Feeding Oily Herbs - pros and cons

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peanutsmumma

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I've read a lot about feeding Oily herbs (oregano, thyme and rosemary mainly)

I just wondered what the benefits are to this that people have noticed......and if there any cons.....ie horse becoming fizzy etc.

Interested to know people's experiences

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I've only noticed good things. 3 sarcoids disappeared, 2 have massively shrunk and contunue to shrink very slowly, and my horse 'got fat' (he's a TB but has always struggled with weight). He also became much more forward and generally happier. Vet and chiro noticed he has started actually trying to carry himself and generally looked happier/perkier. Farrier also once commented on how strong his feet seemed suddenly....

It took about 2 months to notice the difference but has been an amazing change. As per another thread, I feed alongside a gut balancer which also helps him. He recently ran out and now he's super stuffy and looks unhappy but that doesn't mean the herbs don't play a role at all given that I saw all of the above changes when I added the herbs in addition to the gut balancer.
 
I've fed them on / off to the one I did the biome report with for ages. She has a history of ulcers and I do think she has settled with these. I've changed other things in her environment too but she lost her long term companion a few months back and she's coped better than I expected.

Poo firmed up with one - will be interesting to see how she does in spring.

My youngster is the one showing the most improvement. He lost his head on the Max gut supplement, got back to his sane self within 48 hours of me taking it out so I thought he may as well have the girls oily herbs. Juvenile wart vanished, gut line along belly vanished and he's happier about me putting my leg on. I ran out just before the post strike so was without for 3 weeks and he had a blip - week back on and he's settled again.

There's so much work being done on the biome in human studies now that I think more and more info will come out. It does sound like variety is key even if it isn't a lot. Our horses don't get to browse over large areas so the more we can do to fake that for them the better (& us - 20 different fruit & veg a week needed!!)
 
Thanks all.

I'm thinking if buying them all separately, 1kg bags and mixing it all together.

How much do you feed?

I have a new forest and a Dartmoor ☺️
 
Mine is keeping weight on better and just looks well. He scoped clear of ulcers but def had some hind gut issues which haven't come back. Whether the herbs help or not I'm not sure, but they are cheap and mine likes the taste so I carry on as I cant see that they would do any harm.
 
The only con for mine is the cost, but after 6 months I think that's balanced out by the fact that he has eaten 40 kg of bagged food in the last 3 months and is better covered than he ever has been at this time of year.
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ycbm said:
The only con for mine is the cost, but after 6 months I think that's balanced out by the fact that he has eaten 40 kg of bagged food in the last 3 months and is better covered than he ever has been at this time of year.
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Bought in 1kg catering quantities, and fed at a total of 120ml a day, I find cost fairly low.

Horses seem to like taste.
 
No cons for me. Horse is much calmer, no more spooking and just overall happier.
I buy a 250g bag of each from WholeFoods which costs just over £13 and lasts 2 months. I mix it all together and feed a 100ml scoop once a day.
 
I've just bought some small packs of each herb from a wholefoods website and am going to give it a go.
The horse in question seems fine, but a little high alert about life, so it may well make a difference. Worth a try!.
 
GrassChop said:
No cons for me. Horse is much calmer, no more spooking and just overall happier.
I buy a 250g bag of each from WholeFoods which costs just over £13 and lasts 2 months. I mix it all together and feed a 100ml scoop once a day.
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For quantity purposes, how high/weight is your horse?
 
Horseysheepy said:
For quantity purposes, how high/weight is your horse?
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Looking back on an earlier thread the Equibiome recommendation is 25-60gms a day.

I weighed a 50ml scoop as 14gms, though weight probably varies.

I feed 120ml a day, so 33.6gms a day, my horse is 16.3 / 620kg but I would think unless your horse is very far from 500kg, the Equibiome recommendation range sounds sensible.

90ml would give you 25gms a day.
 
peanutsmumma said:
Thanks all.

I'm thinking if buying them all separately, 1kg bags and mixing it all together.

How much do you feed?

I have a new forest and a Dartmoor ☺️
Click to expand...
I get mine from Wholefoodsonline too. I buy a 1kg bag of each and mix them together in a lidded drum.

I've been feeding a 25ml scoop twice a day (horses range from 400 to 500 ish kg), but think that might be a little on the short side so might up it a bit.
 
Fruitcake said:
I get mine from Wholefoodsonline too. I buy a 1kg bag of each and mix them together in a lidded drum.

I've been feeding a 25ml scoop twice a day (horses range from 400 to 500 ish kg), but think that might be a little on the short side so might up it a bit.
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What herbs do you buy?
 
Tiddlypom said:
That's who I buy from, too. Quality is very good.

Here is my recent order. Ikg each of thyme, oregano and rosemary for the neds, plus 5kg of human grade jumbo porridge oats for OH ?.

View attachment 106546
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I get mine from them as well and I order all my kitchen herbs from them as well, I got powdered garlic, ginger and Chipotle chilli last time, much cheaper than buying from the supermarket and are good quality.

I buy the spices for curries from them as well.
 
I guess you all use standard measure of each, not more of any particular one?
Think I'm going to try them on one of my mares who has always had looser droppings.
 
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