BREATHEPLUS for Horses | Targeted Organic Support for Compromised Breathing & Respiratory Strain

Breathing is one of those extraordinary things the body does thousands of times a day without us giving it a second thought. Until suddenly we do.

You notice the nostrils working harder, the belly trying to help every breath. Perhaps there's a deeper cough, flared nostrils and wheezing, or that unmistakable sense that moving air in and out is taking far more effort than it should.

So what's actually changed? For air to move freely, your horse needs more than simply “healthy lungs”.

The airways need to remain comfortably open, mucus needs to stay mobile enough to be cleared, and the delicate tissues lining the respiratory tract need to remain calm and resilient.

• When those tissues become irritated, they can become more reactive.
• When mucus becomes difficult to shift, clearance becomes harder.
• And when the airway itself becomes restricted, your horse has to recruit more and more muscular effort simply to move the same amount of air.

That's when breathing stops looking effortless, and starts looking like work.

BreathePlus was designed for EquiNatural's Kelso, who became so congested with summer grass pollens that he literally couldn't breathe, and after a month on vet meds, he'd only got worse (See "The story behind... below). That's when we turned to herbs.

Its herbs have different jobs:

• Mullein and Elecampane have a long herbal tradition around the lungs and healthy mucus clearance.
• Marshmallow Root and Liquorice bring soothing support to delicate respiratory tissues.
• Ginkgo and Yarrow support the circulation supplying those tissues, while Astragalus and Echinacea support the wider immune picture.

Different actions, but all centred around one objective - making the respiratory environment a more comfortable place in which to breathe.

Because when your horse is visibly struggling for air, we're not interested in chasing one symptom - we need to know what made breathing difficult in the first place, and how to get it all working again.

BreathePlus is the right fit when your horse's breathing has moved to something that's clearly affecting their comfort.

Choose BreathePlus if your horse:

✔ Is working harder than usual to breathe, with increased effort or visible heave lines

✔ Has a deeper cough, wheeze, or obvious chest involvement

✔ Appears uncomfortable or restricted when exercising or at rest

✔ Is struggling with respiratory challenges that haven't settled with earlier support

In short: if your horse's breathing has become compromised rather than simply sensitive, BreathePlus is the blend designed to support them through that more challenging phase.

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

- Supporting the wider picture

• PollenTonic – for early, upper-airway seasonal spring pollen sensitivity.
• PollenCOMBO – when symptoms begin to involve the chest or become more established.
• KoffTonic - supports everyday upper-airway comfort, particularly when environmental changes, i.e. dust, dry forage, or seasonal shifts, make the cough reflex more active.

- Looking deeper

Sometimes breathing isn't the whole story.

If respiratory sensitivity sits alongside recurring skin problems, digestive instability, hoof quality issues, or seasonal patterns that never seem to fully resolve, it may be worth looking beyond the lungs themselves.

• KPUCOMBO – for horses showing recurring, interconnected patterns that suggest a wider gut–liver–immune imbalance.

- Foundation support

We often say 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 solution uch as VitaComplete or EquiVita helps create the conditions for healthier biological function and more consistent long-term results.

In summary

Choose BreathePlus when breathing has become laboured, restricted, or visibly uncomfortable. As your horse recovers, many can step back to lighter respiratory support, while recurring patterns are often a reminder to look deeper at the wider biological picture rather than the lungs alone.

Composition glossary

Each botanical in BreathePlus plays a targeted role in supporting the lung–airway system and maintaining balanced immune responses.

1. Astragalus membranaceus – Renowned adaptogen (immunomodulator), traditionally used to support immune resilience and vitality, especially during long-term environmental strain.
2. Echinacea purpurea – Traditionally valued for supporting the immune system’s natural readiness and balanced defence responses.
3. Inula helenium – A classic respiratory expectorant, traditionally used to support comfortable breathing and natural mucus clearance.
4. Euphrasia officinalis – A useful astringent herb, traditionally used to support upper-airway comfort, sinus health and the nasal passages.
5. Ginkgo biloba – A circulatory-support herb valued for supporting tissue nourishment and antioxidant protection.
6. Glycyrrhiza glabra – A soothing adaptogenic demulcent for mucosal comfort and adrenal balance.
7. Althaea officinalis radix – Naturally rich in mucilage to support moist, comfortable airways.
8. Verbascum thapsus – A time-honoured respiratory herb with expectorant and emollient properties, traditionally used to support clear, comfortable lungs and steady mucus dynamics.
9. Achillea millefolium – A classic systemic herb valued for supporting circulation, tissue balance, and normal mucous flow.

Feed guide

🌿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 = 12-grams.

Fussy eater?

♻️ Eco Note: Our packaging is recyclable and refillable.

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.

BreathePlus is built around one simple objective: making breathing feel less like hard work.

Rather than focusing on one symptom alone, the formula supports the three things healthy breathing depends upon – open airways, comfortable mucus clearance, and resilient respiratory tissues.

How the formula works

Every herb has been chosen to support a different part of the respiratory system, allowing the blend to work as a coordinated whole when breathing has become compromised.

1. Supporting easier airflow - Traditional respiratory herbs including Mullein and Liquorice Root help support comfortable airway function, making it easier for air to move through the respiratory tract when breathing feels restricted.
2. Supporting healthy mucus movement - Mullein, Elecampane, and Yarrow have long been valued for supporting the normal movement and clearance of mucus, helping the lungs maintain the natural cleaning processes they rely upon every day.
3. Supporting delicate respiratory tissues - Naturally mucilage-rich Marshmallow Root, together with the soothing properties of Liquorice, helps nourish and comfort the delicate mucous membranes lining the airways, while Ginkgo supports the healthy circulation that keeps those tissues supplied with oxygen and nutrients.
4. Supporting the wider immune picture - Astragalus and Echinacea provide nutritional support for healthy immune function, helping the body maintain balanced respiratory resilience alongside the more targeted airway herbs.

Big picture

When a horse is struggling to breathe, everything else becomes secondary.

BreathePlus is built to support the whole respiratory environment – helping the airways stay open, mucus keep moving, and delicate tissues remain as comfortable and resilient as possible.

The easier it is for your horse to breathe, the easier it becomes for the body to get on with what it already knows how to do: recover.

Advisories

• Feed as a minimum 1-month course.
• Feed as part of a broader management approach, including dust reduction and good forage quality.

Contraindications

• Always seek veterinary advice for pregnant or nursing mares.
• Liquorice Root (Glycyrrhiza) may prolong corticosteroid activity – seek veterinary guidance if your horse is using steroid medications or inhalers.

Vet reference

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

From Carol Moreton, Founder, EquiNatural

BreathePlus was the very first EquiNatural blend - and it began with a horse fighting for his life.

In August 2006, we welcomed Kelso, my husband’s new cob, into our family. He was handsome, gentle... and arrived with a hacking cough.

Back then, everything respiratory was labelled “COPD,” and it was only meant to appear in winter. But within a week, Kelso’s lungs collapsed. He was literally fighting for breath - and losing. In August!

For a month we followed the standard route: Ventipulmin, antibiotics, bute, but nothing worked, and Kelso got worse.

Then came the moment we all dread. The vet suggested that as he was 17-years old, it would be kindest to put him to sleep.

I absolutely refused - every part of me knew he wasn’t ready to die - he just wasn’t getting what he needed.

So with nothing left to lose I hit the world-wide-web, read everything I could find about those whacky things called herbs, and mixed a small bag of respiratory botanicals on my kitchen table.

Within 48 hours, Kelso’s breathing eased. By day three, his eyes were bright again. By the end of the week, he was back in the field with his buddies.

That little bag of herbs became BreathePlus. At first it was something I made for fellow livery owners, until someone suggested I sell them on Ebay, and by 2008, I had a website called EquiNatural. Not because I meant to start a business, but because a horse of ours got better thanks to some herbs I hoped would help him.

Dear old Kelso not only thrived for several more years - he changed my life's work, where 20-years on we're still here!

If your horse is struggling the way he was, BreathePlus was made just for them.

How do I know whether my horse needs BreathePlus or PollenTonic?

This is probably the question we're asked most often.

Think of it like this...

If your horse is showing the earlier signs of seasonal sensitivity – a bit of snuffling, occasional coughing, or reacting to pollen – we'd usually start with PollenTonic.

But if breathing has become harder work...

If you can see the effort.

If the nostrils are flaring, there's wheezing, chest involvement, or your horse simply looks uncomfortable trying to get enough air...

That's when we start thinking about BreathePlus.

It's the blend we formulated for horses whose breathing has moved beyond "sensitive" and become genuinely compromised.

Can BreathePlus be fed alongside veterinary treatment?

Absolutely.

BreathePlus is a nutritional supplement, not a veterinary medicine, and many owners use it alongside the treatment plan recommended by their vet.

If your horse is struggling to breathe, veterinary assessment should always come first.

Our role is to provide nutritional support for the respiratory system while your horse is recovering and the underlying cause is being addressed.

How long does BreathePlus take to work?

Every horse is different, but because breathing is so important, many owners naturally watch very closely during the first few days.

Some notice small improvements surprisingly quickly.

Others describe a steadier recovery over several weeks.

We generally recommend feeding BreathePlus for at least a month, giving the herbs time to support not just the airways themselves, but also the delicate respiratory tissues that may have been under strain.

My horse keeps getting respiratory problems. Could there be something else going on?

This is something we've become increasingly interested in over the years.

Sometimes the lungs are the whole story.

Sometimes they aren't.

If breathing issues keep returning alongside skin flare-ups, digestive instability, hoof problems, or seasonal sensitivities, it can be worth stepping back and looking at the whole horse.

Rather than asking, "Why are the lungs reacting?" we start asking, "Why is the whole system becoming more reactive?"

That's one of the reasons we often recommend looking at programmes such as KPUCOMBO when recurring patterns begin appearing across several body systems.

Why does BreathePlus contain herbs that support mucus?

Because healthy mucus is actually a good thing.

Its job is to trap dust, pollen, spores, and other tiny particles before they reach deeper into the lungs.

The problem comes when that mucus becomes difficult to move.

BreathePlus contains herbs traditionally used to help maintain normal mucus movement and clearance, alongside herbs that soothe the delicate tissues lining the airways.

It's all about helping the lungs get back to doing what they were designed to do.

Why is BreathePlus a blend instead of just one respiratory herb?

Because breathing comfortably depends on more than one thing.

The airways need to stay open.

Mucus needs to keep moving.

The delicate lining of the respiratory tract needs support.

The immune system has its own role to play too.

Rather than asking one herb to do everything, BreathePlus brings together botanicals with different strengths so they can work as a team.

That's exactly how the formula was designed from the very beginning.