Chapter 6

Non-Invasive & Natural Remedies with Notes on Drugs

There are a number of excellent herbal books on the market — Juliette de Bairacli-Levy's Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable is one of the best. One must remember when reading her work that all of it was done in countries where herbs grew in the pasture naturally and rainfall was, on the whole, regular and plentiful. Also remember that conventional chemical fertilizers and sprays were still a little way down the track.

Many areas are too dry to grow herbs in any quantity, and this was one of the reasons that I turned to vitamins and minerals as they were always obtainable when animals were off color. Mrs. Grieve's Modern Herbal is another book which I found useful; often she gives the mineral or other makeup of the herb, and one can use this in place of the actual plant if it is unavailable. There is a growing tendency nowadays to regard herbs as food. Herbs are not food, and should never be fed in this manner. Horses may be allowed to help themselves if it is practical to do so.

Homeopathy is now being used quite extensively and so are Bach flower remedies and acupuncture; there are good books on all three — study them. Another source of good information, especially in the horse world, are the works of some of the great early horse vets who, in many cases, used homeopathy as well. Following are just a few items which I have used personally and successfully with animals.

Aloe Vera

This is a plant in the cactus family. Those lucky enough to have the actual plant often use the leaves directly; otherwise it is obtainable in liquid, ointment or gel form. Care should always be taken with any creams and mixtures from plants (or other sources) to be certain that the product has not been scented or added to, as the original is best. Aloe vera can be fed or used externally. I tried the latter on a buck goat I bought. The animal had a badly ulcerated wound and severe foot rot. The feet were easy enough to deal with, but the ulcer, near the hock, was of a long-standing and very obstinate nature. After trying anything and everything without success, the aloe vera effected healing in three days.

Apple Cider Vinegar

This simple and easily obtainable liquid is invaluable in any region where potassium is often in short supply — mainly due to chemical farming. Cider vinegar contains natural potassium in a safe form. It should always be bought in bulk and unpasteurized. Most fodder stores now carry it these days — the old law of supply and demand — the pasteurized variety is not popular with animals, nor is it as effective.

Feeding quantities of apples as such can lead to digestive problems in horses (although chopped apples are reckoned to help with sanding). Horses willingly take cider vinegar in large amounts and it is wholly beneficial — a quickly assimilated source of potassium as well as other trace minerals. When I first read one of Dr. Jarvis' many books on cider vinegar, I did as he instructed and left a container for the horses and goats to help themselves. It may have worked in Maine where the deficiencies were not so great, but I could not afford to continue it ad lib in Australia where the deficiencies are huge.

Cider vinegar maintains the correct pH in the body, which is probably one of the reasons it is so useful. Because of its potassium content, it is invaluable for mares coming up to foaling. If there is any doubt about potassium levels, start feeding it six weeks before the foal is due. Personally, I feed it throughout the year.

Potassium deficiencies cause blood vessel constriction, affecting the extremities and, it seems, the cervix and uterus in the final stages of pregnancy — dystokia is the result. I first used cider vinegar on my milking goat herd after a season of very difficult births. The next year I was amazed at the difference, even the largest kids from maiden does arrived relatively easily and in very good health. Many stock owners and human mothers have observed similar effects.

Cider vinegar helps prevent bruising and assists the tissues to recover from exertion. Given regularly to stallions, it will help prevent urinary calculi, especially useful if they are limited to very hard water — as is the case on many properties. Cider vinegar added to feed twice a week would be sufficient to stop stones in the urethra or kidneys, and prevention is certainly better than cure for this dangerous condition. A tablespoon twice a week would be enough for a stallion.

It can also be used as a mild cure for skin conditions. For instance, cider vinegar can be used on ringworm when it is too close to the eyes to use a copper wash; rubbing it in well two or three times a day for a couple of days is usually enough. Those wishing to learn more about cider vinegar should read any of Dr. Jarvis' very interesting little books on cider vinegar. There are various editions available.

Arnica Montana

This is a perennial herb that grows in the mountains of Europe and is now being cultivated successfully in various locations. It is best used in homeopathic tinctures and pills, and an ointment is available in health shops. In homeopathic form, it is an excellent painkiller. I have used it postoperatively with astonishing results by normal rules. Once I used it on a dog who was going in for surgery. The dog concerned had no idea she'd had an operation, and did not try to scratch or lick the site at all. It also seems to have a healing effect; the dog in question has no scar from the operation — which was performed to remove a salivary gland — and it had about 14 stitches as well as two drainage tubes. In common with vitamin C, arnica is good for shock or trauma.

A two-year-old thoroughbred slipped her handler and galloped straight down the middle of a busy freeway. She went clean over one car and into another. The owner insisted we use a drug-free regime. I told him to get a homeopath to provide both oral arnica and a spray for the wounds, which were multiple all over her body. They also used homeopathic calendula, which is marvelous for healing. By any standards, the result was impressive. One month later she was turned out in some fertile hill country with everything healed up and healthy. (Massive amounts of vitamin C and other vitamins were also used.)

An old book on veterinary homeopathy recommends that arnica is the first mode of treatment in all cases, regardless of the injury or symptoms, as it calms the patients completely. Available from homeopathic doctors and some vets, 200C is the potency most often used for horses in either pills or drops; the former were used on the filly mentioned above.

Comfrey

The old folk name for comfrey was knit-bone because it helped heal broken bones. It is a broad-leaved plant that grows quite readily in the damper, cooler areas. It will not thrive without plenty of water. Unfortunately, comfrey tends to die back in the winter, but can sometimes be kept going in a sheltered frame where it is protected from frosts. Otherwise, as with any herb, dry some during the summer and keep it for winter use.

In spite of much publicity to the contrary, the whole plant is completely safe, both internally and externally. In many parts of Germany and also Japan, comfrey is used exclusively for dairy cattle fodder during the summer months. It is highly nutritious, and also is of great assistance when used internally or topically for bone problems, including breaks. It is one of the few plants that contains natural vitamin B12, which may be one of the reasons why it is so good in the case of sickness. Comfrey may be used in poultices, and will often reduce bony swellings like splints (of recent origin) in a matter of days. It may be made into an ointment or used as a liquid obtained by boiling the leaves; distilled comfrey oil is the best if you can get it. All forms are useful at some time or other. The plant also has the reputation as an inhibitor of cancer.

The best way to feed comfrey is to offer a few leaves once or twice a week to horses; they appear to find it very palatable. In the United Kingdom, most racing stables have a bed of it by the barns and feed each horse a few leaves a week.

Emu Oil

This is now readily obtainable from pharmacies, feed stores and breeders as well. It is one of the by-products of emu farming. The oil should be odorless, with no additives; it is quickly absorbed through the skin, and is very helpful in cases of deep-seated joint injury. In horses it has reduced bony swellings in the same manner as comfrey.

Garlic

This is an onion-like plant that will grow very prolifically if kept damp and well fed. Either the bulbs or the chopped leaves may be given. It is also available in oil-filled capsules or tablet form. Garlic, like onions, contains natural sulfur, and sometimes reduces the incidence of interior parasites.

It is a natural antibiotic, especially useful in intestinal disturbances. Garlic also has the reputation of being a vermifuge, and although it undoubtedly helps, in my experience it cannot entirely take the place of a balanced diet with the correct amounts of copper. It is now obtainable in bulk, chopped, ready to add to feed and is used in the horse racing industry in this way. In cases of sickness in any stock, persuading them to eat garlic in some form can only be beneficial. It can be blended or offered whole; the horseman must experiment.

Drugs, What One Should Know About Them

One of the advantages of using vitamin C is that it has no serious side effects. Any student of medicine will know that all drugs have their disadvantages, the question is whether the good the drug does outweighs its ill effects.

Antibiotics

These drugs have undoubtedly saved many lives in the animal and human populations; however, the fact is that once a certain antibiotic has been used on a beast, that particular drug cannot be used again as effectively. This is the reason why indiscriminate use of antibiotics is so dangerous. The organism for which the drug is used builds up tolerance and resistance which apparently lasts forever. Antibiotics affect the villi in the intestines, making them shrivel up, and causing aching guts in the process.

Sensitivity tests for a drug's usefulness should always be done, and I always insisted that the vets did this. In a subclinical mastitis outbreak, I learned about this. I had been advised to shoot about half my herd as they had previously had all the available antibiotics (I bought them when quite old); the next lot had received almost every antibiotic, and there was one left that could be used with some hope of success. The younger ones could be given penicillin as they had never had any drugs before. I declined to treat any of them that way, and found safer, more effective methods of cure and prevention using dolomite as a carrier for the necessary calcium and magnesium. I learned that by raising the health of the animals and making sure that they received the necessary dolomite in their feed, mastitis and other similar diseases could not become a factor.

However, I was constantly hoping that a safe alternative would be found to antibiotics, and eventually learned about vitamin C and its curative powers. Make sure that a vet gives any drug that your stock may need, and never borrow something from another farmer or friend. Vets tell me that when they give vitamin C with drugs, quite often the good effects are enhanced and the bad ones minimized. Bear in mind the information in Chapter 5 on vitamin B12, and always insist that an injection of this is given with an antibiotic if one has to be used. A vet demonstrated the necessity of this to me years ago with a mare that had been very ill with colitis X — the B12 injection undoubtedly helped her to regain her appetite and recover.

One of the reasons why we have virtually run out of useful antibiotics is the frequency with which they have been used — many cases where good nutrition and nursing would have been successful were given powerful drugs because the owners did not feel like doing the work involved. We took the easy option, little realizing that new drugs cannot be found indefinitely, and one cannot entirely blame the veterinary profession for this — owners wanted a "quick fix" as well.

Butazolidin (BTZ, Bute)

This is an anti-inflammatory drug that is quite often used on performance horses. As I write this, however, I have on my desk a report from a veterinary clinic in Victoria that was sent to me by a client (of mine and theirs). The report states that since residues of this drug or its derivatives have been found in export beef in the United States, there is a possibility that it may be banned. Clinics everywhere are advising that these substances should not be used any more. Anti-inflamatories are painkillers, they are sometimes used in arthritic conditions, and there may be a belief that they are growth promotants as well, which is perhaps how they were found in beef.

Now that arnica is coming into widespread use there is a safe substitute. Remember that "bute" and many other anti-inflamatories have one rather dangerous side effect — they weaken blood vessels, often to the point where internal hemorrhaging will cause death. The best course of action is to cure the cause of the pain, not mask it with "bute" or anything else. If it still has to be given, make absolutely sure that some vitamin C is given at the same time. This strengthens blood vessels, and so may avert a disaster, but in view of the above information, it looks as though this particular drug is on the way out.

Cortisone

In the section on vitamin B5 I explained the mechanism for making cortisone naturally in the body. In humans, cortisone given artificially inhibits the output of natural cortisone for up to two years. I do not think anyone has found out what it does to horses, but I imagine it would be similar. So in any condition where cortisone would be indicated, such as infections, give extra vitamin C. If the horse has been fed barley, the vitamin B5 levels should be in good order — see section on that vitamin (Chapter 5). A lack of magnesium means low B vitamin levels.

Hormones

Any form of hormones or steroids is best avoided if possible as the after-effects can be rather traumatic. My first experience with these drugs put me off. A fox terrier bitch belonging to my parents was covered by the wrong dog, and the vet said there would be no problem; he would give her a hormone injection (stilboestrol in that instance) to make her abort. The dog was dead of cancer of the uterus within five months. I know that drugs and methods of administration have improved over the years, but I still have not seen or heard anything that makes me think that one does not pay for the use of such substances. The body is not geared to manage the often unknown side effects. If steroids have to be used, remember that they have the effect of stopping the absorption of calcium and magnesium, and they also either stop the synthesis of vitamin A or render it unobtainable, so the intake of those minerals and vitamins would have to be kept up.

I found this out in large animals that had been given hormones for ovum transplant programs. The animals seemed to have persistent vitamin A deficiency troubles for the next two years. Often the deficiency was so great after hormone administration that they could not hold to service or breed normally for that period without considerable amounts of extra cod liver oil (vitamins A and D). Shortages of those vitamins and low copper levels are the biggest causes of poor breeding performance. Goats that have been dried off with stilboestrol show the same symptoms. It has taken a whole lactation before their production returned to normal. After all, stilboestrol is a male hormone which would be contraindicated in a milking animal. Drying off a mare with stilboestrol would be counterproductive because it acts too quickly and often causes mastitis. The old-fashioned method of making vinegar poultices is still an effective way of drying up a milking animal if there is a good reason for doing so. A bitch whose puppies had been killed at five days was dry in 36 hours using that method.

However, in some breeding programs there are cases where hormones have to be used, especially for artificial insemination when using a stallion in another country. Ovum transplants could not be performed if we did not have hormones; in those cases, regular supplementation with cod liver oil must be an ongoing part of the program which should include the normal minerals in the feed as well. If this is not done, there will be abortions and the whole process will be wasted.

Anthelmintics & Exterior Parasite Preventatives

Thanks to the works of Dr. William A. Albrecht, we know that interior parasites are caused by unhealthy land for two reasons. One is that the dung beetles will not be working on poor land, and the other is that the horses do not receive adequate copper from poor land. Nowadays, when our soils are nowhere near what they should be (and possibly will not be so in the foreseeable future), copper sulfate and sulfur with dolomite and seaweed meal should be added to the feed or made available in licks as described. When I worked on the land in the middle of this century, worming horses just didn't figure in our activities. All animals have a few worms; some horses in racing used to pass two-yard samples, and they were fit and winning races. So I feel that it is not the worms that are the culprit, but the lack of top-class healthy feed.

All anthelmintics contain a poison, or they would not work. Because they are not made (these days) from natural substances, resistance to them has become a fact of life. I was doing a talk for the local department of agriculture a few years ago, and the convener said as he introduced me, "I hope you have some answers to worms, because the drenches are becoming redundant faster than replacements can be made."

Fortunately we do, and it is basically called good management. Another aspect is that organic certification cannot include the use of these substances, or those that destroy exterior parasites — equally easy to prevent. Those who have read the section on sulfur will realize the great uses of that natural substance.

One of the facts that spelled out the demise of several drenches was their toxic after-effects. Manure was not processed in the normal fashion by worms and dung beetles, and some brands of drenches caused the deaths of chickens who scratched around the horseyards. In recent times, some drenches have actually caused the deaths of the horses to which they were given — I know of one case where the vet rather apologetically told the owner that it happened occasionally. It would be interesting to know whether these animals die from anaphylactic shock or if the drench is cumulative or just unstable in its effects. Large doses of vitamin C, administered in time, stopped deaths in two others who came to my attention.

Exterior parasites only attack animals whose sulfur levels are inadequate or animals that have sugar (from molasses) in their blood. Unfortunately, much of our land is sulfur deficient — I had hardly ever seen lousy animals until I came to Australia in 1959, but in 1996 when visiting the United Kingdom, I found that nearly all dairy cows had lice. Sulfur is inhibited by artificial fertilizers; these were not in general use when I left the United Kingdom for Australia in the fifties, but now ammonium nitrate and superphosphate are used regularly in agriculture worldwide. Check the section on sulfur and it will be seen how incredibly important it is for full health.

Vaccinations — See Section in Chapter 8.

Seaweed Products

Seaweed meal is marketed as just that, or as kelp powder under various trade names. The important thing is that there are no additives in it like urea, and that the minerals in it are as nature intended and not chelated or added to in any way.

There are several firms processing seaweed from the oceans of the world. I fear that there is worldwide pollution in the sea; the great ecologist Rachel Carson (Silent Spring) found there was in 1962, but it is still the safest and best fodder additive that we have.

The section on iodine shows the necessity for using seaweed meal to ensure the continued health of horses in particular. When I visited some trainers in England in 1988, I mentioned that many horse owners were rather reluctant to use seaweed meal and Iwas met by amazement as apparently every racing stable there, and in the rest of England, now uses it.

The analysis below shows the amazing amount of trace minerals present in seaweed, all in organic form and in balance — thus ensuring that no toxicity can occur. I used to say that the average dose for a horse is a dessert- spoon a day — thoroughbreds and horses in strong work could possibly use more, ponies and crossbreeds would not need so much. However, in the years since I wrote that, I have seen far too many crossbreeds (non-thoroughbred horses) that have been fed far too much and become ill or unmanageable as a result. Now I advocate that all horses should have it ad lib, to take as much or as little as they need — they know a lot better than we do what they need.

The mildest effect from too much seaweed is that horses will "break out"; the worst is that they go somewhere near stark raving mad. "Breaking out," for those who have not met the term before, is rather like humans getting acne from over-rich feeding — spots come up, usually around the lower neck and wither area. None of these effects happen if horses have free-choice feeding and, in the long run, it is probably cheaper that way. Containers on the side of the stable should be built to contain seaweed in one half, rock salt in the other, and at times the owners may be amazed at how much, or how little, will disappear.

Pat Coleby's Natural Cures for Top-10 Horse Ailments

Chapter 1, "Soil Deficiencies"

Chapter 3, "Improving and Maintaining Pastures"

Chapter 6, "Non-Invasive & Natural Remedies with Notes on Drugs"

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