Work and show horses alike have a variety of health concerns that can be treated effectively and at less expense with natural remedies, herbs for horses’ health, and alternative therapies that offer an holistic approach to your animal’s health.
Arthritis in horses may be treated with glucosamine supplements. Wounds and swelling can be administered to with apple cider vinegar and other common home remedies. Natural liniments can help soothe and repair muscles.
Wood chewing and cribbing or crib biting habits can also be addressed with sage and effective natural options such as manure tea or apple cider vinegar if the issue is a dietary need. Somewhat more exotic horse health treatments include ozone therapy for equine infectious anemia (EIA).
Continue reading to learn which supplements and home remedies our readers have tried to treat health conditions in their horses.
Sodium Thiosulfate to get rid of a small horse calcification
Hi, I have this horse, and this x ray…I started with the 10% Sodium thiosulfate and then dmso over top….how long, how much and all the deets would be great…what if some gets on me? the list of cautions it came with is stressful….thank you much in advance..tisha
I've been a riding instructor/horse trainer for 30+ years and in my time in this profession, I've seen numerous conditions that can be healed through proper nutrition and correct mineral vitamin supplementation. I've owned a lesson pony for 15 years who had chronic thrush, since putting him and all my others on this wonderful mineral supplement, the thrush has vanished and their coats are all a deep rich color- even in the summer. NO sun bleaching as it is commonly referred to. The coat does not "bleach" from summer sun, it takes on the washed out appearance due to a copper deficiency. The copper will keep their coats the proper color and will cause them to grow healthy manes and tails. I've had horses board here that had skimpy rat tails, when they came and after getting on the mineral, would start growing like wildfire. It also promotes good hoof health and prevents wood chewing the recipe is as follows:
1# copper sulfate
1# sulfur
1# seaweed meal
5.25# Dolomite Lime
The dolomite, copper and seaweed meal can be had from a co. called Kelp4less.com sulfur I get on ebay at 10# a whack. if you buy more you get a better price. All in all it costs me about 15 cents an ounce to make it, and it is completely balanced. I also add 2-3 # of loose stock salt, and they clean it up. I also feed 2 oz of diatomaceous earth for parasite control, no need for chemical wormers.
How do you determine how much to give?
Hi Candida, since you are generally going to feed 1 oz top dress a day, some will eat all of it, and some won't. Just monitor their intake and adjust accordingly. If they are letting it sift to the bottom of the bucket, back off to 3/4 or a 1/2 oz.
I have been reading a lot about HP and am now considering treating my 22 year old mare, who suffers from COPD, with HP.
She has had laboured breathing for the last year and a half, first seasonal, in the summer and now, since I lost my grazing and she has to be more confined to a wood chip walkout area and a only a few hours grazing, her breathing is getting worse and she suffers from spasmodic coughing fits.
I do keep her surroundings as dust and mould free as possible and her hay soaked, but she does do a lot better when out on grass.
My question is: how much do I dilute 3% HP (that's all I can get) for a horse and what is the best way to give it to her I.e. nebulizer, oral spray, in drinking water or does it not matter? What would the dosage be? She is a 14hh Dales pony so would probably way around 450 kg.
Any advise would be greatly appreciated as I can't leave her to get worse and the vet can only give her Ventipulmin which is not ideal long term.
Hey Astrid!
The 3% hydrogen peroxide you have should only be used externally, and is NOT the sort you need for inhalation or ingestion. Please read up on food grade H2O2 on EC's page: https://www.earthclinic.com/remedies/food-grade-hydrogen-peroxide-cures.html
Read up on EC's page for H2O2 inhalation methods: https://www.earthclinic.com/remedies/hydrogen_peroxide_inhalation9.html
I tried to find out the effects of long term use of Ventipulmin and to be honest I could not find anything. Mild symptoms of sweating and trembling and anxiety – these reduced with careful dosing. About the ONLY long term issue reported was a developed tolerance to the drug, so more would be needed if your horse did develop a tolerance.
I wonder if you could use some ideas from Jack from Toledo – he makes a tea of sorts out of these ingredients and many have found super effective for emphysema and COPD [with the same feeling or effects of the heaves] : https://www.earthclinic.com/cures/emphysema2.html
Please keep us updated on how your horse progresses!
Read your problem concerning COPD, and I quite inadvertently discovered that magnesium will CURE heaves! The mineral supplement that I described above has mostly calcium and magnesium in it. I was in the hospital last year with a broken pelvis and while I was away, the girls caring for my horses didnt know enough not to feed moldy hay, well one of my lesson ponies came down with heaves and he had it bad too- he rattled when he inhaled. when I got home and discovered this I was heartbroken, but soldiered on. since I was the only one who knew the recipe for the mineral they werent getting it while I was away, so after I got back to work, I mixed up a batch and got them back on it. then I noticed something after a couple of weeks- he wasnt coughing or rattling anymore! And was cruising around the arena like a champ- no coughing, no rattling and not short of breath! that was last year and since have had no reoccurances. Minerals are natures best kept secret!
Re: Question About Treating Horses with Hydrogen Peroxide: How much .5% would you put in the water? Or would you make the 2 water itself a .5%. I have 35% food grade hydrogen. Making their water .5% h2o2 would be a 70:1 ratio. So I'd add 242.8 cc to 17 liters… is this correct? I have a horse with cancer that needs treatment ASAP. Any direction is helpful 🙂 if I'm not supposed to make the water .5% then how much of the .5% in their water should I use?
i was looking for a natural wormer for my horses. I use the manure for compost
Dear Rosa,
We have tried many natural wormers for our dairy goats in the last 8 years, some of which I have seen with directions for horses. Here are some things we have used.
Molly's Herbals – she also sells a wormer for horses. (I have a friend who uses this very faithfully on her goats and her goats' fecal counts come back clear.)
Here is a recipe for an herbal wormer that has been used for farm animals, including horses. There is a caution at the end of the page about using Black Walnut for horses.
https://www.bulkherbstore.com/articles/debbie-osbornes-animal-worming-recipe
Joel Salatin uses Basic H soap (an organic product) in the drinking water of his cows. We recently tried it on our goats. We found directions online.
There is also a product we recently tried called Garlic Barrier. They have dosing recommendations for sheep and goats, but it might work for horses, too.
For years we used the Molly's Herbals and it seemed to work for us. This year, however, we had a terrible time with worms and lost a number of goats. Apparently, the weather pattern was just right for worms and lots of experienced farmers (which we are not) lost goats. We had gotten lax in our worming. Then we tried everything including chemical wormers, but we still lost some goats. I think with natural wormers, you have to be diligent to keep up prevention as it isn't so effective once the animals have worms. Pature rotation is also really important, at least for goats.
I will be watching to see if anyone has more ideas.
~Mama to Many~
Hey Rosa!
In addition to the excellent recipe provided by MTM,
these are additional resources to consider:
https://www.naturalhorsenetwork.com/wormers.html
The main ingredient in most natural wormers – be it equine or canine or what have you – is food grade diatomaceous earth. DE is a mechanicide and works by abrading and eroding away the parasite; this will take time, and repeated dosing to be effective, ie its not like chemical wormers where one good dose does the trick.
One source offered this info for dosing:
Horses……….. 30 to 90g (approx. 1 to 3 oz) per/head/day
Ponies……… 15 to 30g (approx. 1/2 to 1 oz) per/head/day
First 15 days than reduce by 50% for regular use
One helpful tip: Adding a bit of raw honey or molasses enhances the flavor for finicky horses. This will also allow the powdered product to stick and adhere to the grains and will prevent settling to the bottom of feeding bowls.
In addition to DE many products also included a probiotic. The probiotic is not a wormer, however it will contribute to a healthier gut, whicn in turn aids the immune system and healthy immune systems are less attractive to parasites than a compromised one.
In UK eventing horses must have a flu vaccine every six months. I am told that in USA a nosode is acceptable. In view of groing evidence of link between vaccines and Cushings I would very much like information about this, is the info correct and which governing body should I contact?
Horse with Positive Coggins: I can’t find any information on how to locate a vet that does ozone therapy for horses.
Easy Stop Wood Chewing:
Make manure tea (half bucket manure, fillto top with water. Paint all protruding parts of stall. The horse WILL NOT chew it. Six months later, it may wear off, so if horse begins to chew again, make new manure tea and paint again. Use ordinary paintbrush.
Sea Kelp
We stopped cribbing by using about 1/8 cup a day of dry sea kelp in the horses feed. It also cures pink eye. Increases milk production about 25%. We use North American Kelp and buy it in the 50 lb bags. The animals just love it!
The chewing of wood may be due to a potassium deficiency and the animal’s solution to getting Potassium. Try Potassium a supplement of some sort. . . . Potassium salt, Potassium Iodide. Does Apple Cider Vinegar contain Potassium? Also search: vitamin mineral deficiency symptoms
Tabasco sauce drizzled on the wood stopps them from cribbing and chewing. Irish spring soap works as well. Just take the bar and rub it directly onto the wood. My horse took one bite and never went back and the smell stays for a long time and freshens up your stalls.
Wood chewing/cribbing is a direct result of a copper deficiency. There is a wonderful book by Pat Coleby who has had marvelous success treating and curing specific health conditions and diseases through proper mineral supplementation It is called “Natural Horse Care” it can be had on amazon for 16 bucks- every serious horse person should own this book. I run a boarding and training facility, and had several that would chew my stall boards, I made up the mineral recipe described in her book and within 48 hours all chewing stopped!
Dear Jane, I think my horse has thrush in her hooves. Do you know anything to treat her with? Thank you.
Hi Suseeq,
Yes thrush is another condition that is resultant of a copper deficiency. I have 15 y.o. lesson pony I have had for 10 years, that had chronic thrush- no matter what I did, nothing worked, I could somewhat manage it with coppertox or bleach water but just couldn't seem to get rid of it. That's when I discovered the book Natural Horse Care, after I got them all on the mineral mix, it cleared right up. people need to stop trying to cure problems by treating the symptoms- it's all about addressing the root cause, which, in most cases reverts back to proper nutrition with the correct vitamin/mineral balance. It all starts in the pasture. As Ms Coleby says, the problems we have today were virtually unheard of 30-40 years ago because the soil wasn't depleted of nutrients as it is now. With all the big agra farming going on, the soil is depleted of vital minerals. You need to have your pasture soil analyzed and then you can fertilize with the correct mix. Once this is done you will see dramatic improvement in your stock and you won't have near the trouble with weed control.
Black Strap molasses in water for horses! Amazing results.
Black Strap Molasses I would like to know how it helps horses? I have a horse that may benefit from it.
I use a smear of molassas on my horse's bits to get them to want to get bridled and it works great!! Most sweet feeds for horses (grain mixtures) contains molassas and there's a mix called A & M that we feed to fatten up skinny horses. It's ground up alfalfa and molasses and smells so good! Horses who are on sweet feeds or A & M usually look and feel great… sometimes too good and get frisky when you're riding them. I'm not aware of any specific ailments in horses that molasses fixes. I know that Apple Cider Vinegar helps keep stones from forming in their stomachs… (enteroliths).
Molasses is commonly used to help horses, cattle, pigs, etc. get used to new water. If you move to a new location and find that your animals aren't drinking the water because it tastes different, try adding a couple tablespoons of molasses to the water. It helps to mask the new tast of the water with someone sweet that they like. Particularly helpful if your horses are familiar with the smell and taste of molasses.
We fed milk cows molasses with their feed in winter. Kept their condition and milk up. Also gave it to a very old horse together with fish oil. The result on his condition was amazing.
Tractor supply has hay bales with molasses in it for feed that I am going to use with my living soil mix for planting veggies in. there are a lot of people that use it as a foliar feeding for plants too. It will also kill leaf fungus on your squash and cucumber plants and get rid of aphids and keep fire ants away from your grow…This stuff is totally amazing. There is a lot of other uses, too many to list. I thank the good Lord for His excellency in creating such a plant for us to derive such a potent medicating juice from. Amen!