HealthyHoof.com

Hoofcare & Information for Barefoot Soundness

Linda Cowles Hoof Care - Serving the greater SF Bay Area and Northern California

Some of these herbs (like J-herb) should have a vet's supervision and people with a lot of experience with herbs and chinese medicine have reservations about the arbitrary use of both Cinnamon and jiaogulan. Its a good idea to research all medical alternatives and check with veterinary experts when you have concerns or questions...

Cinnamon 1 tsp per 250# of body weight (so for a 1000 pound horse, 4 tsp) Helps to move the insulin through the cells (smaller amounts can be used for flavoring)

Spirulina (blue-green algae) will help with allergies and/or support the immune system. Suggested dose (Dr Kellon) is 40 grams to start (20g twice a day, about 1 ounce), can be lowered to 20 g once a day when the desire effect is reached.

ChasteTreeBerry (vitex) Available as a whole herb or berry (Herbalcom.com) or as an infusion Hormonise or Evitex. The whole ground berry is fed at a rate of 1-2 oz per day (This is the herbal treatment for Cushing's)

Jiaogulan (the J-herb) - Chinese adaptogen (the longevity herb), helps to improve circulation, thought to help with founder and laminitis. Dose varies, depending on response, start small, 1/2- 1 tsp; watch for pinking of mucous membranes as blood flow improves, then more energetic approach to life. Watch horse to insure it continues to drink adequately. Dr Kellon is a great consultant with experience with this.

APF - Advance Protection Formula, Auburn Labs- adaptogen ic herbs in an infusion, showing nice results in improving insulin responsiveness.

Ration Plus (Ration+) works as a "pre biotic"; it feeds the horse's flora It's expensive, but the dose is small, 6 ml or so. Something new worth investigating is called "Pre biotic".

Suggested herb suppliers are

• HerbNHorse http://www.herbnhorse.com/
• Herbalcom.com and
• Bulkfoods.com.
• Silver Lining Herbs http://silverliningherbs.com/

If you have other sources you'd like me to list, please send them to me.