Kashmir, an example of an apparently physical problem

Kashmir, an 18-year-old Arab broodmare, was presented with severe mud fever (1), rain scald and weight loss despite excellent grazing and daily supplementary feeding.
She had already been treated with all sorts of things! As any horse owner knows, there are almost as many bizarre treatment suggestions for mud fever as there are horses. Nothing had produced even the slightest improvement, including homeopathic remedies that seemed indicated for her physical problem.
This mare had been miserably treated during her first 14 years of life; she had been brutally abused and had difficulty trusting people again.

Kashmir's way of coping with her fear was to turn her head away: "If I don't see you, you don't exist and you can't hurt me!"

You could clearly see the hurt, the pain and the deep despair in her eyes. She showed neither aggression nor anger — only dull submission. She was given Staphisagria, and only then did she develop the ability to trust her new owners.

Four years later she was sold to a stud farm — away from everything she had slowly learned to trust.

The weaning of her foal then brought the trauma of her past to the surface. Strangely, she had shown no signs of emotional distress during the weaning; she had been very well cared for by the stud owner. However, symptoms of a deep depression subsequently appeared and her immune system collapsed, as evidenced by the severe skin disease.

It seemed that Kashmir first needed treatment on an emotional level, because otherwise even well-chosen remedies for her physical problems could not take effect. She had to be brought back into her body first; only then could treatment with other remedies begin.