About Us
Ellen Collinson grew up in the North of England and started riding at the age of nine. She joined the Pony Club and hunted, showed and show jumped ponies,before graduating to horses. She continued to hunt and also rode in point-to-points, although that activity was cut short by a bad fall.
Ellen went to work for a very good small trainer called 'Freddie' Dickinson who trained National Hunt horses and point-to-pointers in the winter and produced show horses in the summer. In his younger days he had ridden 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'. Dickinson was also 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 them as a naturalfeed 'balancer' and also as a natural medicine. Ellen considers she was very lucky to have been able to learn so much from him and she has tried to continue her own work in the way he would have done.
Later after moving to Ireland, Ellen met an Alpine gypsy who told me about iridology, the science of diagnosis through the eye, which is commonly practised in Europe, especially Germany. She studied human iridology to learn how it worked and on what basis the iris represented the body before turning her attention to the horse's eye. She found the subject fascinating and in the interests of her research spent a long time observing post mortems. She also went to the local knacker's yard to compare the horse's eyes with the state of its organs and its structural state.
In Ireland, the leading trainer Ted Walsh was one of herfirst clients and if anyone asked him if he could help with a problem horse, he would say "No, but I know a woman who can."
As well as undertaking iridological consultations, Ellen is a qualified herbalist and supplies some of the top competition and training yards with her products. These unique and successful formulas are made up either as powders ortinctures and are extremely potent. They 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 who 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."
Owner 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 but within six months he was sound. Within a year he was racing again and as a six-year-old he won at the Fairyhouse “estival and then again at the Punchestown Festival.
"I strongly believe that without Ellen and her Herbal Bute, Lights and Music would never have raced again."
Ellen is now being approached by more vets who are both using her products and recommending them to their clients after they have seen the benefits to other horses she has treated.