Newspaper Article

This article is reproduced with permission from the Mena Star, and it's author Michael Reisig, Managing editor, Feb.10 2005.

Throughout the better part of her adult life, Sharon Best of Mena has gathered and practiced a knowledge which is both ancient and timely. She understands what the peoples of the land knew hundreds of years ago -- that within the framework of this earth --within its flora and fauna are all that man requires for sound health.

Since the 1970s she has studied the nature of plants and herbs, the power of flower, leaf, and root and their place as herbal remedies. She has practiced these remedies for years on family, friends, and assorted pets. Today, she and her husband own a a small Arabian horse farm and she has been applying her knowledge to her horses. Best says the results have been just short of remarkable, and her extended equine family could not be healthier or happier.

Best was born in Santa Monica, CA. Her father was a pipe fitter for an oil company, so they moved from location to location as she grew up. They finally settled down in Pasadena,Texas long enough for her to graduate from high school.

"I inherited my parents love of migration, and after high school,I hardly settled down into one place for any length of time," Best said. "I had an innate love of animals and animal husbandry that became my trade. I worked for an assortment of veterinarians and a couple of Arabian horse farms in Texas,Washington state and Arkansas."

In the early 1980s she was introduced to Walter Schimanski, who owned an Egyptian Arabian horse farm in Cove, and so began her four years of caretaking his farm.

'I fell in love with Walter's horses and the Ouachita Mountains, and decided if ever I root myself on my own farm, it would be in this area," Best said. "Although I had been involved with herbs for years, it was at Walter's that my interest in herbal remedies for horses,made its debut."

Later,during one of her 'detours" in life, Best said she became the manager of a bookstore in Conroe, Texas.

"It was there that I discovered many fine books on the subject of herbology and pets," she said. "I read all I could find on the subject, convinced that this was as much a viable alternative to conventional medicines for animals as it was for humans. The other good things that came about from my time at the bookstore was meeting Roi, my husband. He came into the bookstore occasionally, but it was at a Christmas party in 1990 where we finally got to know each other a little. We began dating in February of 1991 and have been together ever since."

Best said Roi shared her dream of a small farm around Mena where they might nurture and enjoy a few horses and a handful of dogs and cats. After some exploration the Bests found their little valley farm outside Ink in 1998.

"Gradually we worked the land to prepare for the horses we wanted,' said Best. 'Then in 2002 when we were prepared to start the process of finding our horses, a magnificent gift was bestowed upon us. An old friend from my years in Cove gave us two straight Egyptian Arabian horses - a young mare and a stallion - the gift that would provide the legacy of a breeding farm for us. I had cared for his foundation stallion while working at Walter's. With insight and generosity the added bounty was that the bloodline came from the grand, great grand, and great great grand parents of the same horses in my care so many years ago."

Best said that it has been with these two horses (and their offspring) that she has seen the true healing nature of herbs manifest itself.

"Being genuine vegetarians whose whole biology is geared to subsist on plants and roots, when available, they graze and browse on a variety of fodder, not just grasses," Best said. 'I came to understand that the blending of different herbs magnified their potency for the health and well-being of these animals - and that the horses assimilate the intermixture of herbs to such a degree,the dosage required of each ingredient remains relatively small.

Now, three years after receiving their two horses, the Bests have two very healthy foals and another on the way. Their horses are almost exclusively on whole foods and herbal therapy.

"This provides their nutrition, medical pharmacy and whole body health, which includes detoxification, hormonal balance, circulation and digestion.' Best explained. In addition its not just our horses, but our cats, dogs and ourselves who have experienced the benefits of using herbs for health and treatment of injuries. I can say with absolute certainty that their are wonderful alternatives to what the pharmaceutical companies offer. We are all on a maintenance program of mixing and matching the 35 plants and roots in my pharmacopeia. The most consistent nutriment in our diet on the farm is domesticated bee pollen, one of nature's most beneficial food sources."

In the near future, Best and her husband hope to be able to supply the community with herbal therapy recipes for a variety of problems with horses and pets.