Content

1. Connecting the dots
2. Fix the cell to get well
3. The real deal
4. Here's where it becomes serious
5. Alleviate, Detox, & Fortify
6. So how do we reset our horse?
7. Meanwhile, what not to feed!
8. Balancing the inner engine's chemistry - Mineral Balancing
9. Supporting naturally ...
10. Alleviate
11. Detox
12. Fortify

Connecting the dots

"The only way to fix your horse is to help them return to their natural state. Feeding your horse in a manner that is contrary to their innate physiological needs is making their body scream for help."

Juliet Getty, Getty Nutrition

I get so many enquiries from owners whose horse is in dire straits - everything from pain and heat, chronic fatigue, complete loss of energy, repeat abscessing, repeat laminitis episodes, mysterious fat pads/inflammation on their body, a sudden dramatic change in mood ... And so the list goes on, with a host of numerous symptoms that keep appearing despite heroic efforts on the owners to clear them up.

More often than not their horse's entire gut barrel is in bits and can barely be touched; they're in real pain and often chronically stressed with a history of gastric ulcers. Sometimes they've gone from fit and healthy to a total loss of topline and looking like a hat-rack in a matter of weeks. And we're talking every type and breed of horse here, from the ex-racer who's so wired with stress that they're almost unrecognisable as a horse, to the family pony who's had a terrible start in life.

Their owners have tried everything, often over months if not years, yet their horse is no better, getting worse by the day, some even labelled 'dangerous'. Insurance is maxed out, and I've heard of vets who have thrown random meds into the mix in the hope that they (and I quote) "may do something". And then there are the vets who have finally thrown in the towel, often accompanied with a very final PTS suggestion. Understandably the owners are now in bits, and at an absolute loss as to what to do.

This is when people tend to find us, usually courtesy of a referral when there's no-where else to go (and a huge Thank-You from me to all those lovely people who recommended us). Their stories I hear are usually very sad and aren't always pretty - their horse has really been through the wars, with so many red flags that sometimes it's difficult to know which one to put at the top of the flagpole.

As I type, the most recent 'Everything' client was an unbearably itchy mare, allergic to just about everything, presenting with reactive cow-kicks, and what seemed like ovarian pain. Her back was rigid with tension, she was full of fear/anxiety, her gut was beyond sensitive and couldn't be touched, she was grass-intolerant and full of varying metabolic syndromes, and just for fun she had early onset arthritis as well.

I saw the video, and believe me when I say this mare was not in a good place. Her owner had tried everything with her vet, and every supplement out there, all at great cost over many months, and to no avail.

Another recent case included a recently imported sports horse, very young at just 4yo, and who was so dangerous to handle that his owner, a renowned trainer, was beyond desperate.

So how do we approach situations like this? Well, firstly, from the Functional Medicine viewpoint, we look at the body as whole, as in the medicine of How & Why; how and why is this symptom occurring now and in this way … what’s at the root of it all? Whereas, conventional medicine is the medicine of What - what disease label is it, and what pill is prescribed for that label. (I'm not trying to knock conventional - it's always useful to have a foot in both camps and to know when to use what ...)

With a functional medicine approach we connect the dots, so this is where I become a systems analyst (well, I did used to be a computer engineer back in the 80s/90s 😉). I have to dig deep into my anatomy/physiology training because we need to track all those symptoms downstream to the body systems that are affected. And after months - if not years - of vet intervention, they've usually had every symptom blocking drug thrown at them to mask the symptoms, but of course this doesn't make the issue go away - all this will do is simply push the problems down deeper.

However, by working downstream through the symptoms to the affected body systems, we can then see the Big Picture. We can then take it deeper down through the organs and all the way to cellular level which is where the root cause will usualy lie, and here's a thing. The issues usually start with deep embedded inflammation in the cells, always caused by some kind of trigger, i.e. irritation or infection, or as it's known, the 3-I's - irritation / infection / inflammation.

Trouble is, we don't see what's going on down there until it presents as a 'symptom' on the surface, by which time that inflammation has travelled up from the cells through the tissues and organs right up to system level. So, we have to start looking downstream because in order to begin the fix, as the saying goes we have to Fix the cell to get well.

Fix the cell to get well

In the particular aforementioned mare's case, we had the presenting symptoms relating to just about every system in her body; her hormone imbalance and metabolic state - her endocrine system; her arthritis and back tension - musculoskeletal system; her chronic stress, fear, anxiety - nervous system. And her gut system was in meltdown.

Based on what the client told me, there was no doubt we were looking at a hindgut acidosis/dysbiosis/SIBO/leaky gut domino effect. All her issues had compounded into disrupting that very fragile microbiome balance within her gut environment, and twinned with a not exactly ideal feeding practice as well, her gut imploded to leaky gut. And make no bones about it - everything starts with the gut, but everything begins with the microbiome.

This mare's disrupted gut function would have equally connected with her circulatory systems - she would have had putrefactive toxins circulating in both her blood and lymph, and because the microbiome produces, and hosts, the immune cells, her immune system was in meltdown, unable to deal with the high levels of toxic burden in her body while her liver was on overtime trying to biotransform the toxins, which meant her kidney's weren't eliminating them, never mind trying to manage her energy regulation. All in all, a massive, systemic, toxic buffet, ricocheting off itself from every angle.

Now to the 'how' - every system in the body is connected to the other. In human health alone, nearly every one of 155,000 diseases listed in the Disease Classification System (ICD-10) is caused by imbalances in one or more of the seven interconnected systems (all explained in our Functional Medicine page). And when we're talking multiple issues we're talking inflammation across the board.

As mentioned above, while the problem(s) usually start with a disrupted microbiome, usually caused by poor feeding practices or stress, the first effects are seen at cellular level, because the cells’ internal mitochondria (this is where the chemistry happens for the cell to perform its role) are no longer able to do their job.

Sorry if this is a bit science-y, but simply put it means that if the cells can't do their job properly we're talking a major problem. Deep-rooted inflammation right down at sub-cellular level spreads up through the tissues and the organs that make up each system. By the time we get to see the symptoms at system level, it means the metabolic 'function' as we know it, or would like it, is now disrupted.

So, we know a disturbance has happened at cellular level, and the cells have become inflamed to the point where the inflammatory damage has worked its way up through the physiological levels - cellular to tissue to organ to system, which by default is now presenting as symptoms, very often multiple. And very often this is no fun to be around - half a ton of angry, stressed, hurting horse is never pretty. This is why symptoms are actually good news - they're the useful indicator that something's gone wrong., and at least now we know there's a problem.

However, symptoms also mean business and can't be ignored, so, we need to follow the Fix the Cell to Get Well protocol.

The real deal

Basically, everything begins in the gut microbiome, because the microbiome literally creates the immune system (explained in our Microbiome page). This is where the immune cells are made - get the microbiome right and we're no longer trying to fight the battle - we win the war. This is relatively new science and makes for an eye-opening read, explaining that the microbiome is basically the body's CPU (Central Processing Unit) that literally runs the whole engine. Look after the microbiome, and the microbiome will look after you right back. Without a healthy microbiome, the body literally crashes.

When normal, recognised gut function becomes 'sensitive', this means the microbiome colonies of beneficial v. the pro-inflammatory, unfriendly gut microbes has altered - this is known as dysbiosis or SIBO - Small Intestinal Bacterial Overload, although it's not just confined to the small intestine - the large intestine/hindgut is where it all starts falling apart, where the unfriendly microbes now outnumber the friendlies.

These bad bacteria's waste is acidic which lowers the pH value in the hindgut (which should always remain at a neutral pH), which now triggers a state of acidosis/leaky gut in the gut microbiome - we'll have hindgut acidosis in the colon, faecal water, and bloating gas in the small intestine, a place where gas should never be. Why? Because the small intestine is a thin tube, so when gas builds up it feels like it's being pumped up like a balloon, and it hurts, not only from the pressure but, because the intestinal pH level has dropped to acidic (when it should always be at neutral), it's now also burning. (This whole process is explained in full in our Gut System page).

The causes can be many - poor diet or stressors, or stressors caused by poor diet ... and collectively they create an unbalanced overpopulation (dysbiosis) of the unfriendly, pro-inflammatory, gut-damaging microbes - the 'bad' guys, which means an disrupted microbiome, which is bad news.

The last thing we want is dysbiosis in the microbiome. Once there's acidic bloat/inflammation in the intestines, this forces the very tight junctions of the intestinal wall membrane to unzip and create ‘leaks' , through which that undigested toxic matter that should only ever stay inside the intestinal wall, is now leaking out into the bloodstream.

Cue manic immune cell overreaction trying to deal with all the toxicity, which leads to autoimmunity - allergies are a classic presentation. There's a separate section in our Gut System section on leaky gut syndrome and how serious it is, to the point where it's now being considered an epidemic.

Here’s where it becomes serious

The immune system, which relies entirely on a healthy, well-balanced microbiome to exist and function healthily, now goes into manic overdrive at this toxic onslaught leaking through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream. It will try its hardest to fight it but the volume of toxicity will be overwhelming. We're now on the cusp of autoimmunity, a runaway immune system going into overdrive, trying to manage the toxic overload. And so begins the autoimmune cycle, leading to numerous chronic health conditions.

Meanwhile, those circulating toxins in the bloodstream will now be flooding the body's cells, and so begins the inflammation cycle. We're not going to see much of the symptoms yet - maybe a bit of lethergy, a bit off-colour, a bit of discomfort - the inflammation is still too deep so it's left unattended, while it slowly grows and starts to track its way upstream through the body's tissues and organs. It's only when it finally reaches the relevant system that we now see the symptoms - real pain, and a lot of misery. And that's when we usually call the vet ..

Back to our mare example above:

• cow-kicking - this is very common due to the inflammatory effect of hindgut acidosis/dysbiosis - you'll see it along the right-hand side from flank forwards and halfway along the ribcage, as this is where the large intestine sits. And it really hurts, enough for a horse to try to cow-kick the pain away.
  
  
• fear/anxiety/tension – the endocrine system triggers the 'sympathetic; nervous system's auto-pilot survival-mode, releasing the survival stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, or as we all know it, the fight/flight response. This is necessary for self-preservation and absolutely fine for a short-term perceived threat, i.e. the flapping pheasant hidden in the bushes, but it has a profoundly negative effect on the body when switched on permanently - see our Stress page. The body's tired and wired at the same time, the brain's full of fog, and every sinew remains tensed in anticipation to cope, or defend, or scream a message. In other words, the physical body, as well as the emotional, is literally inflamed and ‘stressed’.
  
  
• digital pulses - the laminae inflames because of toxin saturation in the blood stream, and this hurts almightily as the inflammatory pressure has nowhere to go within that solid hoof capsule. Cue the dreaded lami risk.
  

• ovarian pain – inflammation.

• arthritis – inflammation around the joint.

You can see there's a lot going on here, with the word 'inflammation' featuring pretty much everywhere, and remember - inflammation is red-hot. Back to our mare, and she was in pain; she was stressed, there was hindgut dysbiosis/acidosis/leaky gut, there could have been ulcers for good measure because of the stress and poor diet, and there was a struggling, poorly functioning immunity.

You’re probably no doubt familiar with the saying “No Hoof, No Horse”; well, these days that saying’s been upgraded to “No Gut, No Hoof, No Horse”. My personal take? “No Microbiome, No Gut, No Horse”. Never mind the hooves.

Alleviate, Detox & Fortify

"Healing is a process that always starts with stabilisation. Until the body's stable it cannot heal. The body then needs to detoxify and remove the roadblocks. The body also needs to get the nutrients that it needs to repair itself. When you have this combination in place the body can truly begin to heal."

Dr Nuzum, Toxicologist, Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine

Before you hang your head in your hands, there is some Good News, I promise. In that there’s a very simple 3-stage process to get a horse, or human come to that, back to optimal health when they’re obviously not.

We follow the Alleviate, Detox & Fortify protocol. To quote Dr Juliet Getty again, "The only way to fix your horse (or human, for that matter) is to help them return to their natural state."

In simple terms nearly all dis-ease (with dis-ease meaning the body is ill at ease) is traceable back to a damaged or abnormal gut environment and microbiome, with the typical root causes being anything from stress, mental and/or physical trauma, antibiotics, poor quality feeds/haylage, nutrient deficiencies, hidden infections, toxic exposure, genetic deficiencies … the list is endless, and let’s not forget the dreaded green stuff, our neon-green grass pastures.

Also, as at 2021, new science/research is now connecting all the above syndromes into a relatively unknown, yet now widespread, multi-metabolic detoxification disorder known as Cryptopyrroluria, or KPU for short. Put simply, a prolonged disturbed hindgut intestinal biome can affect the liver’s natural detoxification function, meaning dangerous circulating toxins will escape into the body where previously the liver would have normally performed its regular biotransformation (metabolising) process.

This is now known to trigger a whole range of metabolic disorders, manifesting in a multitude of unspecific symptoms, often several at a time concurrently, with the horse never seeming to get better from one issue to the next, despite the owner throwing everything they can at the problems.

This is all explained in more depth in our KPU page, which is well worth a read to see if anything there resonates with you and your horse.

So, how do we reset our horse?

Alleviate

Back to Dr Nuzam's quote - "Healing is a process that always starts with stabilisation. Until the body's stable it cannot heal." We're generally talking about stabilising pain/inflammation and stress here. If your horse is in pain and/or with visible inflammation, head to our Pain page - while a horse is in pain they'll be completely focused on this so this needs alleviating first and foremost.

If it's stress, or worse if your horse has shut down (our Stress page explains exactly what chronic stress actually does to the body and what systems it shuts down), this urgently need stabilising. NB - an ongoing state of chronic stress will very likely cause glandular (pyloric) ulcers, so all the more reason to stabilise the stress response.

Detox

It’s pointless throwing expensive fix-kits at a horse while the toxic overload is still blocking the body's basic function to heal. So, now we clear out the bad stuff with a gut regeneration programme, followed by a liver/kidney detox and circulatory systems clean-up, which resets the microbiome which will reset the immune system.  All explained in full in our Detoxification page.

Fortify

Now we clean up the diet, and forage first, plus a quick reminder that a horse is nothing more, and nothing less, than a hindgut fibre-fermenting machine - that's it, full stop. A horse has an absolute requirement for forage fibre going through their hindgut.

Thing is, there's good forage and bad forage. In our UK climate, there's only one good forage and that's quality fibre-filled hay - not our neon-green grass blades which have no fibre in them whatsoever; and not soaked hay (the soaking liquor is a toxic bacterial soup), not acidic haylage, and not potentially gut-disrupting alfalfa. Just hay, hay and more lovely hay, as in long, stemmy grass preferably gone to seed so there's lots of lovely equine gut-appropriate cellulose fibre in those stems.

If you continue to feed your horse haylage, forget it. If you soak your hay, forget it. If you let your horse run out of hay, especially if stabled overnight, forget it. If haylage was fed, the gut also needs to deacidify, so feed Spirulina for a couple of weeks which is an excellent toxin-binder and is mainly excreted via the liver-bile-intestine, thus relieving the kidneys.

Meanwhile, what not to feed

No beet, no alfalfa, no sugars, no pectins, no muslis, no pellets, no treats, and definitely no feedbags with wheatfeed, oatfeed, soya, NIS in any form. Basically anything listed in our The Feedbowl – what’s really in those feedbags page.

The more basic the feeding program – in other words, the more species-appropriate, as in what a horse is meant to eat and what a horse’s gut is meant to digest - stemmy fibre-filled grasses - and not the junk crap (not me being potty-mouthed - stands for Carbs, Refined, Artificial, Processed) that's in many of those shiny feedbags, the faster the hindgut biome will regenerate and the hindgut environment will restore itself back to normal.

Balancing the inner engine's chemistry - Mineral Balancing

The horse also needs its body's chemistry balanced by correct mineral ratios because our UK grass/forage is deficient in certain nutrients that a horse needs to thrive - it’s all about the chemical information from those micronutrients in their forage that radically influences their body's genes, hormones, immune system, central nervous system, brain chemistry, skeletal and soft tissue structure; you name it – everything from mood, energy and physical health of the whole organism (body), at cellular level, with every single bite - all connected.

Nutritionally unbalanced forage means a nutritionally unbalanced horse. The source and nutrient-density of our horse’s food plays a huge role - the absolute role - in their health.

This is all covered in the Feeding our Horses Healthy section off the main menu at the top of the page, and specifically the Why what we feed has to be right page, plus you'll see my feed recommendations there as well. Just as a heads-up, as at 2020 new studies came out that showed there are also good minerals, questionable minerals, and downright not-so-good minerals. We've got this all covered in our blog post, Minerals, and it's All Change

Supporting naturally ...

Pulling this together, generally you'll be looking at something along the lines of the following. Don't panic though! If the thought of trying to figure out what your horse needs seems like a minefield, we've got you covered with a full range of one-stop-shop Alleviate, Detox, & Fortify COMBO Programmes.

Alleviate

- Pain: our TriBute (acute), or if your horse has ulcers it's our DuoBute

- Stress: our StressTonic

Detox

Each programme is slightly different as follows:

- The regular Alleviate, Detox & Fortify programme.

- If your horse is a KPU candidate it's ou4 KPU Detox programme.

- If your horse has mallenders/sallenders, it's our Mallenders/Sallenders Detox programme.

- For the hindgut acidosis/dysbsios/leaky gut/faecal water syndrome, it's our SIBO Detox programme (gut regeneration).

- For gastic ulcers it's our Ulsa Detox programme.

Fortify

- Time to relook at the feedbowl/forage - check for junk ingredients and non-grass fibres.

Plus:

• It's vital to supplement the missing essential mineral nuts and bolts back into the diet that are missing from our UK forage - see our EquiVita/VitaComplete mineral balancer range. Our EquiVita is ideal for summer balancing if your horse is turned out 24/7 on grass; our VitaComplete should be fed while on winter grass and/or if there's hay in the diet.
• Linseed (micronised) for the Omega-3 (included in our VitaComplete)
• Salt (included in our VitaComplete )

So there we have it. Click on the Shop links below for our Combo Programmes, or contact us with any questions.