Alternative Remedies in Equine Veterinary Medicine

Similarly to human medicine, herbal supplements and alternative treatments are increasing in popularity in the equestrian world due to a desire for “natural” remedies.  Some of the most common issues in horses are osteoarthritis, poor hoof health, and hormonal imbalance.  Although alternative medicines and herbal supplements are commonly used for these ailments, not all agents have robust data to support their efficacy.

Glucosamine supplements are the most commonly used OTC remedy for equine osteoarthritis.  Almost every horse will exhibit pain, stiffness, and general discomfort due to osteoarthritis, but it is extremely common in show horses.  Osteoarthritis is treated with proper diet and weight management, frequent low-intensity exercise (turn out), and annual corticosteroid injections.  Although these measures are successful in many horses, show horses undergoing consistent high intensity exercise may still show impaired performance due to arthritis.  Glucosamine supplements are an accessible, possibly efficacious adjunct to routine osteoarthritis care; although evaluation of some data was subjective, horses treated with oral glucosamine showed improvements in stride length, flexion, and overall lameness; they also show fewer instances of adverse effects, such as stomach ulcers, which are a common barrier to long-term NSAID use (Oke & McIlwraith 2008).  In addition to glucosamine supplements, equine chiropractic therapy is an alternative treatment for joint and muscle pain.  Evidence for the efficacy of chiropractic treatment is limited, but generally supports that spinal manipulation improves joint range of motion and muscle pain (Haussler 2009).    

Another common ailment in horse health is weak or brittle hooves.  Poor hoof quality is associated with performance horses due to increased hoof stress during intense, routine exercise.  Hoof supplements are fed to improve hoof quality and commonly contain biotin.  Biotin has shown to increase hoof growth and growth rate.  However, this is only significant after use for 9-12 months in horses with very low quality hooves (Reilly et al. 1998).

Supplements that are commonly used, but lack efficacy are raspberry leaves for hormonal imbalance and dark beer for anhidrosis.  Red raspberry leaf can be added to horse feed to correct hormonal imbalances, and is most commonly used for mares with dysmenorrhea symptoms in estrus.  According to Natural Medicines, red raspberry leaf may have estrogenic effects.  Finally, some veterinarians recommend feeding horses dark beer if they have difficulty sweating; however, the evidence supporting its efficacy in anhidrosis is anecdotal.  There is no supported therapeutic agent, and the only treatments are to ensure the horse has adequate cool drinking water or to move them to a cooler climate (Mallicote).

References:

Haussler, K. 2009. Review of Manual Therapy Techniques in Equine Practice. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 29(12):849-869.

Mallicote, M. Anhidrosis: Help – My Horse Doesn’t Sweat! University of Florida Large Animal Hospital:  Anhidrosis.  Accessed at https://largeanimal.vethospitals.ufl.edu/equine-anhidrosis/.

Oke, S. L. and McIlwraith, C. W. 2008. Review of the Potential Indications and Contraindications for Equine Oral Joint Health Supplements. American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) Proceedings, 54:261-267.

Reilly, J.D., Cottrell, D.F., Martin, R.J. and CUDDEFORD, D.J. 1998, Effect of supplementary dietary biotin on hoof growth and hoof growth rate in ponies: a controlled trial. Equine Veterinary Journal, 30: 51-57.