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Re: Adaptogens and the sometimes-anxious horse

jackie_esq
 

Hi Linda,

The archived posts and files were a great start on adaptogens for horses. I've got some experience with them personally and am a big fan of Rhodiola r. and Jiaogulan for myself (but wouldn't expect to get good results with Star with such energizing herbs -- she'd probably reach escape velocity and go zinging right off the planet!).

I have not had the barn hay tested. I know that's a big part of getting a balanced diet, but I don't think I have the barn owner's permission. As an experiment, I did add a small amount of MagOx to Star's diet a while back. If anything, that seemed to make the problem worse (which certainly surprised me).

Star's cycles are pretty normal.

I don't have any indication that Star has IR or PPID. I read this list because there is such a wealth of knowledge here. :) Prevention is the way to go if one has it as an option! :)

Jackie & Star

--- In EquineCushings@..., "Linda" <PapBallou@...> wrote:



Specifically, my mare has an intermittent anxiety problem. That tendency caused/contributed to a nasty illness recently.
Jackie -

DOn't know if anyone will be able to give you specifics on the herbs that you mentioned. You can do a search of archived posts by typing in the topic you are interested in in the search box directly below the banner ad.

For instance, if I type in Ashwagandha, I get 31 previous posts about it with this brief one from Dr Kellon:

<http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/EquineCushings/message/144015>

I see this is your first post to the list. We really try to impress upon members that a balanced diet is good for many things, not just the support of an IR/PPID type of horse. For instance, not enough magnesium can cause a multitude of issues, from muscle dysfunction to nervousness.

Have you considered having your hay analyzed and then balanced? Is your horse in question IR and/or PPID? Does she have normal or rather dramatic cycles?

Linda
EC Primary Response
West Coast
May 2004
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