105. Herbs & Horses

Why do horses need herbs?

When horses roamed in the wild they had access to a varied diet which included many plants and herbs. They had an in-built self-awareness, it seems, of what was harmful to eat and also what was good to eat. Self-medication is a phrase commonly used to explain how horses selected different plants at different times to meet their individual dietary and health needs.

A horse is a strong animal with lots of stamina which is used to travelling long distances for its forage when necessary. Today, horses which have been domesticated lead a much more settled life often mirroring their human owners less peripatetic life-styles; their access to a naturally varied diet sufficient to suit individual needs has been severely restricted. The days of horses enjoying herb-rich meadows or original uncultivated downland are long past.

So where’s the problem?

Domesticated horses appear to have largely lost this innate ability to choose what’s good for them, having to make do with what humans provide. Although most horse owners love their animals to distraction and will do anything to keep them fit, healthy and happy, the fact is that, try as we may, we get the feeding needs wrong from time to time and impose, without realising it, a stressful regimen which may cause illness.

The Immune System

Your horse has an amazing defence system against bacteria, microbes, viruses, toxins and parasites. It’s called the Immune System.

The skin is the primary boundary between germs and the body.

When an insect bites your horse and penetrates the skin a red, itchy bump of some sort will occur. This is the Immune System protecting your horse in very much the same way your own Immune System protects you against a mosquito bite.

The Immune System is degraded by stress, toxins (food, environmental and drugs), allergens, over exposure to UV, viral/ bacterial infections, bad dietary habits, ageing and genetics.

Herbs support the proper working of your horse’s Immune System. So they play a vital role in your horse’s health.

Tips

Study your horse’s body language and get to know when it is stressed.

Make a point of studying the situations which create stress for your horse, and then take steps to remove or reduce them.

Even when your horse appears healthy include immune support herbal products in his diet; but don’t force him to eat anything he doesn’t seem to like. Your horse knows best what suits him. Learn to notice and understand his foody needs – he can’t speak to you!


The Role of Herbs.

Herbs play an important role in a horse’s behaviour, digestion, breathing, skin, joints, muscles, tendons and hooves.


Breathing – use a special herbal respiratory product to keep airways clean and to help with pollutants such a traffic emissions, and pollen from cultivated crops like Rape. Depending on the condition, support these principal formulae with other herbal products. If in doubt, consult your online veterinary herbalist.


Behaviour - use a herbal calming formula for a horse under stress, or which is head tossing, showing signs of nervousness; or overactive geldings and stallions and mares in the breeding season.

Digestion - use a liver tonic and detoxifier on a regular basis. This will ensure your horse has a healthy liver and digestion, enabling it to make the best use of its food. In turn this directly effects your horse’s performance and general health and fitness.

Skin – use special preparations for lumps, itching, & muddy conditions; a herbal shampoo for the horse’s coat, herbal gel for the hoof, sole and heel. There are also products which keep flies away (fly sprays) and internal fly repellents.

Joints, muscles, hooves, and tendons - if your horse’s health is below par wear and tear to muscles, joints and ligaments occurs faster than your horse’s ability to repair the damage. Herbs help to bring the body back into balance, ease pain and facilitate movement.

Various conditions respond to herbal treatments.

Hilary Self, medical herbalist and director/co-founder of Hilton Herbs, offers some examples:

* Hormonal conditions:

Chaste Tree (Vitex Agnus Castus) — hormone balancer
Cramp Bark — smooth muscle relaxant helps reduce cramping


* Skin conditions including scratches, rain rot, sweet itch, dermatitis:

Calendula — anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, soothing, healing
Cleavers — supports lymphatic system in cleansing blood toxins
Burdock — cleanses tissues of waste products
Garlic — rich in sulphur, deters flies, antiseptic
Gota Kola — increases renewal of epithelial tissue


* Cushing’s disease:

Chaste Tree (Vitex Agnus Castus) — has a similar action to conventional medication such as Pergolide
Bilberry — for improving circulation and helping with damage to nervous system
Goldenrod — for supporting microcirculation of kidneys

* Stress related problems:

Valerian — strengthens and restores the nervous system
Scullcap — for anxiety, fitting, hysteria
Meadowsweet — for hyperacidity in the gut often brought on by stress, specific for ulceration


* Arthritis, rheumatism, laminitis, navicular and general mobility:

Dandelion Root — liver support
Dandelion Leaf — cleansing, diuretic to help clear blood toxins
Devil’s Claw — anti-inflammatory, analgesic
Willow — anti-inflammatory
Cleavers — lymphatic cleanser
Ginkgo — circulatory stimulant
Prickly ash - for improving circulation to the extremities


* Problems associated with old age:

Milk Thistle — liver
Rosemary — rheumatism
Marshmallow — soothing and healing to digestion
Slippery Elm — diarrhea, colitis, irritable bowel
Dandelion Root — liver

* Respiratory conditions such as dust allergies, allergic rhinitis, coughs, runny nose:


Garlic — expectorant
Thyme — antiseptic
Licorice — expectorant, soothing healing
Elecampane — expectorant, antibacterial
Plantain — refrigerant, reduces mucous production
Echinacea — immune support particularly for upper respiratory tract problems

* Lowered immunity and viral infections:

Echinacea — strengthens and supports immune response, antiviral
Calendula — antiviral, antibacterial

88. Horses and shelter

The weather here is awful at the moment, windy, wet and cold. The horses understandably don't feel like doing anything and we didn't either. Spice is refusing to use the man made shelter we have in the field so was soaking wet and shivering when i arrived so i dried her off best i could and put her lightweight back on.

It struck me today just how much Spice relies her natural instincts more than anything else as in situations like this as even when i tried to tempt her into the shelter with some hay she didn't budge. In her eyes, she had positioned herself with her bum against the rain and the wind and protected herself from the elements as best she could and as far as she could see there was no better option.

This led me to ask myself the question...when keeping a domesticated horse, is the natural way always the best way? For in the wild Spice and the rest of the herd would have found a woodland to shelter in long before the rain and wind probably even started but when your horse doesn't have access to all the things nature provides in the wild you have to make up for these things in some way or another. For if i hadn't have put a rug on her she'd have been stood there for the next few hours shivering and freezing cold and possibly even ending up making herself ill...

Possible reasons why i think Spice wont use the shelter are...

Her reluctance to being in an enclosed space, feeling trapped - no where to run.
Fear - the scary noises caused by the rain and the wind on the roof.

As there's no way i can prevent these things the only thing i can do is keep her in her rug until the drier weather comes which will hopefully be in the not too distant future!