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Horse & Pony Magazine, PO Box 12965, Penrose, Auckland.
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Q :My
warmblood mare has what I was told was a blocked tear duct
in one of her eyes. The eye is always running and she has tear
stains, for want of a better description, on her face all the
time from that eye. The liquid is clear and doesn’t appear
to be infected in any way. Is there anything I can do for her?
It seems that it’s just an aesthetic thing, but it can’t
be that comfortable for her.
AA, Maniototo
A :Tears are produced all the time to lubricate
and protect the eye. Excess liquid either evaporates or is drained
away into the sinuses. Blocking of the drainage ducts is not
uncommon and as you say is really no more than unsightly. The
cause may be a blockage or an overactive lachrymal gland.
One thing which may work – it doesn’t always – is
to wipe a moist tea bag over the eye. A used one is fine. Tea
contains high levels of tannins which tighten the tissue. You
may need to do it every morning but it is pretty easy to do.
If you know a local herbalist you may be able to get some eyebright.
By its name this is a favourite eye herb. Use it as an infusion
but be careful to keep it fresh. The last thing you need is to
introduce an infection into the eye. It is not easy to get drops
into a horse’s eye so a moist pad may help.
 |
Eyebright is a useful herb to use
as an eye tonic |
Q :My
horse has been diagnosed with a trapped nerve in his hip, which
has been fixed (I hope) with a chiropractic manipulation. It’s
going to take some time to get him to start using himself properly,
though, as the injury has been there for some time. I was wondering
about herbal/nutrition support for his rehabilitation and for
the nervous system generally. Thanks.
Mandy, Waikato
A :From what you say it seems that this condition had been continuing
for some time, so a regime of exercise and perhaps ongoing
manipulation may be necessary. There is a group of herbs known
as nervine tonics which will help, but there are a couple of
other things that you may like to consider. When you
start working him again he will probably be a bit stiff and
sore. I’d suggest devil’s claw for its anti--inflammatory
properties, and schisandra to help any lactic acid build up.
He may also be a bit sore after manipulation. Devil’s
claw will really help here but please discuss it with the chiropractor.
Nervine tonics include oat straw and St John’s wort.
They will help support the nerve tissue as it recovers from
the pinch. Nerve tissue is very slow to recover so do not expect
quick miracles.
For horses the easiest nervine tonic is probably oat straw. Put
a good handful of oat chaff into a litre of water. Boil it for
about 10 minutes, allow to cool and then add it all, liquid and
solid, to his feed. Silica is a very important mineral for nerve
health and decocting the oat straw releases it for absorption
by the horse. You may need to give him this much twice a day
for up to three months, but it should certainly help.
In situations like this it is a good idea to make sure you include
a wide range of nutrients in his diet. Kelp is a great source
of a wide range of trace and ultra trace elements and is easy
to source. You may also like to consider dried nettle. This is
used in humans as a spring tonic and contains a wide range of
minerals as well as being anti-inflammatory.
Q :Like many horses, my TB loves peppermints of any kind. That
led me to wonder about feeding mint (the garden herb) or peppermint
directly, so as to avoid the sugar and other processed ingredients
of Oddfellows and so on. Are there any health benefits of mint
for horses, or do they just like the taste? Is it harmful for
him to eat a whole packet of peppermint lollies?
Minty, Southland
A : Peppermint is one of a group of herbs known as carminatives;
they are used to relax the stomach and aid digestion. Hence
the use of peppermint tea by humans. The flavour of peppermint
lollies is derived from peppermint essential oil, which is
made by steam distilling the fresh herb. Giving peppermint
lollies to horses in moderation should cause no problems. Too
many may not only give too much sugar but may also cause over
relaxation of the sphincter muscles which are important in
the functioning of the gut. We have not used garden mint as
a therapeutic herb but in the UK mint siftings are very popular
as an ingredient in many dry herb mixes. I suspect it is used
as a filler; mint siftings are cheap. If your horse likes the
taste of garden mint I would not hesitate to give it to him;
fresh or dry as suits you. It has mild carminative properties
but is really just a flavour herb.
There are many different varieties of mint but the medicinal
variety is mentha piperita.
There have been several interesting studies on its effectiveness
in inflammatory bowel disease, gut spasm and upper respiratory
infection. You will also be familiar with menthol, which is one
of the constituents found in peppermint.
Once you have sourced the correct plant it is very easy to grow.
Just like garden mint it needs plenty of water. It tends to have
a more seasonal growth pattern producing most of its new leaves
in the spring. Pick and dry it then and you will have a free
source of peppermint all year.
Q :I have a thoroughbred-cross who has typical
(bad) TB feet with thin soles and crumbling walls. He usually
keeps his shoes on okay, but he has constant problems with stone
bruises and hoof abscesses over winter. My farrier has shod him
with pads, and I try to yard him for a part of each day so his
feet can dry out, but I was wondering if you would recommend
anything natural that I could feed him to help improve his feet.
What about when he has an abscess – is there anything that
will help heal him faster, either that I can feed him or use
as a poultice?
CM, Auckland
A :General hoof health is helped enormously by rosehips. We treated
a warmblood horse a few years ago whose feet were so bad that
the owner was seriously considering putting him down. His feet
were so soft and crumbly that he could not be shod and equally
could not go barefoot.
After three months feeding rosehips the farrier thought the owner
had bought a new horse!
It will take a while as the new hoof mat-erial grows down from
the top but the difference will be remarkable. For a normal sized
TB, 30 grams a day should be sufficient. Just get the dried granules
and add it to his feed.
Abscesses are an indication on a lowered immune system.
Improving his hoof health will help but you may also like to
think about echinacea to support the immune system.
Circulation to the feet is not as good as to some other parts
of the body, so adding some powdered ginger to the feed will
also help. Add about a teaspoonful a day to his other feed. When
he has an acute abscess, a poultice of cabbage leaves will help
to draw out the contents and cool the hoof.
