Owner's responsibilities when giving herbs to our horses.
July 2nd 2007 03:23
I recently had a client who complained to me that her veterinarian had not asked her which herbs her horse was on before he was treated. I sat back and reflected on this later, and in all fairness to our veterinarians, it is not up to them to ask.
In Australia now, you will see articles and advertisements in medical journals our doctors subscribe to, warning them that 70% of Australians are now currently taking self prescribed ‘natural’ therapy supplements or seeing a natural therapist. Even with this high percentage of usage, not every doctor is embracing of this groundswell, and will not consider asking patients what other substances they may be imbibing.
The natural therapy industry has been building over the last fifty years here in Australia and it is really only in the last 10 or 15 years that horse owners started shifting their perspective to what other aspects of their horse’s health they could address. In the last five years there has been a sudden influx of suppliers of natural supplements and herbs, they existed prior to this, but the availability has now become very accessible. This is a good thing in most cases, but often with such availability comes a lot of misinformation or assumptions made both by suppliers and horse owners.
Ultimately, what goes into the horse’s mouth, is the responsibility of the carer of that horse. So when discussing a health issue with your veterinarian or discussing nutritional needs with a specialist in this area, it is very important and the responsibility of the person who owns and cares for this horse.
For example, how many of you inform your veterinarian if your horse is being supplemented with garlic. Has your supplier given you instructions or have you researched for yourself the warning and precautions with this widely used herb. Hopefully those of you who are giving garlic daily know of its antiplatelet activity and that it is very important to discontinue the use of garlic 10 days before surgery. I doubt many of you have considered allicin-releasing action and its altering of the amniotic fluid suggests garlic should not be given during pregnancy. In one manual I recently purchased on the safe use of herbs, there are many common pharmaceutical drugs that garlic is not to be given at the same time. Due to the expense of these practitioner only reference books, I doubt many of you would have access to them. For example, did you know that garlic overdoses can inflame kidneys and in some cases damage kidneys, so if your horse has a kidney imbalance or being treated by your veterinarian for issues relating back to the kidneys or on drugs that have an action on the kidneys and related body processes, he must be informed about any historical or current long term garlic use.
At Easter Show time here in Sydney, I can remember about 5 or 6 years ago a lovely lady wanted me to help her promote a calming product for horses. The manufacturers had told her that this product was safe and would not give a positive result in any tests for prohibited substances. When I read the label I queried the inclusion of valerian and suggested that it was a prohibited substance I was met with adamant denial by both this lady and the manufacturer. Now that several people have been disciplined for using valerian with competition horses, I no longer see this product available.
But who is responsible for the person who was disciplined and the action taken against them? Ultimately the owner or trainer of that horse. The supplier or person who gave such generous ‘free’ advice simply walks away, often unaware of the damage they have done to that person’s reputation to make someone else vulnerable to their same well meaning advice. Just because a supplier tells you their herbs are safe or the person in the same agistment centre who ‘knows all’ tells you so, does not always mean it is.
There are calming constituents in herbs such as lemon balm, which until recently were not considered swabbable, but they too are now on the list for testing. When it comes to calming herbs many horse owners use them incorrectly. They pick a formulation or a couple of herbs and give them continuously, for months and sometimes for years. This firstly is a waste of money, but also makes them vulnerable to penalisation when their horse does get to a level of competition where they will be tested. Often these people think that because these herbs have been added to their horse’s feed for years, that they are not illegal. But if you read most associations rules, if they don’t ban calming substances, at the least they refer to their use as to being unsportmanslike.
I know one supplier who will not sell preblended herbs because the ruling body many of their clients competed under would consider them a responsible party if a rider did test positive. However the likelihood of this happening would probably only follow through if the rider during the discipline process named the supplier and said they had been told the product followed the rules and guidelines of that discipline. It would be a case of ‘he said’ vs ‘she said’ and ultimately, the rider/owner would still be penalised showing it is still their responsibility.
To use calming herbs correctly, if you choose the correct ones that fit with how your horse expresses it behaviour when unsettled, you should be able to use them in conjunction with your training to get your horse over the ‘issue’ and as you work through the ‘nerves’ safely eventually, and often three to four months at the most, you should be able to take your horse off these herbs and not rely upon them or risk being called a cheat. In some cases you will have to continue longer, but in those cases, you are peeling away multiple layers of issues and as you work through them, the herbs you use will also change.
The same goes for pregnancy. I get some very interesting phone calls at times and one lady called with a mare she wanted to assist through pregnancy as she had some issues and a supplier had insisted she must have her mare on seaweed meal because it was a good nutritional supplement. As iodine, which is a major constituent, can cross the placenta you have to be very diligent with your dose if you want to give during pregnancy, and in this case as it was not considered a normal pregnancy; seaweed would be one herb to avoid. With horses with cardiac issues you also have to be very careful if you use this additive in feed. Of course there is also the issue of hypersensitivity to this herb and often-unknown underlying thyroid conditions. The thyroid gland is a major player in the entire endocrine system so once you affect its function adversely, you can have a domino effect throughout the body and if you notice your horse developing oedema or skin condition with dermatitis like clinical signs, stop giving it immediately and contact a professional. There has been a lot of discussion on letting horse having free range access to the supplements like seaweed meal, however what a lot of people are not aware of is sometimes a horse will ingest too much of a supplement if offered if they have a problem which will be aggravated by the seaweed meal. Similar in a way where a human with a yeast infection will crave bread or complex carbohydrates that aggravate their condition.
Now the three examples I have given above are three common situations and in most situations the use of garlic, calming herbs, or seaweed meal, has a valuable role to play with some horses. Not all horses! To use herbs safely you must look at your horse as individuals, and just because your friend gave certain herbs when their horse was sick, even with the same disease as your horse has today, does not necessarily mean these herbs are the best selection for your horse and if given may do more harm than good. I often get a theme for a week when people call me for advice, each horse is still assessed individually and something simple like the odour of their poops or how they sweat may see a different dose rate of the same herbs or having a herb substituted that will make the combination more effective for your horse but may have made the other horse less responsive to his new diet.
It is also your responsibility to inform anyone who is helping you with your horse. It is up to you to let your veterinarian know what herbs you are supplementing. It is wise to inform anyone riding or training your horse that you have them on calming herbs. It is also your responsibility to be discerning with any advice you get, no matter how well meaning your neighbour or how much your supplier wishes to sell you, and know your riding associations rules, some are interpreting the use of rescue remedy as being unsportsmanlike, and the embarrassment this has caused some competitors when told they cannot compete that day often outweighs the benefits of administering this simple application.
In Australia now, you will see articles and advertisements in medical journals our doctors subscribe to, warning them that 70% of Australians are now currently taking self prescribed ‘natural’ therapy supplements or seeing a natural therapist. Even with this high percentage of usage, not every doctor is embracing of this groundswell, and will not consider asking patients what other substances they may be imbibing.
The natural therapy industry has been building over the last fifty years here in Australia and it is really only in the last 10 or 15 years that horse owners started shifting their perspective to what other aspects of their horse’s health they could address. In the last five years there has been a sudden influx of suppliers of natural supplements and herbs, they existed prior to this, but the availability has now become very accessible. This is a good thing in most cases, but often with such availability comes a lot of misinformation or assumptions made both by suppliers and horse owners.
Ultimately, what goes into the horse’s mouth, is the responsibility of the carer of that horse. So when discussing a health issue with your veterinarian or discussing nutritional needs with a specialist in this area, it is very important and the responsibility of the person who owns and cares for this horse.
For example, how many of you inform your veterinarian if your horse is being supplemented with garlic. Has your supplier given you instructions or have you researched for yourself the warning and precautions with this widely used herb. Hopefully those of you who are giving garlic daily know of its antiplatelet activity and that it is very important to discontinue the use of garlic 10 days before surgery. I doubt many of you have considered allicin-releasing action and its altering of the amniotic fluid suggests garlic should not be given during pregnancy. In one manual I recently purchased on the safe use of herbs, there are many common pharmaceutical drugs that garlic is not to be given at the same time. Due to the expense of these practitioner only reference books, I doubt many of you would have access to them. For example, did you know that garlic overdoses can inflame kidneys and in some cases damage kidneys, so if your horse has a kidney imbalance or being treated by your veterinarian for issues relating back to the kidneys or on drugs that have an action on the kidneys and related body processes, he must be informed about any historical or current long term garlic use.
At Easter Show time here in Sydney, I can remember about 5 or 6 years ago a lovely lady wanted me to help her promote a calming product for horses. The manufacturers had told her that this product was safe and would not give a positive result in any tests for prohibited substances. When I read the label I queried the inclusion of valerian and suggested that it was a prohibited substance I was met with adamant denial by both this lady and the manufacturer. Now that several people have been disciplined for using valerian with competition horses, I no longer see this product available.
But who is responsible for the person who was disciplined and the action taken against them? Ultimately the owner or trainer of that horse. The supplier or person who gave such generous ‘free’ advice simply walks away, often unaware of the damage they have done to that person’s reputation to make someone else vulnerable to their same well meaning advice. Just because a supplier tells you their herbs are safe or the person in the same agistment centre who ‘knows all’ tells you so, does not always mean it is.
There are calming constituents in herbs such as lemon balm, which until recently were not considered swabbable, but they too are now on the list for testing. When it comes to calming herbs many horse owners use them incorrectly. They pick a formulation or a couple of herbs and give them continuously, for months and sometimes for years. This firstly is a waste of money, but also makes them vulnerable to penalisation when their horse does get to a level of competition where they will be tested. Often these people think that because these herbs have been added to their horse’s feed for years, that they are not illegal. But if you read most associations rules, if they don’t ban calming substances, at the least they refer to their use as to being unsportmanslike.
I know one supplier who will not sell preblended herbs because the ruling body many of their clients competed under would consider them a responsible party if a rider did test positive. However the likelihood of this happening would probably only follow through if the rider during the discipline process named the supplier and said they had been told the product followed the rules and guidelines of that discipline. It would be a case of ‘he said’ vs ‘she said’ and ultimately, the rider/owner would still be penalised showing it is still their responsibility.
To use calming herbs correctly, if you choose the correct ones that fit with how your horse expresses it behaviour when unsettled, you should be able to use them in conjunction with your training to get your horse over the ‘issue’ and as you work through the ‘nerves’ safely eventually, and often three to four months at the most, you should be able to take your horse off these herbs and not rely upon them or risk being called a cheat. In some cases you will have to continue longer, but in those cases, you are peeling away multiple layers of issues and as you work through them, the herbs you use will also change.
The same goes for pregnancy. I get some very interesting phone calls at times and one lady called with a mare she wanted to assist through pregnancy as she had some issues and a supplier had insisted she must have her mare on seaweed meal because it was a good nutritional supplement. As iodine, which is a major constituent, can cross the placenta you have to be very diligent with your dose if you want to give during pregnancy, and in this case as it was not considered a normal pregnancy; seaweed would be one herb to avoid. With horses with cardiac issues you also have to be very careful if you use this additive in feed. Of course there is also the issue of hypersensitivity to this herb and often-unknown underlying thyroid conditions. The thyroid gland is a major player in the entire endocrine system so once you affect its function adversely, you can have a domino effect throughout the body and if you notice your horse developing oedema or skin condition with dermatitis like clinical signs, stop giving it immediately and contact a professional. There has been a lot of discussion on letting horse having free range access to the supplements like seaweed meal, however what a lot of people are not aware of is sometimes a horse will ingest too much of a supplement if offered if they have a problem which will be aggravated by the seaweed meal. Similar in a way where a human with a yeast infection will crave bread or complex carbohydrates that aggravate their condition.
Now the three examples I have given above are three common situations and in most situations the use of garlic, calming herbs, or seaweed meal, has a valuable role to play with some horses. Not all horses! To use herbs safely you must look at your horse as individuals, and just because your friend gave certain herbs when their horse was sick, even with the same disease as your horse has today, does not necessarily mean these herbs are the best selection for your horse and if given may do more harm than good. I often get a theme for a week when people call me for advice, each horse is still assessed individually and something simple like the odour of their poops or how they sweat may see a different dose rate of the same herbs or having a herb substituted that will make the combination more effective for your horse but may have made the other horse less responsive to his new diet.
It is also your responsibility to inform anyone who is helping you with your horse. It is up to you to let your veterinarian know what herbs you are supplementing. It is wise to inform anyone riding or training your horse that you have them on calming herbs. It is also your responsibility to be discerning with any advice you get, no matter how well meaning your neighbour or how much your supplier wishes to sell you, and know your riding associations rules, some are interpreting the use of rescue remedy as being unsportsmanlike, and the embarrassment this has caused some competitors when told they cannot compete that day often outweighs the benefits of administering this simple application.
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