Echinacea is a herb that belongs to the daisy family.  It is available in both dried herb and liquid form.

It has been used by North Americans Indians who have fed it to their horses for thousands of years, but only in the last hundred years has it been used outside North America.

Benefits are said to be:

• It supports the immune system, which helps to fight off illness and disease
• It supports blood cleansing and quality
• It supports the red blood cells that carry oxygen to muscle tissues. The more oxygen that is transported, the better and harder the muscles can work.
• It supports the healing of wounds and infections when applied locally

Echinacea can be used for horses in different situations, but is most often fed to horses recovering from illnesses, horses that travel a lot or have had their immune system challenged. Many herbal blends that support different body systems also contain echinacea.

Any self-respecting cook will be familiar with the inclusion of garlic in food for humans. Long used in Mediterranean recipes, it wasn’t until more ‘exotic’ cooking hit our shores that the use of garlic became more popular in the UK. Now a recipe staple, it seems no kitchen would be without it.

We know garlic to be part of a healthy med lifestyle, and also its antiseptic properties were used in World Wars I and II to help prevent gangrene. But what about its use as a supplement for horses? How does it work to support equine health?

It most certainly isn’t a case of throwing a clove or two into your horse’s daily feed and expecting miracles to happen.  Like any supplement, garlic needs to be fed at the right quantity for your horse or pony and on a regular basis, for a period of time.

Garlic is rich in selenium and sulphur. Sulphur is recognised as having blood cleansing properties that are useful in supporting equine health and recovery. As a supplement, it’s available as granules, powder, snips, liquid and flakes, and has properties that are particularly useful when maintaining the respiratory system in horses.  Fed during the winter time, garlic can help support horses that are prone to snotty noses or coughs, but as ever, if you have any major concerns you should always seek a vet’s advice. As an all–round supplement, garlic can support the body's natural defence mechanisms and assist in maintaining a healthy gut in happy hackers, competition horses, old and young stock. In the summer, it is known to act as a fly repellent as the horse's body secretes oils that will repel flies, but this can take some time.

So, garlic is not just a tasty seasoning, it is an affordable way to support equine health all year round – from the respiratory system in the winter, as a repellent during the summer and to aid digestion throughout the year.