown older he has developed an irregular hind action which kept opening up the wound. The Greek Sage has helped it heal from the inside out beautifully forming a fine scar which you can hardly see. We have now incorporated this into our first aid range, Emergency Herbal Wash and Cream.”
The ingredients are sourced and the Forest Farmacy team create all of the formulas. “I personally blend all the key ingredients for the Winning Solutions range to ensure quality control, purity and intent, plus the recipes are top secret,” says Holly. “We work closely with two herbalists. One with over 30 years experience dealing with racehorses in Newmarket who develops the Organic Horse Power Powders and another who looks after the creams, tinctures and shampoos.”
“We make small batches of each product to ensure purity and because they are ingestible organic products they have a shelf life of 9 months. So we make products depending on demand to ensure freshness. Different products are more popular at different times of the year, for example, the beginning of the year Angelic Mare is very popular. It takes a day to complete one batch and we use coloured glass bottles to help ensure the maximum potency and shelf life – the colours are also chosen to help correspond to particular emotional issues so all aspects from creation to the packaging are designed to add to the effect of our products.”
 Supporting talent
The range of Organic Horse Power Powders was created with competition riders in mind which is why in 2009 Forest Farmacy developed the first Organic Horse Performance Squad designed to give all riders a helping hand. The squad members are split in to three categories, the Organic Horse Start, Potential and Elite squads ranging from unaffiliated riders up to international competitors including dressage riders Jo Barry and Roger Gregory, event riders Sam Penn, Tess and Tintin Van Rijckevorsel and show riders Chloe Chubb and Lizzie Briant. “We supply the riders with product and in return they give us honest feedback and keep us updated on their progress for our blog and facebook page,” says Holly. “So far we have received phenomenal feedback on products and it is so rewarding seeing and hearing how our riders are progressing through the season.”
Pic. Tess and Boboi at Hartpury
Going forwards
Forest Farmacy is ever expanding and the product range is constantly developing. “We are about to launch our brand new website which offers users the chance to really understand the Forest Farmacy ethos,” Holly tells us. “We are also planning a new brochure to be launched in the summer to coincide with a marketing and PR campaign to really push the benefits of using the organic approach. In 2010 we are launching 12 new products including three new Power Powders designed to encourage peak performance and protection to the equine athlete. We are constantly going to organic trade shows for ideas and research and are 100% dedicated to always bringing out the latest innovations for horse owners. We are also about to start on a very exciting new project which will enable horse owners direct access to our knowledge and ingredient understanding. Watch this space to find out more...”
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