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In the holistic world, people fully appreciate that toxins cause disease and they go to great lengths to limit their, their horses, their family members exposure to them.

It can be difficult to avoid all of them, but every attempt helps. It can be difficult enough to avoid the current list of chemicals, without contemplating the thousands that are created every year.

In the horse’s environment, grazing is king. Horses are always happiest wandering, ambling around looking for choicy bits of grass. So every effort is often made to try to keep the pasture healthy. Healthy pasture leads to happy, healthy horses.

However, improving the pasture can have the opposite effect to the one desired when the solutions are not in keeping with Nature. This often happens when the local conditions are not favourable.

Chemical fertilisers are used to encourage growth, herbicides are used to kill the weeds and pesticide and/or fungicides are used to eliminate insects and mould if the conditions are favourable to them.

This puts the whole natural rhythm out of balance. Even a single chemical can achieve that.

Chemical fertilisers are not unlike putting us on speed. There’s growth, but poor nutrition.
Herbicides kill unwanted plants. However, a diversity of plants create harmony as they have different jobs to accomplish. For example, deep rooted plants will bring up water. Others attract beneficial insects. In addition, many plants have medicinal qualities that horses understand. Dandelion is one.
Pesticides kill the beneficial insect species, many of which are adept at effectively dealing with the destructive ones.
Fungicides kill the enormously important underground network of fungi that is vital to life.

Once you start tampering with the natural order of life, things go from bad to worse. It has a knock on effect, like dominoes. It’s perfectly obvious that this is where humanity is at the present moment.

Quite apart from the adverse acute effect of recent application (miscarriage can be one), the residue of these chemicals remain in the soil and are taken up by the plants. This increases the level of the toxins in the horse. They can be measured.

All life has an on-going de-toxing process. In this case, the horses’s organs (lymphatic system, kidneys, liver…) work to eliminate the natural parts of digestion and other waste the body doesn’t need.

However, when the horse ingests chemicals, these are alien to the horses system and the body is at a loss to know what to do with them. So, much is sent for storage in the fat cells.

Many cause mischief in the body. For example, glyphosate is an antibiotic as well as a herbicide, so all the beneficial bacteria in the horse’s body is constantly under attack.

At the very least, this can lead to digestive issues. It can also lead to paralysis especially within the digestive tract.

This constant attack inevitably leads to the whittling away of the immune system, leaving the horse prone to any disease.

By being aware of where toxins reside and avoiding them can have a huge impact on improving your horse’s health. Conventional farmers grow food using all these harmful chemicals. Obviously GM (genetically modified) are foods to avoid. You may need to do some research on the foods you do feed your horse, to get a true picture. They can vary considerably from area to area, country to country.

Natural fertilisers are about. One of the most beneficial is going down the bio-dynamic route. However, just by allowing Nature to take the lead can improve the soil. Human interference is, and has been, very often at cross purposes.

Allowing weeds, allowing insects, allowing fungi. They all have a beneficial job.

Feeding organic food avoids much of the chemicals. And it supports the organic farmers who are trying to work with Nature.

Just like us, every horse is an individual. Some have robust health despite the odds. Some are so sensitive, huge and extreme measures are needed. And most are somewhere in between.

When a loved one falls sick, people want to do something themselves. One thing you can do is to take pro-active measures to learn about the toxins in the food you are feeding your horse. Just by cleaning up the diet can restore health.

And for those horses who need some extra help, skilled homeopathic treatment can set them back on the road to health.

By appreciating that toxins cause disease, and taking appropriate action, you can prevent all manner of issues in the future. This is one of those win-win situations, as your horse benefits, so does the pasture (and the local environment), so does your wallet.

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