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When do you give your horse a detox?

Wild horses eat everything: grasses, herbs, branches, and shrubs. They choose their food according to the season and their needs. A natural diet contains plants that provide detoxification, so that waste products are removed and the body is cleansed. Our domesticated horses have fewer choices. When is it time to give your horse an herbal detox? And when is it not a good idea?

Detox

28 July '23 • 2 min reading time

For some horses, a detox is a good idea, but for others, it is actually a very bad idea. The timing of the detox also matters, you preferably give a detox at a time of the year when the horse would naturally detox as well.

Twice a year

In general, the advice is to give healthy (non-pregnant) horses a detox twice a year. This can improve their skin and coat, give them more energy, and boost the immune system and metabolism. Early spring and the end of summer are suitable times for this. For horses with conditions like sweet itch, a timely detox is very important to eliminate all the waste products caused by the allergic reaction and skin inflammation. A detox often consists of various herbs, usually milk thistle with different other herbs such as turmeric, boldo, and artichoke. A detox supplement helps the liver and kidneys process waste products.

Mimicking nature

The advice to give a detox treatment with a plant extract twice a year comes from the situation with wild horses. In nature, a horse naturally cleanses its body twice a year. At the end of winter, when food is scarce and the horse eats its fat reserves. Because many contaminants are stored in fat tissue, they are released at that time and the horse excretes the waste products through feces and urine. In the summer, horses search for various herbs and plants that help cleanse the body. These natural processes ensure that a horse cleanses its body by itself.

Don't do it!

For some horses, a detox can be too intense and may worsen their symptoms. Do not give a detox to your horse if it:

  • Is pregnant or nursing a foal
  • Is overweight
  • Is prone to laminitis
  • Is prone to tying-up
  • Is sick or still recovering from an illness
  • Has just been operated on, vaccinated, or dewormed

If you are unsure, consult with us or your therapist. The most important advice is: when in doubt, do not detox. You may consider giving a mild blood-purifying treatment with nettle extract. You can always call us for advice.

Sources

Stachurska, A.; Tkaczyk, E.; Różańska-Boczula, M.; Janicka, W.; Janczarek, I. Horses’ Response to a Novel Diet: Different Herbs Added to Dry, Wet, or Wet-Sweetened Oats. Animals 2022, 12, 1334. https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12111334

Mayes, E.; Duncan, P. Temporal patterns of feeding behaviour in free-ranging horses. Behaviour 1986, 96, 105–129. https://brill.com/view/journals/beh/96/1-2/article-p105_7.xml

Mona M.M.Y. Elghandour, Poonooru Ravi Kanth Reddy, Abdelfattah Z.M. Salem, Punuru Pandu Ranga Reddy, Iqbal Hyder, Alberto Barbabosa-Pliego, Duvvuru Yasaswini. Plant Bioactives and Extracts as Feed Additives in Horse Nutrition. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, Volume 69. 2018.

https://www.academia.edu/43197157/Plant_Bioactives_and_Extracts_as_Feed_Additives_in_Horse_Nutrition

Reisinger N, Schaumberger S, Nagl V, Hessenberger S, Schatzmayr G. Milk Thistle Extract and Silymarin Inhibit Lipopolysaccharide Induced Lamellar Separation of Hoof Explants in Vitro. Toxins. 2014; 6(10):2962-2974. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins6102962

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