An approach based on compassion, curiosity, and a deep appreciation for the wisdom of the body and the natural world
Whether you are are unsure how to approach the situation you’re in, are having difficulty improving a specific problem, or just want to nurture health and wellbeing, I can help you.
I offer a hybrid veterinary advice and coaching service to help you to explore the complex web of interconnections that influence your horse’s or dog’s health and wellbeing. I do this via online learning and events, online one-to-one consultations, my online membership and in-person teaching.
I also offer to take on your horse or dog as a case, either via online one-to-one consultations or in person with my whole horse evaluations or by taking your horse in on rehabilitation livery.
Below are some of the areas I help with that I often find owners feel stuck with the most…
What sorts of things can I help you with?
Are you struggling to navigate conflicting advice over your horse or dog’s care, behaviour or a health condition?
There is a huge amount of advice out there on the health and wellbeing of our animal companions. Some of the information is good quality and informed by a robust, relevant evidence base, some of it is not, and some approaches are backed by strong evidence but might not be the right fit for you and your animal companion right now.
I can help you by clarifying where the science stands and what is relevant and doable in your own unique situation and partnership. I can help you to improve your skills at assessing your own animal in order to make whole-hearted decisions about their care and to be able to more effectively monitor progress.
Check out:
Are you convinced your horse or dog has pain somewhere but either finding the cause or alleviating it is proving challenging?
Have we really ruled out pain and discomfort? When an animal is showing an undesirable, sometimes new, behaviour, or just isn’t quite right, we make sure we check for sources of pain. The “back, tack and teeth checked” route is often the go-to in horses, and in dogs, orthopaedic pain might be investigated. However, sometimes these assessments are not thorough or considered enough to reliably say we have ruled out pain. Or other body systems can be affected instead or at the same time, and compensatory patterns can exacerbate discomfort or can have taken over after the initial cause is no longer present.
Pain is a complex phenomenon that is inextricably linked with emotional wellbeing. Assessing, diagnosing and relieving pain and discomfort often needs to be highly individualised to each unique case.
Check out:
Do you need to carry out veterinary or other healthcare procedures but doing so is stressful for you and your horse?
I know how stressful it can be when your horse is feeling unwell, distressed or in pain and they need to have injections or blood taken, have their wounds cleaned, teeth examined or feet handled, stay sane whilst on box rest, and much more.
These are often worrying times and it is important to take care of our relationship with our horse as well as the medical side of things. We can choose to approach these procedures with communication, compassion and consent. Our horses will notice the difference and so will we.
Check out:
Or are you just keen to ensure you are looking after all aspects of your animal companion’s wellbeing?
The interplay between physical, mental and emotional wellbeing is more than just fascinating, it holds the key to making informed and compassionate decisions for our animals.
Check out:
What is my approach?
I am a vet who helps people truly advocate for their animals with a mindful application of head and heart. In providing advice and education on animal health and wellbeing and in practicing as a vet, the core of my approach is combining both scientific evidence and compassionate understanding.
I believe that truly advocating for our animals involves an integration of physical, mental and emotional wellbeing, as well as developing a deep awareness of them as a species and as each individual in each unique circumstance. We also need to develop a deep awareness of ourselves and how our unique external and internal environment shape how we approach the wonderful companions we share our lives with. When faced with health or behaviour challenges, I work towards a deep, true healing by seeking deep root causes and finding workable, ethical solutions that align with your values. An integral part of this process is allowing the wisdom of the body and of nature to speak to and guide us.
Hi, I’m Lily, I am a veterinary surgeon and I keep seeing examples of where animals are trying to communicate to us that they are in a state of physical, mental or emotional unease.
Many people say “if only they could talk”, but they are talking to us all the time. We just have to be able to hear what they’re telling us.
If you are facing a problem with your animal companion and you’re not sure whether or what the underlying health problem might be, or you are not sure what to do about it for the best, I can help guide you.
Find out more below about the types of problems I can help with, the four deep root causes of problems I see, the three pillars of my approach, and the range of services I offer.
Looking forward to working with you soon,
Dr Lily Wilson BVetMed BSc(Hons) MRCVS
In my experience there are four deep roots to physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing or disease, which are not separate entities but are all operating together all the time. When I work with you we will explore these and their interconnections and how to approach addressing imbalances in them in your unique case.
I call these four roots:
Husbandry for happiness
How lifestyle, including how species-appropriate it is, influences health and wellbeing or can be a deep rooted cause of ill health.
Movement medicine
How a healthy or unhealthy locomotor system arises from structure, posture and motion patterns and links to all the other body systems.
Cultivating comfort
How identifying or acknowledging and eliminating or alleviating pain and discomfort on a physical, mental and emotional level has an organism-wide effect.
Communication, compassion and consent
How healthy relationships based on the principles of communication, compassion and consent, where everyone involved can feel safe, seen and heard, allow us to detect, unravel and solve ill health and wellbeing.
Attuned assessment
Attuned Assessment is my method of going deeper than a conventional veterinary physical examination with an animal. It consists of distance observations, paying attention to behavioural indicators, and assessing their body with your hands. Slowed down observations with the animal in as free a setting as is possible to begin with are highly valuable. Using various stations they can interact with give more information. And finally, cultivating two-way communication in order to give the animal a voice can tell us where their needs might not be being met, where they hurt, and how they feel.
This way of collecting information about the physical, mental and emotional health and wellbeing of animals has them as an active participant in the process. As a result of this and the logical and sensitive way in which you go about it, the process can often reveal more than a conventional clinical examination does. This is not meant to teach you how to perform a clinical examination or to diagnose, and it is vital that qualified professionals carry out this part of the process of investigating our animals' ill health as well. But as an owner, this will equip you to help out the attending professionals, to better evaluate the efficacy of treatment or management, and enhance your relationship with your companion.
A full-length webinar on the concept of Attuned Assessment is available in the online membership and online Attuned Assessment workshops are now available to teach you how to implement this with your own horse.
In addressing these four roots my approach consists of three core pillars:
Attuned Assessment webinar excerpt:
Downloadable PDF on Attuned Assessment:
Wholehearted decision making
Exploring ways of approaching the information and advice gathering, plan forming and evaluation stages of decision making for your horse in a way that aligns with your values.
Compassionate implementation
Ensuring the plan considers implications for all involved and is carried out in a way that only serves to improve your horse’s wellbeing.