BIOCARE for Horses | Organic Antimicrobial & Immune Support

It's something we've all noticed time and time again... Two horses live on the same yard. They stand in the same mud, graze the same fields and experience the same weather.

One gets a nick on the leg and barely seems to notice. The other needs the vet.

It's tempting to think they're simply unlucky, but sometimes it's worth asking, " What's happening once that challenge gets inside ?"

Your horse lives surrounded by microorganisms. They're on the skin, in the soil, in water, on forage and – of course – throughout the digestive tract. And that's perfectly normal - the body isn't trying to create a sterile horse.

Instead, their immunity is constantly managing its relationship with the microbial world around it – recognising, responding, containing, clearing, and then r(hopefully) eturning to equilibrium.

Most of the time this happens so silently that we never even notice. But when the same horse repeatedly seems to struggle with microbial challenges, it's a whole other story.

Not simply " What's the bug ?", but " Wh y is this horse finding it harder to deal with it ?"

And that's the thinking behind BioCARE. At the centre of the formula are its antimicrobial botanicals – including Oregano, Pau D'Arco, Andrographis and Echinacea – chosen to support the body's normal relationship with everyday microbial challenges.

But we didn't stop there, because once the immune system responds, there's housekeeping to be done.

Immune activity produces cellular debris and metabolic by-products that still need processing and moving away. That's why BioCARE also includes herbs traditionally associated with liver function, lymphatic flow and natural elimination, alongside adaptogenic and nutritive herbs supporting the horse through periods of increased demand.

Different jobs, one coordinated response.

BioCARE is about supporting a horse whose own defences need a little more help managing the microbial world they live in.

BioCARE is a good fit when your horse seems to struggle with the same microbial challenges returning time and again.

Not because the body isn't trying to respond – but because it feels as though it's constantly having to fight the same battles.

Choose BioCARE if your horse:

✔ Seems prone to recurring abscesses, thrush, rain scald, or minor skin infections

✔ Picks up cuts or scrapes that take longer to clear up

✔ Needs additional support during periods when immune resilience is under greater demand

✔ Is recovering after illness or prolonged stress and you'd like to support the body's natural defences

✔ Leaves you wondering, "Why does this keep coming back?"

In short: if you're looking for antimicrobial support, BioCARE is where we begin.

From there, support can be adapted depending on what you're seeing.

- Supporting the wider picture

• LKLCARE- often introduced afterwards to support the liver–kidney–lymph axis, particularly following a course of antimicrobial support.
• OptimaCARE - where your horse would benefit from a more structured, whole-body reset, taking the next step from antimicrobial support into coordinated gut, filtration organ, and circulatory system nourishment.

- Foundation support

There's little point asking a specialist supplement to do all the heavy lifting if the nutritional foundations aren't already in place.

Supporting your horse's baseline nutrition with a forage-balanced mineral balancer such as VitaComplete or EquiVita helps create the conditions for healthier biological function and more consistent long-term results.

In summary

Choose BioCARE when your horse seems to need extra support clearing the everyday microbial challenges that life inevitably brings.

*BioCARE is a nutritional food supplement and not veterinary medicine. For more on this, see Dr Kellon's article - Nutrition is not 'Alternative' Therapy .

Composition glossary

Each herb in BioCARE has been carefully selected to support one of three interconnected jobs – maintaining the body's natural antimicrobial defences, nourishing immunity, and supporting the internal housekeeping systems that help the body process and clear everyday microbial challenges.

1. Andrographis paniculata – Traditionally used to support natural defences, digestive balance, and internal clarity.
2. Astragalus membranaceus – A nourishing adaptogen supporting immune strength.
3. Arctium lappa – Traditionally valued for liver, skin and metabolic housekeeping within cleansing herbal formulas.
4. Galium aparine – Gentle lymphatic herb traditionally associated with healthy fluid movement and tissue housekeeping.
5. Taraxacum officinale (folia & radix) –Nutritive bitter traditionally valued for liver, kidney and digestive support.
6. Echinacea purpurea – Traditionally used to support immunity and natural defence.
7. Eleutherococcus senticosus – Adaptogenic root traditionally valued during periods of increased physical or physiological demand.
8. Silybum marianum – Nourishes liver cells and supports antioxidant pathways.
9. Origanum vulgare – A natural botanical known for supporting microbial balance and digestive wellbeing.
10. Tabebuia impetiginosa – Traditionally used to support immune harmony and microbial balance.
11. Smilax ornata – Traditionally used within formulas supporting liver, lymphatic and wider internal housekeeping.

Feed guide

🌿Organic dried herb blend

Human grade, produced to ecological standards and free from agro-chemicals. See our Quality page for Organic Certification Documents.

• Feed 5g/100kg bodyweight per day, i.e. 25g for a 500kg horse.
• 1 x level 75ml scoop = 18-grams.

💧Organic tincture blend

When it comes to herbs and herbal formulations, you may have heard herbalists talk about energetics . It's simply the way we describe how a herb or formula has been designed to support the body in a balanced and purposeful way. The science helps us understand why that structure works.

BioCARE was designed around one simple observation – how well the horse responds to a microbial challenge .

That's why BioCARE combines antimicrobial botanicals with herbs that also support immunity, recovery, and the body's natural housekeeping systems.

How the formula works

BioCARE brings together complementary botanicals that support the body's natural response to everyday microbial challenges.

1. Supporting the body's natural antimicrobial defences
   - Oregano, Pau D'Arco, Andrographis and Echinacea form the antimicrobial heart of the formula, providing botanical support for the microbial world that surrounds - and lives within - every horse.
2. Supporting internal housekeeping and clearance
   - Cleavers, Burdock, Dandelion and Smilax support the liver, lymphatic system and natural elimination pathways that help process the normal by-products of immune activity, and maintain a healthy internal environment.
3. Supporting immune resilience and recovery
   - Astragalus, Eleuthero and Milk Thistle help nourish immunity, cellular protection, and recovery, supporting the horse through periods when extra physiological demand is being placed upon the body.

Together, these three biological jobs create a coordinated whole-body approach - supporting not just the microbial challenge itself, but the horse's ability to respond, recover and return to equilibrium.

Big picture

BioCARE isn't about trying to create a germ-free horse - it's about supporting the biological systems that allow the body to recognise, respond, clear, and then return to balance when those everyday microbial challenges become a little harder to manage.

Advisories

• Feed as a minimum 1-month supportive phase.

Contraindications

• Not suitable for pregnant or nursing mares.
• Avoid alongside immune-modifying or anticoagulant medications without veterinary guidance.
• Not for horses with clotting disorders unless supervised.

Veterinary reference / formulary extract

A concise, vet-friendly reference is available for sharing with your vet.

BioCARE actually began with my own mare, Carmen.

She came to live with us in September 2014 – a sad shut-down 7yo chestnut TB who'd been passed from pillar to post, and I was already working on her to get her back to her gorgeous self, when two weeks later, quite suddenly, she became chronically lame in the field.

Our vet diagnosed joint sepsis in her fetlock, linked to an old fetlock wound she'd arrived with, and the prognosis was devastating. We were told she had just a 5% chance of recovery with antibiotics and that, if there was no improvement within 48-hours, we would have to consider having her put to sleep.

Two weeks. We'd had this beautiful young mare for just two weeks. I was devastated.

So, alongside everything our vet was doing, I did the one thing I knew how to do. I turned to herbs, and put together the strongest nutritional formula I could, combining the antimicrobial herbs I knew so well with botanicals traditionally used to nourish immune function and the body's own internal housekeeping systems.

I gave it to Carmen the following morning and hoped with everything I had that we'd see some change.

And then, two mornings later, I walked into the yard and her hoof was flat on the floor. She'd abscessed beautifully through her coronet band. I've honestly never been so ridiculously happy to see an abscess in my life.

From there, Carmen's recovery gradually unfolded – but those frightening few days stayed with me. They changed the way I thought about microbial challenges. I became much more interested not simply in the challenge itself, but in the horse's ability to respond to it, clear up afterwards, and find their way back to normal again. And that's really where BioCARE came from.

The formula I first put together for Carmen eventually became the BioCARE we still make today, as nutritional antimicrobial support for the wider horse alongside it.

Carmen started that particular chapter of EquiNatural for me., and, as she so often has over the years, she's taught me to ask so many bigger questions than the obvious ones.

What sort of horse is BioCARE designed for?

BioCARE is for the horse that always seems to be fighting the same battles - " The abscess has gone... but now he's got thrush."

It's not about one particular problem - it's about looking at the bigger question: "Why does this horse seem to struggle with everyday microbial challenges?"

That's exactly the horse we had in mind when we created BioCARE.

Is BioCARE a natural antibiotic?

Not exactly - there's an important distinction. BioCARE is a herbal nutritional blend containing botanicals traditionally valued for their antimicrobial properties.

Instead, we see it as supporting the horse's own natural defences alongside the body's wider housekeeping systems.

The aim isn't to create a germ-free horse - it's to help support a horse that's better equipped to live in a world full of everyday microbes.

Can BioCARE be fed after antibiotics?

Yes – many owners choose to use BioCARE as part of the nutritional support that follows a course of antibiotics.

Once veterinary treatment has finished, the focus often shifts towards helping the horse regain its natural rhythm.

BioCARE can form part of that next stage, supporting immune resilience, the liver, lymphatic system, and the body's natural housekeeping processes as recovery continues.

Why does BioCARE contain herbs for the liver and lymphatics as well?

Responding to a microbial challenge doesn't finish when the bug has gone - the immune system still has plenty of housekeeping to do.

Cellular debris and the normal by-products of immune activity still need processing, while tissues have their own tidying-up to do. The liver, lymphatic system, and wider filtration network all become part of that story.

That's why BioCARE doesn't stop with antimicrobial herbs alone – it also supports the body's own clean-up crew.

Can BioCARE be fed alongside LKLCARE or OptimaCARE?

Absolutely - and we often recommend this.

Many owners begin with BioCARE when the priority is supporting recurring microbial challenges. Then once things have settled, it's often a good plan to move onto LKLCARE to support the wider liver–kidney–lymph network, or OptimaCARE where a more structured whole-body reset feels appropriate.

Think of BioCARE as the beginning of the conversation, with those programmes helping support what comes next.

How long should I feed BioCARE?

We generally recommend feeding BioCARE for at least a month.

Some horses only need a single course; others, particularly those with longer-standing or recurring patterns, may benefit from a more structured programme that includes follow-on support afterwards.

As always, we encourage looking at the whole horse – good nutrition, healthy gut function, appropriate management, and strong foundations all play an important part in helping the body stay resilient over the long term.

© EquiNatural 2026. All content is original work protected under copyright, and may not be re-published, duplicated, or rewritten for commercial use without permission.