Hemp oil (cannabis oil) for horses????

[canteron]

There have been encouraging signs of the benefits for humans and there are lots of products for dogs. Are there any to reduce anxiety in horses .... and has anyone used it on themselves or horses with any success?

 

[OlderNotWiser]

My OH (mid 50’s) started using it about a week ago and is convinced it’s helping with knee pain. Previously he was taking ibuprofen daily. No idea about horses, sorry!

 

[Shay]

Its used for pain relief - not anxiety. Its not ever been used to reduce anxiety.

 

[dogatemysalad]

Don't know if this is true or not, but an American jockey told me years ago, that horses process cannabis differently to humans. Rather than making them relaxed and chilled, it has the opposite effect.

 

[Remi'sMum]

Its used for pain relief - not anxiety. Its not ever been used to reduce anxiety.

I would beg to differ - in humans at least. It’s not licensed in any way, shape or form, and can’t be prescribed by a doctor. Dosage instructions are guidelines only. However, a friend bought me some CBD oil when I was going through a really tough patch with depression and anxiety. I was dubious at first but did a bit of research and in the end thought ‘what the heck’. I was desperately low at the time, signed off work, and willing to try more or less anything. I felt significantly better within a few days of starting taking it. Nothing else had changed. Coincidence? Who knows? I stayed on it for several weeks and weaned myself off gradually once I was back on a bit more of an even keel. Both my gp and my counsellor were really interested when I told them.

 

[canteron]

Don't know if this is true or not, but an American jockey told me years ago, that horses process cannabis differently to humans. Rather than making them relaxed and chilled, it has the opposite effect.

Gulp 😬

 

[risky business]

Its used for pain relief - not anxiety. Its not ever been used to reduce anxiety.

I would also disagree with this, there is quite a lot of interest in CBD oils and anxiety at the moment. I also know people who use it for that purpose alone with positive results.

Its certainly not just limited to pain relief, there's been some pretty interesting results in treating epilepsy also.

As for horses no idea sorry op!

 

[Pearlsasinger]

Its certainly not just limited to pain relief, there's been some pretty interesting results in treating epilepsy also.

!

In fact it was a group of parents of children with epilepsy who pressed for CBD oil to be licensed here, some of them were going to the Netherlands to buy it and import it (illegally) because it was the only thing which helped their children. I understand that there are trials going on to monitor its use as pain relief.

 

[scruffyponies]

FFS. I quote from a farming journal in South Africa, where they grow acres of the stuff:

"Horses that have grazed cannabis plants present with dilated pupils and show excitable behaviour. They can become disorientated and bolt through fences, or stagger and fall. Those that have consumed higher doses have muscle tremors, salivate heavily, and their movement becomes uncoordinated, as though they have been anaesthetised. They eventually become comatose and stop breathing. Cattle and sheep show similar signs. Treatment is mainly supportive, fairly expensive and unlikely to be successful."

I really wish people would do some research before spreading dangerous ideas based on trendy nonsense.

 

[The-Bookworm]

The plant itself yes, but people are taking about the CBD oil which is not THC and therefore not psychoactive.
Saying all that would I not touch it with a barge pole!

Op for anxious horses I would opt for magnesium. I use Equine America as it's only 5g. No way would I give this to a horse when then are likely lots of other things out there that can help already.

The epilepsy people it has helped will be those that are so severe that everything else has been tried and failed.
If you are already on morphine for pain relief- from the same poppy that heroin comes from, adding this could potentially overdose you surely?

 

[luckyoldme]

If this cbd oil was all that its cracked up to be we could do away with the nhs.
Its supposed to cure anything from mild pain to cancer.

 

[tda]

I use it myself, I have MS, aching arm and leg, fatigue etc I think it does help a bit
I wouldn't use it instead of taking a paracetamol

 

[ozpoz]

I take it instead of paracetamol. Works well for me and no side effects.

 

[Silver Clouds]

A rheumatology consultant I used to know was involved in NHS-funded research into the effectiveness of cannabis oil for the treatment of the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis about 15 years ago. He told me that the researchers were astounded by how good the results were, without any apparent side effects (unlike most other RA drugs). Unfortunately funding was withdrawn by the NHS for the second stage of the trial- the consultant says he was convinced it's because drug companies make huge profits from drugs for RA, whereas cannabis is easy to produce and cheap (so not a lot of profit in it).

 

[scruffyponies]

Cannabis is great stuff - it has many medically useful derivatives and makes excellent rope, but suggesting use of a drug that has not been tested in the target species on the back of 'someone said it worked for x in humans' is irresponsible. We have vets for a reason.

Would you give horse wormer to a dog? (hint - don't, it might well kill your dog)

 

[canteron]

FFS. I quote from a farming journal in South Africa, where they grow acres of the stuff:

"Horses that have grazed cannabis plants present with dilated pupils and show excitable behaviour. They can become disorientated and bolt through fences, or stagger and fall. Those that have consumed higher doses have muscle tremors, salivate heavily, and their movement becomes uncoordinated, as though they have been anaesthetised. They eventually become comatose and stop breathing. Cattle and sheep show similar signs. Treatment is mainly supportive, fairly expensive and unlikely to be successful."

I really wish people would do some research before spreading dangerous ideas based on trendy nonsense.

Even the trendy people know that the oil is very different from pure cannabis. And there are quite a lot of respected research papers by non trendy scientists for humans.

 

[SEL]

Quite a lot of the US crowd with myopathy horses (PSSM) use it with great results. You do actually need approval from a vet to use it in the UK - mine is quite happy for me to try it when I want on my mare. A friend of mine has fed whole hemp seeds which went straight through her horse and germinated on the muck heap. You need a licence to grow hemp, so her photo was swiftly deleted from FB and the plants dug into the heap!! Link below might help.

http://naturalholisticvet.co.uk/cbd-oil-for-animals-how-to-choose/

 

[sbloom]

The plant itself yes, but people are taking about the CBD oil which is not THC and therefore not psychoactive.
Saying all that would I not touch it with a barge pole!

Op for anxious horses I would opt for magnesium. I use Equine America as it's only 5g. No way would I give this to a horse when then are likely lots of other things out there that can help already.

The epilepsy people it has helped will be those that are so severe that everything else has been tried and failed.
If you are already on morphine for pain relief- from the same poppy that heroin comes from, adding this could potentially overdose you surely?

Agreed with the bulk of this, people are lumping at least three different products as one, easily separated with a quick google. HOwever, you can't say that two different pain relief methods will mean overdose, you can layer NSAIDS and paracetamol, it would be down to the specific combination of drugs.

If this cbd oil was all that its cracked up to be we could do away with the nhs.
Its supposed to cure anything from mild pain to cancer.

Hmm...

A rheumatology consultant I used to know was involved in NHS-funded research into the effectiveness of cannabis oil for the treatment of the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis about 15 years ago. He told me that the researchers were astounded by how good the results were, without any apparent side effects (unlike most other RA drugs). Unfortunately funding was withdrawn by the NHS for the second stage of the trial- the consultant says he was convinced it's because drug companies make huge profits from drugs for RA, whereas cannabis is easy to produce and cheap (so not a lot of profit in it).

Exactly. I think it's a strong possibility that this is the case. I'm not a conspiracy theorist at all, I think very little is "co-ordinated" in this way at top level, but if you have a load of corporations that are all served by keeping things just as they are, controlling the supply chain, new research etc, they will keep doing what serves them. And they have power, a lot of it, especially in the States.

 

[Goldenstar]

Its used for pain relief - not anxiety. Its not ever been used to reduce anxiety.

Yes but it’s complicated the way it acts is similar to an opiate .
you simply don’t notice pain and yes they calm you .
I have never used on horses but it works on people .

 

[scruffyponies]

The one tried and tested use for cannabis in horses for some crazy reason does not seem to be used any more. It was widely and successfully used for about 300 years to relieve colic.

It was standard issue for every vet in WW1 for that purpose.

 

[Valadictory]

in humans it has been used for Anxiety too, it is one of the categories where private clinics can prescribe it.

 

[Valadictory]

Purely anecdotal but since taking cannabis based medication, after 10 years of my RA being so aggressive it was uncontrollable, my blood inflammatory markers are now normal.

 

[PurBee]

There’s a lot of confusion about different products from the cannabis sativa plant - because many parts are used for oil/medicine/food/textiles. The various STRAINS that are grown are for specific industries.

The EU laws don’t allow ANY psychoactive cannabis plants to be grown....so there’s only CBD oil present and less than 0.2% psychoactive THC.

So the 2 oils legal in europe are ‘hemp oil’ - made from hemp seeds squeezed. And CBD oil. There’s a WORLD of difference between the 2 oils for health.

’Hemp oil’ - from seeds - It’s a high omega 6 pro-inflammatory oil, which i wouldn’t take for arthritis or dietary health as it promotes inflammation. The omega 3 oil is needed for arthritic conditions!
I certainly wouldn't feed it to horses, unless also giving them linseed oil which has high omega 3 anti inflammatory fat, to balance out the omega 3/6 ratio to 1:1.
I’m sick to the high teeth about hemp oil ’health claims’, with its ‘healthy fats’...pure BS.

The hemp SEED is definitely a great food...full of various nutrients and proteins.
Hemp seed hulls are fed to cattle and horses - mainly it’s just fibre.
Hemp leaves are a good food source for humans and herbivorous mammals. Used to be fed to cattle and horses by our ancestors before the plant was demonised completely. leaves are full of fibre, minerals, chlorophyll.

CBD oil is the anti-inflammatory cannabinoid that all the research worldwide attests to. Out of all the cannabinoids currently widely tested, CBD comes out on top for its superior anti-inflammatory actions.
This is why its used for mood levelling conditions of anxiety and depression too. An inflamed body/brain will not yield a calm mind.

THC is the cannabinoid that makes you ‘high’. That’s not in europes hemp strains. Its completely bred out to levels below 0.2% THC. Levels so low you won’t ever feel stoned if you ate the whole plant!
The ’illegal marijuana’ market worldwide has bred cannabis to contain ridiculously high THC levels and outbred the CBD cannabinoid. So todays street drug is a zombie-psychosis-making frankenstein version of the indigenous Cannabis strain. CBD ameliorates the catatonic THC effects. The original strains before mankind hybridisation had around 3-6% of each major cannabinoid. Todays street ‘ganja’ has 25-30% THC and less than 1% CBD. THATS an insane imbalance of cannabinoids, and the cause of psychosis, paranoia, anxiety, teen brain development issues etc etc...with partaking in that type of street drug.

If horses were fed the FLOWERS of these hybridised modern high THC cannabis plants, the results would be catastrophic.

If horses were fed kilo’s of leaves of hemp, where there are very minimal amounts of ANY cannabinoids, they’d be very satiated.

Not all ‘cannabis’ plants are created equal, is the point im making.
Many folk make sweeping generalisations about the plant, not realising there’s many versions of it, some very nutritious and medicinal to downright toxic and should be banned altogether.

When shopping for ‘hemp’ products, read the labels carefully. If it says ’hemp oil’ - its from the seeds and doesn’t contain any cannabinoids whatsoever. You may aswell just have cheaper olive oil instead.

CBD oil is ALWAYS labelled CBD oil. Cold-pressed from the flowers of hemp...or extracted using other methods. Cold-pressed is best for human health conditions. It’s vastly more expensive than ‘hemp‘ (seed) oil. Many manufacturers supply the lab data sheet of CBD content for that batch with the purchase, even though they dont have to, because it’s not legally required. They do it to dispel the criticism the industry have reaped via certain industries who want hemp medicine to ‘go away’ and not interfere with their profits.

The pharmaceutical industry has already isolated thc and cbd and altered it to be able to patent it and sell at pharma-hiked prices, as ‘safe’ subscriptions to unsuspecting patients.
Unfortunately they don’t realise the synergistic effect of having the blend of cannabinoids/terpenes etc from the whole plant work together to aid healing. Isolating just one part of a plant results in minimised healing, and some side effects that would be mitigated by other constiuents within the WHOLE plant.

I wouldn’t bother giving cbd oil to horses. If theyre very anxious i’d look into diet/environmental stress/sugars/mineral balancing/tack fit etc. The dose a horse would need, IF it was suitable, would bankrupt you!

 

[J&S]

Thank you for that, PB, very interesting and instructive. I am looking for an anti inflammatory to use as can no longer take Ibrupofen (blood thinners/damaged kidneys from past use). It seems in my experience that Doctors, physios, Chiros etc all end up telling you to take Ibrupofen for what ever problem!

 

[PurBee]

Thank you for that, PB, very interesting and instructive. I am looking for an anti inflammatory to use as can no longer take Ibrupofen (blood thinners/damaged kidneys from past use). It seems in my experience that Doctors, physios, Chiros etc all end up telling you to take Ibrupofen for what ever problem!

There are many anti-inflammatories from oils, to foods and herbs. First assess the amount of omega 6 in your diet - the modern diet has a very high omega 6:3 ratio. 10:1 up to 30:1 fast food diet.
Practically all fats and oils used commonly are omega 6 heavy. Veg/olive/rapeseed/margerine. Omega 3 heavy oils are fish/linseed/perilla.

We DO need omega 6 - so dont omit it altogether. It helps the immune system inflame the body when there is a threat. Aim for a 1:1 ratio. For most modern diets that means ditching junk foods, deep fried foods, using just a bit of butter/olive oil for frying lightly, and eating weekly servings of fish/linseed/linseed oil dressings etc. Supplements are worthwhile if you hate eating fish. Plant-based omega 3 is ALA - that has to convert in the body to DHA, which is the form the body uses. Fish has DHA, without the body needing to convert it for use. IF you struggle to convert plant based ALA to DHA, plant omega 3 sources wont benefit.

Depending on your pain/inflammation issue, depends on what would work best.
CBD oil is known to manage high pain conditions well. If you’re in this category, it’s worth trying.

Corn silks are known to be excellent for kidney health. They’re the fine creamy coloured long silky hairs in a corn cob that are between the kernels and the husk leaves. Its commonly taken as a tea. Steep the dried silks in hot water for 10 mins and drink. Source organic corn silk dried herb if you can - corn industry is fond of heavily using agri-chemicals.

 

[Goldenstar]

Olive oil only has small amounts of omega 6

 

[Cym91]

FFS. I quote from a farming journal in South Africa, where they grow acres of the stuff:

"Horses that have grazed cannabis plants present with dilated pupils and show excitable behaviour. They can become disorientated and bolt through fences, or stagger and fall. Those that have consumed higher doses have muscle tremors, salivate heavily, and their movement becomes uncoordinated, as though they have been anaesthetised. They eventually become comatose and stop breathing. Cattle and sheep show similar signs. Treatment is mainly supportive, fairly expensive and unlikely to be successful."

I really wish people would do some research before spreading dangerous ideas based on trendy nonsense.

This evidence is base on horses eating cannabis plants which contain THC which is the psychoactive substance in cannabis. CBD is an extract of the plant that does not have the psychoactive ingredient but has the other properties of muscle relaxant and anti inflammatory properties.

 

[Pearlsasinger]

There’s a lot of confusion about different products from the cannabis sativa plant - because many parts are used for oil/medicine/food/textiles. The various STRAINS that are grown are for specific industries.

There certainly is! When I was in hospital trying to get an allergy friendly diet, I had taken my own Hemp milk, available in just about every supermarket. I even had some numpty in the catering dept saying that I couldn't have it because of it's link with cannabis

 

[DoraShade]

How about using a CBD oil? Do you support it? I found this a while ago and I would like to try https://cbdax.co.uk/ If you have some other option please update me. Thank you!