So why are we feeding products and supplements which go against the Law of Nature?

Horses are pure herbivores – their bodies are designed to eat plant material only. The herbivore species have flat grinding teeth and a very long digestive system specifically designed to break down tough cellulose fibre in plants. Horses have jaws which move sideways enabling grinding of plant material in the oral cavity – digestion begins here. Once the food is reduced in size and thoroughly mixed with saliva it’s swallowed, travels down the oesophagus into the stomach.

Horses are ill equipped to cope with the large quantities of fat that are sometimes introduced to their diets by the well-meaning owner. Long term studies have shown this may cause duodenal reflux, this is where caustic bile in the small intestine back splashes into the stomach triggering ulcers.

Herbivores only eat things that need photosynthesis to live. This excludes fish, sharks, cows, shell fish and products made from them.

A study in the U.S on human dietary fish oil supplements containing beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids were found to contain more than 30 different fatty acids, including 10 – 14 different saturated fats. Oxidization in the leading fish oil dietary supplements exceeded maximum levels established by the International Standards of Quality. Little is known about the potential biological effects of these oxidized lipids.

These data indicate that the levels of saturated fats and oxidized Omega–3 fatty acids may interfere with their intended/potential biological effects.

Bear in mind this study is raising question marks for the human population whose gut is set up to be able to metabolise far more fat, be it saturated or unsaturated, than the horses’ system which isn’t equipped to deal with fats or animal products.

Horses may eat animal products occasionally due to nutritional stress or lack of any other feed. However, most supplements on the commercial market containing animal material are well disguised to ensure horses find them palatable. They can be inadvertently disguised on the ingredients label also. After all, how many people could be expected to know that chondroitin and glucosamine are natural compounds found in the cartilage, trachea or tails of animals such as cows, pigs, sharks or shellfish. Plant based glucosamine is not so readily available.

If your horse sifts out some of these products or won’t eat their feed, then take the hint – don’t feed it.

It seems that even reputable companies look at the science behind a particular nutritional constituent and the way it may work within the body (usually data from human trials) whilst completely disregarding the Laws of Nature pertinent to the horse. Is this wise?

Are we looking at short term gain with possible long term pain from other areas of the body which may only show up over time. Some data suggests that herbivores fed animal products may develop organ disease, growth abnormalities, tumours or digestive disorders.

However, if you have an old horse who is joint sore then use any of these supplements to relieve inflammation and pain, quality of life is premium, possible long-term negative effects don’t apply to the oldies.

It’s undoubtably a difficult situation as some of the animal-based supplements can really improve arthritic horses as they do in humans and dogs. Short term trials have reinforced this.

The author cannot find any scientific data which supports that any of these animal based supplements act as a preventative for arthritic disease.

Authors note:

With my unique hair assessment system I get the horses I assess to rate all feeds and nutritional supplements because (just like humans), what suits one horse may not suit another. Rating is done on a scale of 0 – 10. 10 = perfect, 5 = average or not required, 0 = poison. 3 and below is damaging to the horse’s system.

I have rated over 10 thousand horses over 27 years. ALL horses have rated anything containing animal products 3 or below. I have had many client’s horses who have been diagnosed with unusual tumours, particularly in the gastro-intestinal tract. This led my investigation into common feed additives and their potential side effects in our beloved equine companions.

Sophie

The post Horses are Herbivores (what’s in your feed?) appeared first on The Horse Herbalist.

This plant, a native of Mexico, loves conditions in Australia and like the cane toad it has no natural predators here. Biological controls have had limited success to date and funding for research is minimal.

Crofton weed is an erect, multi stemmed perennial plant which grows to 150cm in height. It’s extremely hardly, it layers itself and will sprout from any tiny piece of root left in the ground. It relishes poor soil conditions.

It has maroon smooth stems, the broad leaves are green and have slightly dog toothed edges, it develops dense clusters of white flowers in spring.

UNTRUE

It’s untrue that horses who are being hard fed or on good pasture will not eat Crofton Weed.

It’s untrue that Crofton Weed only harms horses when it’s in flower.

TRUE

It’s true that some horses will seek out Crofton Weed even when on otherwise good pasture or hard feed.

It’s true that Crofton Weed contains an addictive alkaloid. Crush a few leaves, stem and root to smell the carrot like odour.

It’s true that Crofton Weed is harmful to horses who ingest it at all stages of the plant growth though it is thought to be at its most toxic immediately after flowering.

It’s true that every mouthful causes internal damage.

Crofton weed should not be accessible to horses. It can be addictive, it is insidious as every mouthful causes damage to the bronchioles and lung walls.

By the time physical symptoms manifest, such as cough or breathlessness, much damage has already taken place. Crofton hardens damaged cells and lung walls ulcerate and crumble so basically the horse is asphyxiated – they stand with their neck stretched and hind legs camped out, all to try and get some oxygen as the lungs start to flood. They can run blind, collapse and die. It’s a truly horrible death.

Do not work horses who are coughing or breathless, get them thoroughly checked out by a veterinarian.Any exertion increases the possibility of blowing the lungs or the bronchial tubes.

There are some useful lung/respiratory herbs for those who may be slightly affected.  But if you have spotted Crofton Weed where your horses live or feed, and suspect they have or are eating, get them checked by your vet and take immediate steps to remove all plants.

Elecampane (Inula helenium) is my favourite  expectorant (lung dredger), it is also bronchial-spasmolytic, it’s specific to treat bronchial asthma and cough.

Liquorice (glycyrrhiza glabra) root – not to be confused with the commercial candy (made mainly from aniseed). Liquorice extract is a bronchial vasodilator giving more expandability to airways. It works synergistically with elecampane to treat bronchial asthma and cough.

Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) – one of the best antibacterial, anti-microbial, antifungal herbs for the upper respiratory tract. Cough, sore throat, asthma.

Ask your qualified herbal practitioner to combine all three concentrated high-grade extracts only, this is the medicinal form to give best results.  

Any airways dis-ease will be improved by dosing with ginger and thyme tea.

Ginger Tea – Good for upset or underactive gut, bloat and travel sickness, plus its scientifically proven to be effective against the common cold. Use the fresh root only (source from greengrocers or supermarket). Finely chop 2-3cm – add 2 cups of boiling water – let cool then pour entire contents over feed. Once daily for a time, or a few times a week dependent on condition.

Thyme Tea – brilliant herb for the entire upper respiratory tract. Coughs, colds and sore throats. Ideally use 5-10 sprigs of the fresh herb or 2 teaspoons of dried. Add to 2 cups of boiling water – let cool then pour entire contents over feed. Can give 2-3 times daily reducing dose as symptoms improve.

You can combine the ginger root and the thyme in the same tea. Great for humans too!

Author’s note:
I learnt about Crofton weed the hard way. Over 30 years ago my partner and I purchased a bush block in northern New South Wales. This was before information was readily available at your fingertips via computers. On checking out the varying herbage I was told by several local horse people that horses only ate this weed if they hadn’t any other source of fodder. Wrong. We lost a wonderful, spunky mare with an enormous will to live. She searched for Crofton having become addicted to the alkaloid. Our two other horses didn’t touch it. I was horrified at how little was known and the dis-information I was given plus the veterinary treatment of antibiotics was inappropriate. Naturally my research into this insidious weed started then.

Sophie

The post Crofton Weed kills Horses appeared first on The Horse Herbalist.

When Karen contacted me she had owned Frankie, a 9 year old Quarterhorse gelding, for 2 years.  She bought him from a woman who had owned him for 3 years, who in turn had bought him from a stock station for her daughter to ride. The daughter quickly lost interest so Frankie had been turned out onto large scrubby, drought affected land with some cattle.

Karen was interested in Frankie as he was quite well bred and she wanted to campdraft him.

Karen told me that Frankie was in a poor state when she got him, so she set about cleaning him up; feeding, worming, teeth done, chiropractic check and then introduced some light work. He seemed pretty quiet, and all was going OK.

As time went on he seemed to be more and more resentful, he didn’t want to go forward, his ears were often pinned back. Karen took him to a trainer who had him for 4 weeks, and then advised her to sell him. Over time Karen had her vet check him out and do the usual diagnostics, nothing showed up but the vet gave him a course of ulcer treatment. Even though she noticed very little difference in Frankie, Karen wasn’t ready to give up on him.

It did seem to Karen that he was getting worse.

Frankie was napping, pig rooting, kicking, hard to girth up and rug, he was starting to scare her a little.  Karen sent him to another trainer who had a good name, particularly with stock horses. This trainer sent him home after a week and referred Karen to me for a hair assessment.  The trainer felt that clearly the horse had problems that no-one had been able to detect.

“Get him assessed, get him treated, then bring him back, “ he said.

Frankie’s story unfolded, becoming clear through the assessment process.

He’d had a good start up until 1-2 years of age then he had been affected by some sort of chemical spray which had left him with liver insufficiency. This was probably why he didn’t measure up to the hard work on the station.

During the hair assessment I found that his gut was underactive for approximately 2 years – this was when he was out on the scrubby pasture – then his gut became acidic in the 2 years prior to that. His gut wasn’t comfortable and periods of pain were increasing. Hence the girthiness, not wanting to be touched, not wanting to go forward, ears pinned, nippy.

Mentally/emotionally he had been switched off since he was 2yrs old, but he was doing the best he could. The ulcer meds would have helped on some level but they were just scratching the surface of Frankie’s imbalances.

Frankie’s nutritional ratings showed he was wheat intolerant – this is always significant. Wheat is an acidic grain, it can cause intestinal inflammation, damage to the gut membrane, behavioural issues and much more. Click here to read an indepth blog post on this topic.

NB: 99% of processed horse feeds contain some wheat or by product, this is often not listed on the ingredients label as unfortunately wheat intolerance in horses is still not a commonly accepted condition.

Karen had sought advice from the nutrionalist from one of the big feed companies what to feed Frankie when she first got him, and that advice would have been fine if his system hadn’t already been negatively affected by wheat.

What we did next was to start by removing all wheat and wheat by-products from Frankie’s feed.

The first half of his Herb/Flower Remedy extracts treatment which he tested out for indicated that his liver would be toning, doing a mild level of detoxing, reduce inflammation, soothe and heal the gut membrane. The Flower Remedies he chose let us know that he doubted himself, he felt gloomy much of the time, he felt ‘stuck’ as nothing was changing for him and he worried about himself.

I checked his progress in week 5 of the first 7 week treatment. He was already looking like a different horse, his coat was softer and starting to shine, his eye was brighter and he was calling to Karen when she approached with his mixture.

After the second half of his treatment he was moving like a different horse. The trainer was rapt, and Karen finally had the horse she could work with, who wanted to work with her.

Cranky Frankie became Fancy Frankie!   A smashing story of the changes top quality, tailor made, herbal products can make in a horse.

This case demonstrates the value of accessing and then treating at core level, rather than putting a repetitive band-aid on the symptom – get to the root of the problem and heal the horse. 

If you have a niggling feeling that something is not quite right, or you haven’t gotten to the root cause of particular problem, a Hair Assessment may give you the answers you’re looking for.  Click here for information on our process.

Angela Davison

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