People always
ask me if it is OK to keep giving horses herbs, all the time.
To
this I answer: yes, but!
Let’s have a look at the
horses places of
origin: Europe and Asia, in these continents there are wild herbs
that horses feed on as they graze and browse, so the best way to
feed them herbs is to mimic what they would do in nature. Wild
horses would not have
Nettles and Rosehips at the same time for instance. Why? Because
Nettles grow and flower in spring and summer and rosehips appear in
autumn.
That doesn’t mean you must not give those two together (I certainly
do) this is just an example to explain the seasonality of the herbs.
So for instance, you could give Nettles for a whole
month, and then switch to Dandelion leaf,
then Borage for a little while (always shorter for Borage) then back
to Nettles.
If
you are giving Thyme for digestion, you can rotate with Fennel and
Chamomile. For the nervous system, play with Lime flowers, Lemon
verbena, Skullcap and Passionflower.
A
little break from any of the herbs make the herbs work better.