How long do you give a supplement to your horse? That is a good question and one that we receive frequently. The truth is that there are many variables involved and it is dependent upon what supplement you are giving to your horse. It is also dependent upon the goals you have or what you are trying to achieve. Is it a recovery situation maybe involving a tendon or joint, an infectious situation like EPM or Lyme, or maybe generalized metabolic ailments in the horse. The answer to the original question is complex, to an extent, and to fully grasp the answer, there must be a certain level of understanding on your end as the caretaker of your horse. Let’s dive into the subject.
The question remains to be answered, how long do you give a supplement to your horse?
What is a Supplement in the Equine World?
First, I think we need to define a supplement. By definition, that supplement is ‘supplementing’ something, implying that there is a deficit on some level or a lack of that something. When I think of a supplement, I think of a vitamin-mineral supplement, which were created eons ago at least in the human world to ‘supplement’ a diet which may be lacking in a vitamin or mineral. This goes back many years and I can honestly think of many brands of human vitamin-mineral supplements that have come and gone. The reason is that these products are dime a dozen and rarely do they truly provide any benefit to human or animal, including the horse. If you feel there is a need to add more vitamins and minerals, then you would be wiser to just improve the quality of food going into the horse’s body, or your own.
One could argue that their horse was low in vitamin E, implying a deficiency, and that through a supplement, they were able to raise the blood levels. This may be true, but did raising that blood level really impact their health, or did it make matters worse? This is a complex topic, but overall, I am not in favor of the readily available equine vitamin-mineral supplements, which includes the ration balancers. They are synthetic nutrients, created in a laboratory, very bitter in nature, and heavily saturated with flavoring and sweeteners to make that medicine go down. Not a good idea, at least in my book, and just looking at the digestive microbiome of these horses, one can make that determination. It is also hard not to see that these horses rarely improve in their overall health. Their problems continue despite the effort.
In my world, of alternative medicine using herbs, I do not like the term ‘supplement’ in most cases, but more so prefer the terminology of ‘herbal formula’. In most cases, I am not trying to supplement anything in the horse through our herbal formulas, being the Cur-OST herbal formulas, but more so am targeting specific pathways in the body of the horse which may be impacted. This would start to go down this road of terms which we use in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) or Ayurveda, being ‘excess and deficiency’.
When it comes to health, I think that in most cases it is helpful to have analogies, as it helps many to grasp the bigger picture.
A state of health in the horse is naturally who they are and is a state of ‘ease’. It is their root status or core basis, health. A state of ‘dis-ease’ implies that there is a lack or imbalance of ‘ease’ in the body, implying a variation from a state of health. This state of ill health or disease in the horse is due to some inflicted imbalance in their harmony. In most cases, this is an inflicted situation by choices in lifestyle, diet, or otherwise. There are also environmental factors which play a role and can sometimes easily throw a horse off kilter. This is where the concepts of excess and deficiency come into play and how recognizing them is the key to restoring that balance in the horse. This is your goal. Balance.
Excess and Deficiency in the Horse and Health
Let’s pretend you just built a house with a full basement, including cinder block walls and insulation. Everything is great for the first year, but then during a wet season, you notice the smell of mold in the basement. On some days of heavy rain, you even begin to notice water accumulating on the cement pad in your basement. Maybe you even notice a large crack in the cinder block pyramid that the mason built. The once perfect basement is no longer. It is not healthy or balanced, but is off kilter. A state of ‘dis-ease’ has set in. Now, it is a question of what do you do?
If you truly step back from the problem and ask questions, the problem is evident. The water and mold accumulation in the basement is viewed as being an ‘excess’ situation. There is more of something now than what there was. You could just see the excess, which is okay, and try to manage it with a dehumidifier and a Shop Vac, but this is not a long-term solution. Now, look deeper. This excess arose from some sort of a deficiency or weakness in the basement. This is more than likely a lack of proper water sealant applied to the exterior wall prior to backfilling or maybe even the true foundation is unstable and one of the main walls has shifted, creating that crack. This deficiency or weakness is the primary problem, or the root condition. This deficiency has then allowed for the creation of the excess situation. Follow me? In order to truly manage the condition, in most cases, we would remove or manage the ‘excess’ and then once that excess is removed, we tackle the deficiency to minimize or prevent the problem in the future.
The same scenario applies to your horse and their health, no matter the situation.
In TCM, we look at 5 main factors, which are Yin, Yang, Qi, Blood, and Jing. I will not go into these in specifics as these have been discussed elsewhere. A more detailed explanation can also be found in our book, Herbs & Whole Foods in the Horse. In each of these factors, there could be an excess, a deficiency, or both. This is what is then contributing heavily to your horse’s lack of health. In Ayurveda, the concepts of doshas comes into play, with them being termed Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. These are also explained in the book above and interplay with TCM concepts.
In any perceived situation where there is an unhealthy horse, it requires a little detective work to determine truly what is going on. There is an imbalance present, but it takes a keen eye sometimes to see it and then determine how to manage. Thus, in modern terms, the Cur-OST herbal formulas are ‘supplements’ but in truth, they really are not. Each has a purpose being related to the concepts of excess or deficiency. To remove an excess, we ‘drain’ the system. To build up or replenish a deficiency, we ‘tonify’ the system. See this article on ‘drain or tonify‘.
It is important to understand these terms because one can easily overdo one or the other. Back to the basement scenario. If you continue to just dehumidify the basement air, you can create another excess, being excessive dryness. If you just keep using the Shop Vac, you could do the same, or maybe burn the unit out, end up spending more money, or worse, blow a circuit in the basement due to overheating. Thus, you can take the excess situation to far. Additionally, if you decide the basement is sinking and just continue to jack it up, you will go to the opposite extreme. Or, if you dig a trench around your basement and decide to coat it with tar, but just keep applying it day after day, you will create an excess situation or you could become physically stuck to your basement wall.
Thus, you can take things to far and in today’s equine world, I think this is one of the biggest factors. Your goal is to restore balance in your horse’s health, but when you persist past that point, you will take things to the opposite extreme. It is like a pendulum that is swinging and most horse owners take the pendulum from one side to the other. Due to not understanding and more so just doing what others tell them to do, it is not hard to see not only how most of the health crisis situations are created in the horse, but also why many horse owners think I’m insane when I tell them to just STOP what you are doing. Do nothing for a bit and just feed good food or forage. They think I’m nuts, but those that listen often see miraculous improvements just with that effort and in the end, they not only have a healthier horse but save a small truckload of money.
Have a purpose when it comes to your horse’s health. What are you trying to achieve? You need to define this.
Targeting the Excess & Deficiency in the Horse
Now, when it comes to our Cur-OST supplements, they all have a purpose. Some are targeting a deficiency on some level, while others are targeting the excess situation in the horse. Some, due to this purpose, are intended for more short-term usage while others are safer or more balanced for long-term administration, meaning months if not years. The interesting thing to me, as an herbalist and veterinarian, is that many horse owner continue to use some of our more potent formulas, meaning they are very strong for a deficiency or excess situation, sometimes for years. Why do they do this? In my mind there is only one reason, they have not corrected the problem. This would be like the leaky basement. They continue to use the Shop Vac for years because they have not addressed the deficiency which is creating the problem. Or in reality, most horse owners are doing something or giving something else, which is contributing to the problem, thus the main deficiency or excess is never resolved. Thus, they need that more potent herbal blend over and over again. Not an ideal situation.
One more thing before I dive into the Cur-OST herbal formulas. If you determine there is an excess situation, there is usually a deficient one that is in the background, which is allowing that excess. If you are keen enough to realize the deficient root, in reality, one could just target that deficiency and resolve the excess. This would like waterproofing the basement, correcting the deficiency, which over time would resolve the excess. The buildup of water in the basement will resolve, eventually, but it is a question then of how much damage has taken place? Ideally, if there is an excess situation, it is dealt with first in the horse and then the root problem is contended with to restore balance. Or, depending on the situation, both are addressed simultaneously.
Let’s look at excess situations. In my experience with consultations, the number one excess situation is termed ‘dampness’ in the horse, which manifests clinically as an overweight body condition, stocking up, fluid accumulations, loose stools, discharges and often infections. The other ‘excess’ that I will see commonly is termed ‘Qi stagnation or blood stagnation’, which can exist on it’s own or more times than not accompanies the ‘dampness’ situation. Qi is energy in the body and a blockage or stagnation of it usually manifests as pain on different levels as well as a hot or irritable temper, not to mention an overheated body in many instances, often with foul odors such as in the feces. So, we could have a horse with loose feces for instance but they are ‘hot’ in nature and have foul odor. This is both dampness and stagnation. Like a pot sitting on the stove too long and burning the contents. The concepts are discussed in the book mentioned above.
Let’s take an everyday situation in the equine world, the metabolic horse.
The average metabolic horse is overweight and this accumulation of fat on their body impacts their health in many ways. From a TCM perspective, this accumulation of fat is viewed as being dampness and dampness is an accumulation of water, bodily fluids, fat, and toxins in the body. In Ayurveda, this ‘dampness’ is viewed as ‘ama‘ and is usually due to an excess Kapha dosha. This dampness or ama is viewed as being an ‘excess’ situation and thus, must be addressed.
Now, on the other end of spectrum, an excess is usually coming from one of two sources. There is an either an input of the excess into the system or there is a deficiency. In TCM, most dampness is seen as being related to a deficiency in digestion, implying the ability of the digestive tract to properly break down and assimilate the food. This is viewed as ‘spleen Qi deficiency’ or a weak digestive fire in the horse. This is the deficiency but this factor is often complicated by the owner giving inappropriate foods or supplements, which are cold in nature, such as typical vitamin-mineral supplements or medications, which then weaken the digestive fire and contribute to the deficiency. Furthermore, many horse owners are giving very dense foods and supplements, such as oils, flax seed, some grains, coconut, beet pulp, and many others that add to the dampness or heaviness in the horse.
Does this make sense? It may seem complex, but in reality it isn’t.
What you aim to do in these horses is remove the contributors, such as the heavy and dense foods and cold natured synthetic supplements. Then, we monitor and see how the horse responds, often in just a few days. By removing these, we allow the gut to restabilize and build that fire and correct the deficiency. In some, this is all that is needed in addition to diet and lifestyle changes. In others, the excess pattern is very dominant and there is a need to use specific herbal formulas to address this. One formula would be the Cur-OST EQ Tri-GUT or EQ Tri-Guggul. These are potent, often bitter but warming herbs that help to stimulate the digestion, benefit the microbiome, and aid in ridding the body of the toxins and fluid. In most, I will use one of these formulas for 45-60 days and monitor. If the horse is improved, feces are better, and possibly there is some weight loss, then we regroup. If there is no improvement, then you re-evaluate the entire situation and continue. More than likely there is something that you have not removed or improved upon, such as stress and lifestyle.
Then, either along with this excess drainage or after drainage, I will generally tonify the deficiency that is present, along with modifying other cellular factors such as inflammation and repairing the gut. In most metabolic horses, I would use the Cur-OST EQ Total Support, which can then be continued for long-term if the horse is responding. In some, if the excess pattern is continuing to be present, you can use the Cur-OST EQ Total Body & Joint, which combines some more gut herbs that are found in the EQ Tri-GUT along with Blueberry for overall health and improvement of metabolism. The EQ Total Body & Joint can be used long-term, if needed, but ideally you would downgrade after a period of time to a simpler blend like the EQ Total Support plus or minus the Cur-OST EQ Meta-Support.
Lifestyle factors, stress, diet and foot management are key players. If they are not corrected, many problems will persist because EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED. What you will begin to come to understand if you dive into these concepts deep enough, please see the book above, is that every horse and person has a constitution to them. This is their inherited tendencies as well as body type. No one horse is identical to another. This is key because many horse owner tries to treat every horse the same. The same supplements, same forage, same turnout, etc, and then they expect them to all respond. This is not possible. As you grab the bigger picture, you will come to understand that nothing is static or unchanging. Health is an acquired state, yet is the normal state of the horse or person. Even the healthiest horse will be influenced by things such as stress or even the weather, just as any person. How they respond to the weather or season changes will tell you how to manage them. Even if you work your way back to a very simple herbal formula approach using our Cur-OST formulas, this may be enough for now, but likely will need to be tweaked. You may need to add this or that herb, to counter other influences that are now rocking the boat. It is the beauty of the design, but sadly too frustrating for most horse owner.
I use the metabolic horse above as an example, but this approach works for many horses. Essentially, you are looking for patterns that are present and aiming to modify them for an attempt to rebalance. The metabolic horse approach works for most horses because most horses are overweight and at the least, pre-metabolic. Thus, the above approach could possibly work for the typical EPM or Lyme horse, the horse with laminitis, the horse will allergies, or otherwise. This is why I rarely am concerned with a diagnosis of such-and-such medical condition. That diagnosis is an effect or manifestation of the excess or deficiency. I am aiming to correct those and then allow the horse to repair.
As a final note, in a future article, I will try my best to go through our equine Cur-OST herbal formulas and point out purpose and potency. I will note that the herbal formulas found on Secondvet are potent in their nature, either targeting an excess or deficiency in some. Most of the Secondvet herbal formulas are not great for long-term usage and a migration to a simpler herbal blend via Cur-OST formulas is ideal and intended.
Author: Tom Schell, D.V.M, CVCH, CHN
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I enjoyed reading this article. Your approach of helping 1st w/immediate symptoms thru rebalancing & then addressing the foundational cause of excess/insufficiency makes sense to be me.
GREAT article as usual!
Hay!👋 How about an article on the HEALTHY old high performance horse sound, barefoot, competing? What to give when all is well?
Thanks!