How long do you give a supplement to your horse?\u00a0 That is a good question and one that we receive frequently.\u00a0 The truth is that there are many variables involved and it is dependent upon what supplement you are giving to your horse.\u00a0 It is also dependent upon the goals you have or what you are trying to achieve.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Let’s dive into the subject.<\/p>\n
The question remains to be answered, how long do you give a supplement to your horse?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 This goes back many years and I can honestly think of many brands of human vitamin-mineral supplements that have come and gone.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 This may be true, but did raising that blood level really impact their health, or did it make matters worse?\u00a0 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<\/strong><\/em><\/span>.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Not a good idea, at least in my book, and just looking at the digestive microbiome of these horses, one can make that determination.\u00a0 It is also hard not to see that these horses rarely improve in their overall health.\u00a0 Their problems continue despite the effort.<\/p>\n 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’.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 This would start to go down this road of terms which we use in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) or Ayurveda, being ‘excess and deficiency’.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n A state of health in the horse is naturally who they are and is a state of ‘ease’.\u00a0 It is their root status or core basis, health.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 This state of ill health or disease in the horse is due to some inflicted imbalance in their harmony.\u00a0 In most cases, this is an inflicted situation by choices in lifestyle, diet, or otherwise.\u00a0 There are also environmental factors which play a role and can sometimes easily throw a horse off kilter.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 This is your goal.\u00a0 Balance.<\/p>\n Let’s pretend you just built a house with a full basement, including cinder block walls and insulation.\u00a0 Everything is great for the first year, but then during a wet season, you notice the smell of mold in the basement.\u00a0 On some days of heavy rain, you even begin to notice water accumulating on the cement pad in your basement.\u00a0 Maybe you even notice a large crack in the cinder block pyramid that the mason built.\u00a0 The once perfect basement is no longer.\u00a0 It is not healthy or balanced, but is off kilter.\u00a0 A state of ‘dis-ease’ has set in.\u00a0 Now, it is a question of what do you do?<\/p>\n If you truly step back from the problem and ask questions, the problem is evident.\u00a0 The water and mold accumulation in the basement is viewed as being an ‘excess’ situation.\u00a0 There is more of something now than what there was.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Now, look deeper.\u00a0 This excess arose from some sort of a deficiency or weakness in the basement.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 This deficiency or weakness is the primary problem, or the root condition.\u00a0 This deficiency has then allowed for the creation of the excess situation.\u00a0 Follow me?\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n The same scenario applies to your horse and their health, no matter the situation.<\/p>\n In TCM, we look at 5 main factors, which are Yin, Yang, Qi, Blood, and Jing.\u00a0 I will not go into these in specifics as these have been discussed elsewhere.\u00a0 A more detailed explanation can also be found in our book, Herbs & Whole Foods in the Horse<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 \u00a0In each of these factors, there could be an excess, a deficiency, or both.\u00a0 This is what is then contributing heavily to your horse’s lack of health.\u00a0 In Ayurveda, the concepts of doshas comes into play, with them being termed Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.\u00a0 These are also explained in the book above and interplay with TCM concepts.<\/p>\n In any perceived situation where there is an unhealthy horse, it requires a little detective work to determine truly what is going on.\u00a0 There is an imbalance present, but it takes a keen eye sometimes to see it and then determine how to manage.\u00a0 Thus, in modern terms, the Cur-OST herbal formulas are ‘supplements’ but in truth, they really are not.\u00a0 Each has a purpose being related to the concepts of excess or deficiency.\u00a0 To remove an excess, we ‘drain’ the system.\u00a0 To build up or replenish a deficiency, we ‘tonify’ the system.\u00a0 \u00a0See this article on ‘drain or tonify<\/strong><\/span><\/em>‘.<\/p>\n It is important to understand these terms because one can easily overdo one or the other.\u00a0 Back to the basement scenario.\u00a0 If you continue to just dehumidify the basement air, you can create another excess, being excessive dryness.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Thus, you can take the excess situation to far.\u00a0 Additionally, if you decide the basement is sinking and just continue to jack it up, you will go to the opposite extreme.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n Thus, you can take things to far and in today’s equine world, I think this is one of the biggest factors.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 It is like a pendulum that is swinging and most horse owners take the pendulum from one side to the other.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Do nothing for a bit and just feed good food or forage.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n Have a purpose when it comes to your horse’s health.\u00a0 What are you trying to achieve?\u00a0 You need to define this.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Now, when it comes to our Cur-OST supplements, they all have a purpose.\u00a0 Some are targeting a deficiency on some level, while others are targeting the excess situation in the horse.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 \u00a0The 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.\u00a0 Why do they do this?\u00a0 In my mind there is only one reason, they have not corrected the problem.\u00a0 This would be like the leaky basement.\u00a0 They continue to use the Shop Vac for years because they have not addressed the deficiency which is creating the problem.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Thus, they need that more potent herbal blend over and over again.\u00a0 Not an ideal situation.<\/p>\n One more thing before I dive into the Cur-OST herbal formulas.\u00a0 If you determine there is an excess situation, there is usually a deficient one that is in the background, which is allowing that excess.\u00a0 If you are keen enough to realize the deficient root, in reality, one could just target that deficiency and resolve the excess.\u00a0 This would like waterproofing the basement, correcting the deficiency, which over time would resolve the excess.\u00a0 The buildup of water in the basement will resolve, eventually, but it is a question then of how much damage has taken place?\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Or, depending on the situation, both are addressed simultaneously.<\/p>\n Let’s look at excess situations.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 So, we could have a horse with loose feces for instance but they are ‘hot’ in nature and have foul odor.\u00a0 This is both dampness and stagnation.\u00a0 Like a pot sitting on the stove too long and burning the contents.\u00a0 The concepts are discussed in the book mentioned above<\/em>.<\/p>\n Let’s take an everyday situation in the equine world, the metabolic horse.<\/strong><\/p>\n The average metabolic horse is overweight and this accumulation of fat on their body impacts their health in many ways.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 In Ayurveda, this ‘dampness’ is viewed as ‘ama<\/strong><\/em><\/span>‘ and is usually due to an excess Kapha dosha.\u00a0 This dampness or ama is viewed as being an ‘excess’ situation and thus, must be addressed.<\/p>\n Now, on the other end of spectrum, an excess is usually coming from one of two sources.\u00a0 There is an either an input of the excess into the system or there is a deficiency.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 This is viewed as ‘spleen Qi deficiency’ or a weak digestive fire in the horse.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n Does this make sense?\u00a0 It may seem complex, but in reality it isn’t.<\/p>\n What you aim to do in these horses is remove the contributors, such as the heavy and dense foods and cold natured synthetic supplements.\u00a0 Then, we monitor and see how the horse responds, often in just a few days.\u00a0 By removing these, we allow the gut to restabilize and build that fire and correct the deficiency.\u00a0 In some, this is all that is needed in addition to diet and lifestyle changes.\u00a0 In others, the excess pattern is very dominant and there is a need to use specific herbal formulas to address this.\u00a0 One formula would be the Cur-OST EQ Tri-GUT <\/strong><\/span><\/em>or EQ Tri-Guggul<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 In most, I will use one of these formulas for 45-60 days and monitor.\u00a0 If the horse is improved, feces are better, and possibly there is some weight loss, then we regroup.\u00a0 If there is no improvement, then you re-evaluate the entire situation and continue.\u00a0 More than likely there is something that you have not removed or improved upon, such as stress and lifestyle.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 In most metabolic horses, I would use the Cur-OST EQ Total Support<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/span>, which can then be continued for long-term if the horse is responding.\u00a0 In some, if the excess pattern is continuing to be present, you can use the Cur-OST EQ Total Body & Joint<\/a>, which combines some more gut herbs that are found in the EQ Tri-GUT along with Blueberry for overall health and improvement of metabolism.\u00a0 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<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/span>.<\/p>\n Lifestyle factors, stress, diet and foot management are key players.\u00a0 If they are not corrected, many problems will persist because EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>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.\u00a0 This is their inherited tendencies as well as body type.\u00a0 No one horse is identical to another.\u00a0 This is key because many horse owner tries to treat every horse the same.\u00a0 The same supplements, same forage, same turnout, etc, and then they expect them to all respond.\u00a0 This is not possible. As you grab the bigger picture, you will come to understand that nothing is static or unchanging.\u00a0 Health is an acquired state, yet is the normal state of the horse or person.\u00a0 Even the healthiest horse will be influenced by things such as stress or even the weather, just as any person.\u00a0 How they respond to the weather or season changes will tell you how to manage them.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 You may need to add this or that herb, to counter other influences that are now rocking the boat.\u00a0 It is the beauty of the design, but sadly too frustrating for most horse owner.<\/p>\n I use the metabolic horse above as an example, but this approach works for many horses.\u00a0 Essentially, you are looking for patterns that are present and aiming to modify them for an attempt to rebalance.\u00a0 The metabolic horse approach works for most horses because most horses are overweight and at the least, pre-metabolic.\u00a0 Thus, the above approach could possibly work for the typical EPM or Lyme horse, the horse with laminitis, the horse will allergies, or otherwise.\u00a0 This is why I rarely am concerned with a diagnosis of such-and-such medical condition.\u00a0 That diagnosis is an effect or manifestation of the excess or deficiency.\u00a0 I am aiming to correct those and then allow the horse to repair.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0 I will note that the herbal formulas found on Secondvet<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/span> are potent in their nature, either targeting an excess or deficiency in some.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n Author:\u00a0 Tom Schell, D.V.M, CVCH, CHN<\/p>\n Related Articles<\/p>\n What Is the GOAL in Supplementing Your Horse?<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nWhat is a Supplement in the Equine World?<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Excess and Deficiency in the Horse and Health<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n
Targeting the Excess & Deficiency in the Horse<\/span><\/h3>\n