Natural Therapy For Horses
Drugs are very good at suppressing nature's warning signs that something is wrong and requires attention, but do they provide a cure?
Many also have side effects
Wild animals are active, healthy and independent as they live in the reasonably balanced environment that nature provides.
Domesticated animals, however, live off feed grown and produced from depleted soils, and as they are totally reliant on humans, they must be provided with the correct nutrient intake for their health and well being.
Recommended daily allowances do not take into consideration the biochemical individuality of each horse. This means individual needs, circumstances, stress, disease, injury and genetic status are often overlooked.
Natural Therapy
It helps maintain the immune system so it can fight against disease and viral infections.
Natural therapy uses a group of nutrients and substances with a medicinal action found in nature. These are vitamins, amino acids, trace elements, tissue salts and herbs, and they work together as a group to cause a result.
Correct dietary intake, which means a balance of the correct level of carbohydrates, protein, fats, water etc, aslo play a big role in health.
Mineral Salts
Knowledge of their wider uses means that these minerals can be used more selectively in the case of a particular need or particular symptoms.
When most horse owners think of mineral salt supplements for horses, they usually think in terms of electrolytes, calcium and iron, but these are only a few of the salts that effect health.
Much of the known yet over looked therapeutic information regarding common natural mineral salts, such as silica, calcium fluroride, calcium sulphate, potassium phosphate, potassium chloride, magnesium phosphate and zinc sulphate comes from discoveries made in the 1800s by German Doctors, particularly by Dr W H Schuessler in 1873.
Dr Schuessler obtained data from homeopathic clinical trials involving thousands of human volunteers, mostly university students.
They took both large and small doses of a variety of triturated (finely ground) mineral salts to establish optimal therapeutic effect.
Dr Schuessler found that the above minerals, in small doses, often in combination with others, had repeatable therapeutic effects beyond the standard, widely known uses of these simple mineral salts.
These were found to be particularly helpful in individuals who were not getting enough minerals from their diet. These minerals present the core of the so-called 12 tissue salts, originally described and used by Dr Schuessler.
Tissue salt therapy is the basis for the Blackmores range of celliods, which have been used widely, with success, by naturopaths in Australia and overseas for the past 35 years.
The form in which the mineral is delivered to the animal is also of utmost importance. As the saying goes oils ain't oils, and this applies to minerals as well, not all calciums are the same, not all irons are the same, etc.
Different salts of one particular mineral can have significantly different effects both in terms of obsorption/utilisation of the actual mineral and also in terms of a specific therapeutic action.
Supplements For Horses
Iron
It is usually the case that horses which are in the greatest need of iron supplementation are those which absorb it poorly and are often intolerant of iron supplements.
Other commonly used salts are, ferrous gluconate, ferric citrate, ferrous fumarate and other iron amino-acid chelates.
The amino-acid chelate forms appear to be the least toxic and are fairly well absorbed. A less commonly known, simple inorganic complex which has been used successfully in Europe for more then 100 years is known simply as iron phosphate complex.
It consists of a comlpexed mixture of mainly ferrous phosphate, with ferric phosphate and ferrous oxide.
This iron phosphate complex is well absorbed and tolerated. It is not only useful in iron deficiency anaemia, but also has a clear anti-inflammatory action, reduces fever and local hyperaemia when given in small, frequently repeated doses.
Silica
This trace element is a potent detoxifier with action on arthritis, abscesses, boils and chronic suppurative infections.
Its action on toxins and foreign bodies such as splinters appears to be centrifugal, it tends to drive toxins to the surface.
Part of its action is believed to occur through aiding calcium utilisation.
Horse Supplements
Calcium
Calcium the mineral needed in the largest quantities in animals can be taken as an example.
Calcium does not occur naturally as the metal calcium, but occurs in nature as various salts.
The main naturally occuring calcium salts are calcium carbonate, the most common form, (chalk, limestone, marble and
dolomite), calcium sulphate (gypsum), calcium fluoride (fluorspar), and calcium phosphate (complexed as apatite and organic bone meal).
Calcium carbonate is the cheapest but is often poorly obsorbed when compared with calcium phosphate (hydroxyapatite complex).
Calcium phosphate is well obsorbed and utilised, perhaps because its animal source gives it the inherent balance most suited to animal absorption.
Calcium fluoride, on the other hand, is toxic in large quantities and therefore is not suitable as a source of calcium. However, it has important therapeutic value when used as a trace element.
This natural form of fluoride is useful not only in arthritis and splints, helping break up exoctoses and indurated glands, but also strengthens prolapsed muscles and veins, helping to re-establised elasticity.
Calcium sulphate, also is not well tolerated or obsorbed as a bulk source of calcium, but it has therapeutic value in small dispersed doses.
It is particularly helpful in suppurative conditions such as chronic, thick, yellow and lumpy mucus discharges, recurrent abscesses and poor healing after injury.
Several laboratory prepared salts and calcium are also in wide use and some of these show good obsorption compared with calcium carbonate.
The most useful of these are the chelated calciums, combined to amino acids and other organic nutrients such as calcium orotate and calcium gluconate. However, these do not provide the phosphate balance found in the organic calcium phosphate complex.
Sodium
All sodium salts are involved in fluid balance. Sodium chloride, common salt, is essential to maintain normal osmotic fluid pressure both within and outside cells, and also facilitates normal nerve conduction.
Sodium sulphate (Glaubers salts), when given in small doses (5-10) grams per day, has a diurectic action in horses, shifting excess fluid from the tissues and bloodstream, stimulating both kidney action and bile production.
Excessive doses, however, only act as a bowel purgative, as do excessive doses of Epsoms salts.
Sodium phosphate has different properties again. It is useful in similar small doses, but more than other sodium salts, it aids the breakdown of excess tissue lactic acid and promotes water absorption. It is also effective in reducing gastric acidity.
