Horse stiff - turmeric?

[welshcobmad]

Hi all,

My 14 year old cob has now got to that age where he gets a bit stiff after being kept in stabled overnight etc - legs don't fill or anything, just a little stiff. After a few minutes walking he's fine but I'd like to give him something help his joints/circulation & have had turmeric suggested to me.

I've been told its absorbed better if fed with oil, if this is the case am I better buying it 'neat' so to speak & mixing it all myself? I've also found it in liquid form, something called Alpha Gold?

Any other suggestions or help greatly appreciated!

 

[paddi22]

I have an older arthriticy one that gets very stiff. I find the back on track rugs brilliant for him. I can feel the fdifference in him after its on. I also swithced to the bluegrass turamash feed and he def feels much bouncier on it. He is on a few supplements and I couldn't face another, so it was easier to swop it in instead of beetpulp to his feed.

 

[Shady]

I v'e just read the gumph on Alpha Gold and personally wouldn't bother with it, black pepper locks on to Turmeric , otherwise it just passes through and for it to irritate the stomach etc vast amounts would have to be consumed . This is also a very expensive product and you will get better results from a high quality organic Turmeric ( not the cheapest bag you can find in Tesco) , freshly ground black pepper and oil ( linseed, coconut or olive, NOT vegetable) make a paste with 1 heaped tablespoon, 10-15 grinds of pepper and a slug of oil and mix into a small feed of whatever you like. I add a carrot and apple and a bit of water. Give at night starting with a teaspoon.
Turmeric works on an accumulative affect so can take a couple of weeks.
I'm a big fan of it , for horses as well as people and you could add some other herbs like Boswelia, cats claw , aloe vera etc if you want later. I add Devils Claw root to mine as it he has mild arthritis in one hock and was stiff like yours when stabled

 

[Keith_Beef]

Hi all,

My 14 year old cob has now got to that age where he gets a bit stiff after being kept in stabled overnight etc - legs don't fill or anything, just a little stiff. After a few minutes walking he's fine but I'd like to give him something help his joints/circulation & have had turmeric suggested to me.

I've been told its absorbed better if fed with oil, if this is the case am I better buying it 'neat' so to speak & mixing it all myself? I've also found it in liquid form, something called Alpha Gold?

Any other suggestions or help greatly appreciated!

A lot of the good stuff present in herbs or spices is oil-soluble rather than water-soluble. For us Humans, that's simple, you just add those to oily or gently fried foods... I use a lot of it, mixed with chili, black pepper and ginger, and cook it with onions in coconut grease.

Over here, bulk turmeric root will cost anything between about €18 and €30 per kg.

Up at the yard, I saw a 5 litre bottle of Isio 4 oil, a brand sold over here for human consumption; it's a mix of sunflower, rapeseed and grapeseed oil. At first, I thought somebody had been using it to add to petrol for a two-stroke engine, but I was told it was added to the feed of some horses, to give a shinier coat.

Maybe there's a way to steep turmeric in an oil like that, and add it to your horse's feed.

 

[Shady]

A lot of the good stuff present in herbs or spices is oil-soluble rather than water-soluble. For us Humans, that's simple, you just add those to oily or gently fried foods... I use a lot of it, mixed with chili, black pepper and ginger, and cook it with onions in coconut grease.

Over here, bulk turmeric root will cost anything between about €18 and €30 per kg.

Up at the yard, I saw a 5 litre bottle of Isio 4 oil, a brand sold over here for human consumption; it's a mix of sunflower, rapeseed and grapeseed oil. At first, I thought somebody had been using it to add to petrol for a two-stroke engine, but I was told it was added to the feed of some horses, to give a shinier coat.

Maybe there's a way to steep turmeric in an oil like that, and add it to your horse's feed.

I can never find any good turmeric here for a reasonable price
Adding certain sorts of oil to horses feed can definitely help all sorts of things but Turmeric ( curcumin) needs help with bio availability and gets this from the black pepper. There are all sorts of supplements on the market claiming they have found new ways of extracting/ improving curcumin absorption but i prefer to stick to the original method, it's tried and tested

 

[SEL]

You could also try boswellia. Turmeric irritated my mare's stomach (she's very sensitive), but boswellia seems to be working well.

When I was trying turmeric I used to have an old jam jar that I would mix the turmeric and oil in, shake it up and pour it on the feed. I can't remember which company I used that already had the pepper in - but pretty sure I was paying a premium for it, whereas a grinder in the feedroom would be just as easy.

 

[poiuytrewq]

I believe that for horses you don’t have to make the paste but can just add the ingredients as above to feed. I asked on the Turmeric FB page once and was told to do it that way once by the vet guy that runs it.

 

[windand rain]

Mine have 35mls of powered turmeric, a mug of micronised linseed and a few grinds of black pepper in a small feed of grass chaff. Works brilliantly for mine

 

[ester]

I am sure it has been said that horses do not require the addition of black pepper as other species do - and it can just irritate.

Personally I've used boswellia instead.

 

[Shady]

I believe that for horses you don’t have to make the paste but can just add the ingredients as above to feed. I asked on the Turmeric FB page once and was told to do it that way once by the vet guy that runs it.

I guess in theory you could P as in essence the same ingredients will be entering the stomach but more will be expelled as waste this way. I'm not sure why that vet thinks there is a difference , the gut of a human or horse still has to obey the principles of digestion. The paste binds the ingredients together .
Taken from Brinicombe equine site
How to feed turmeric to your horse?
Unfortunately, turmeric has poor water solubility and poor bioavailability. This means that adding straight, dried turmeric powder to your horse’s feed is likely to result in very little actual curcumin reaching the blood stream and places that matter. In addition, the best natural turmeric only contains about 3% curcumin so it is even more important to encourage absorption in every way possible. Turmeric is soluble in oil, therefore if it is fed in conjunction with a fat its absorption will increase. If the oil chosen is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, such as linseed oil, your horse’s diet will not only benefit from increased absorption of turmeric, but from the addition of the essential fatty acids as well. Omega 3 is known to have natural anti-inflammatory properties so it naturally supports the action of feeding turmeric. An extract of black pepper, known as piperine, has also been shown to enhance bioavailabilty of curcumin. It is thought that piperine has an effect on certain digestive enzymes, slowing degradation and allowing more time for the curcumin to be absorbed. Piperine is highly volatile so the black pepper must be freshly ground to work.


Esther.. where did you read about the pepper? can you find it again do you think?

 

[ester]

nope sorry!

 

[Keith_Beef]

I was back in Sheffield again last week, and had a walk through the new market hall down the Moor. Two exotic grocery stalls had fresh turmeric root for sale (one of them labelled it as "haldi", the Hindi name for it). I think it was around £6 or £7 a kilo.