garlic... good or bad

[ticobay831]

I started feeding garlic granules to my horses a few weeks ago on the reccomendation of my vet regarding fly bites, she said it would help.
I have used it in the past for this reason and didnt really think it helped but i thought id give it a go again.

I understood that garlic was supossed to be good for your horse, helps the digestive and immune system, helps with respiratory problems and a number of other things that i cant remember right now.

Ive also read somwhere that it didnt actually help horses that suffered from sweet itch but agrivated the situation.
My YO told me this morning that shes read in the H&H that garlic is poisonous for horses and im feeding it to my two

So now i totally confused

Debs x

 

[picolenicole]

I've always ussed it and it's never done anything bad to mine, does slightly work against flys but not much as they get used toit. Never heard of it beeing poisonous and a lot of top riders use it.

 

[Aniseed]

As you said garlic is good for a lot of things, I have never heard of it being poisonous but I have heard that if you feed too much too often it can cause anaemia. My horse has been on it for about six years and I do think it helps with the flies.

 

[ladyearl]

I think, from all the various bits of research i've done (i.e. google) it's good for the flies. But doesn't work for the sweet itch ones as it helps boost the immune system and the midge loves that kind of blood best!

I've never heard of it being poisonous

 

[Divasmum]

I use it for flies and circulation purposes. The research I saw said large quantities were bad for horses.

 

[Annagain]

I was told it can make some horses itchy. I used to feed it to my Sec D who had mild sweet itch. I honestly can't say I noticed any difference, either good or bad whether he was on it or not. I'm firmly of the opinion that nothing stops flies - no spray, supplement or feedstuff seems to work, bui it didn't seem to make him more itchy either. Whether it did any good to him internally I don't know.

 

[Chunkie]

Ours have it in their feed every day and have done for the past 6 years.

It does absolutely nothing for the flies, and as we are on a beef/dairy farm their are absolutely loads of them around.

It does come in useful in the winter as the older mare has a supplement in her feed and won't eat if we don't have garlic in to disguise the taste.

 

[Bosworth]

I would never feed garlic to my horses as it is too strong on their stomachs, kills bacteria on the gut and causes very loose droppings. It will seriously aggravate a horse that has stomach ulcers ( high percentage of race horses and competition horses) It is unproven for respiritory problems, and to get rid of flies - have you ever seen flies avoiding food with garlic in it? They don't - it does not work to repel flies.

 

[Toby_Zaphod]

Mine have always had garlic with no adverse side efects. If garlic is poisonous then I doubt horse feed manufacturers would use it or sell it. I expect that someone has taken someting out of context again, many things can be toxic if you eat too much of it. I spoonful of garlic in a feed once a day won't do any harm whatsoever.

 

[Donkeymad]

It is good for many things, and some think it does help fly repellancy. However, it should not be fed continuously and in overdose can kill. I know of several that died this year from it.

 

[ticobay831]

mmmm apparantly it was in the latest issue of H&H in the readers letters, i havent actually read the article.
Debs x

 

[ForeverBroke_]

Huh! You hear something new every day. I just always had it down as being one of those things you couldn't give enough of.

*Tottles off to google*

 

[touchstone]

Garlic does have beneficial uses, but like anything else, fed in huge quantities can be harmful.

The horses in Pearsons trial which showed anaemia were fed huge quantites which were covered in mollasses just so the horses would eat it!

This link has some common sense I think:

Written by Victoria Ferguson Dip.Herb.Med




Garlic - the supreme herbGarlic has been used as a food and a medicine for humans for over six centuries and is now in widespread use as a feed supplement for horses all over the world.

I have fed Garlic to my own horses for more than 15 years, and for the past 10 years have recommended it to my clients as an essential prophylactic feed supplement and employed it on countless occasions as the supreme alterative and antiseptic herb for curing infections.

Garlic's latin name is Allium sativum and is a member of the onion (Alliaceae) family. There are about 150 native species throughout the world and all the wild alliums share many chemical and biological activities with the more famous Garlic.

The grandmother of herbal medicine Juliette de Bairacli Levy says in her book "The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable"that Garlic is worshipped by the gypsies who uphold that it possesses magic properties on account of its being able to cure the majority of ailments which afflict man and the animals he has domesticated.

The noted British equine herbalist Hilary Page Self outlines the major uses for horses in her book "A Modern Horse Herbal". She states that Garlic is ideal for any respiratory disorder, being both expectorant and antibiotic, is one of the best herbs to protect animals or humans from infection, is supportive to the development of natural bacterial flora, so vital to a good digestive system, whilst killing pathogens, and externally can be used on bites, stings, ringworm, lice and tick bites.

The famous American ethnobotanist Dr James Duke PhD has spent 30 years researching plants for the U S Department of Agriculture and is one of the world's most respected authorities on medicinal plants. Over the years, he has roamed the jungles of Central and South America, learning from folk healers and collaborating with the National Cancer Institute to identify plants that could prevent or treat cancer and other diseases.
TRADITIONAL USES CONFIRMED BY SCIENCE

That such an eminent authority states that he has found numerous correlations between traditional uses over the centuries and modern scientific research is a superb accolade for this versatile herb.

According to Duke, Garlic is an immune system booster, liver protective, anti-allergy, anti-asthma, anti-bronchitis, anti-cancer, cancer preventative, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant, treats ulcers, yeast infections and sinusitis and is an important heart herb.

Duke states "It never ceases to amaze me that there is almost always a chemical or suite of chemicals in a plant that explains why it is used for it popular indications. Few herbs have more folklore attached to them than Garlic, and few herbs have more phytochemicals that can give reason to the folklore." He continues "All in all, the roster of Garlic's biologically active compounds reads like a pharmacist's shelf - approximately 70 compounds have been identified so far. When I tabulated the effectiveness of Garlic for my database, I found clinical proof, or scientific experiments using humans, that Garlic is indeed effective for heart problems, especially for lowering high blood pressure and cholesterol levels .... I also found other good, strong evidence for Garlic's activity as an antibiotic and for the treatment of burns, cancer prevention, strengthening the immune system, and respiratory problems. I found less conclusive, but very suggestive evidence that Garlic is helpful for arthritis, intestinal disorders and parasites, lead poisoning, tuberculosis and typhus."

Duke's praise of Garlic, he takes it himself every day, includes the facts that it is both germicidal and immune boosting, that it is better than penicillin because it contains at least 25 germ-killing compounds compared with penicillin's one type of active ingredient., and that resistance will be less likely because the germs are being attacked on several fronts.
GARLIC'S COMPONENTS

Garlic is very rich in the minerals Sulphur and Selenium which are not coincidentally metabolic partners. Sulphur is well known as a blood cleansing mineral that is useful in preventing and treating disease used both internally and externally. Many areas of Australia are deficient in Selenium so feeding Garlic is an easy way to supplement this element necessary for muscular health and fertility and which is also a significant anti-oxidant.

The list of bacteria sensitive to Garlic is extraordinary and includes Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Brucella, Bacillus, Vibrio, Klebsiella, Escherichia, Salmonella and Heliobacter pylori.

Garlic contains compounds which are anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving and reduce swelling which would explain why it is also effective in the treatment of arthritis. The fact it is effective against Heliobacter pylori is an indication why it can be helpful in the treatment of ulcers.
DETRACTORS

Bad press on feeding Garlic to horses periodically surfaces. So I am pleased to clarify this misinterpretation. Detractors of the practice claim that Garlic can cause haemolytic anaemia, a disease affecting the red blood cells. In 2004, Wendy Pearson M.Sc. (Agr.) a researcher at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada, conducted a trial using four horses to see if this was true. Two horses received the garlic as a top dressing in their feed, the others were fed a garlic-free diet. The daily amounts of freeze-dried garlic were increased to a maximum of five cups (700 grams!!!) per day over a 71 day period. She found that the garlic eaters showed changes in their blood chemistry beginning at around the third week, when garlic intake was four cups (560 grams)of freeze dried garlic per day. Their red blood cell count fell and the red cells developed Heinz bodies, deformations in the cells caused by denatured haemoglobin. That finding warranted termination of the study.

Although she found that large amounts of voluntarily eaten Garlic negatively affected horses, Pearson says that owners and trainers are currently supplementing horse feeds with less than one-tenth of the maximum amount of garlic administered to the research horses. This is a maximum of 70 grams.

There is minimal risk of toxicity at these amounts, Pearson says, and contrary to an earlier claim that just five grams of garlic a day could be toxic, she estimates a horse would have to eat more than 100 times that amount before experiencing ill effects.

I have communicated with Wendy Pearson about the trial and I have read the entire transcript of it which she provided to me. I was interested to learn that the horses fed Garlic had it mixed with strong molasses before it was added to the feed. I had queried the likelihood that any horse would eat such a huge amount of Garlic, especially as some horses will not eat it at all, as was fed in the trial and this was the answer I received and Wendy Pearson agreed with me that it was hard to get them to eat it without the molasses.

So what is the correct feeding rate of Garlic to horses as part of a preventive maintenance program? I recommend one tablespoon (30 grams) per day for an average sized horse (450 kgs). This can be reduced commensurately for smaller horses and increased for larger horses. These amounts can be doubled for short periods of time (for a few weeks) when any kind of infection threatens. This includes coughs, colds, viruses and strangles. To reduce the incidence of tick, mite, fly and midge bites, Garlic can be fed at up to double the rate above during the season.

The most common way of feeding Garlic to horses in Australia is in the freeze-dried granule form or powder form. The granule form seems to be more palatable to horses and the less processed any feed is the better.

The very best way to feed Garlic to horses is to feed organically grown Garlic fresh every day. For those who have the time and the inclination to do this or even to grow it themselves, the feeding rate is the same as above. There is no need to peel the Garlic, just crush before feeding.

Do not feed Garlic which you buy in the supermarket as the shelf life of the corms is very limited and given that most of this Garlic is already old before it reaches the supermarket shelves, it is a waste of money compared with the freeze dried granule. Do not feed minced Garlic or Garlic Oil either as once again the power has long been processed out of these products. Garlic infused vinegar is not a good way to feed Garlic as one cannot be sure of the dosage rate and if you need to feed higher amounts of vinegar at any time, then you will be increasing the amount of the Garlic which you may not be appropriate. Also the quality of the Garlic used in the infusion cannot be guaranteed.

Routine feeding of Garlic is effective in deterring some species of worms, namely roundworms, pinworms, tapeworms and hookworms. I have been using Horse Wormtest through the NSW Department of Agriculture for the past five years for my own horses and many clients' horses, to determine effectiveness of various herbs as vermicides. Horses which are routinely fed Garlic at the recommended rate never have any of the above species of worms. However I stress that Garlic is NOT effective against small strongyles also known as cyathastomes. The tests suggest that Garlic may be effective against large strongyles, however there is more work to be done on this.
CAUTIONS

Some horses will not eat Garlic at all, in that case don't give it to them, these animals obviously know something about themselves that we don't! When introducing Garlic to the diet, like any new feed, do so a little at a time, and gradually build to the correct feeding rate, it is an acquired taste for some horses, while others take to it immediately. If a horse is scouring badly, Garlic may be contra-indicated, the horse in question will tell you.

Horse herbal books advise withdrawing Garlic from the diet of mares who are due to foal, as the Garlic can taint the taste of the milk and may discourage suckling. In fact I make this recommendation in my own book "The Practical Horse Herbal". However in the past three years, I decided to recommend to clients to leave the Garlic in the diet and the results have been a bonus, a total absence of foal scours, which has also been my own personal experience.

To quote James Duke "To say ‘Garlic is the Greatest' is no herbal hyperbole".