Is garlic poisonous for horses ?

[texel]

I found a research article (can't find the link now ..... aargh), which stated that garlic was of no benefit to horses and caused anaemia and affected the immune system.

I have been told it is supposed to keep flies at bay.

What are your views on this ?

[montys helper]

I found a research article (can't find the link now ..... aargh), which stated that garlic was of no benefit to horses and caused anaemia and affected the immune system.

I have been told it is supposed to keep flies at bay.

What are your views on this ?

i use to give this to my horse to give his coat a shine.not used it in yonks mind u but have never heard its bad for ** horse

[eml]

Ours eat it all summer to keep flies at bay, they smell garlicy but never had health problems. This is powdered garlic though.

[donkey heaven]

Googled "garlic and equines" and on the first page up came the heading
All About Horses - clearing the air about garlic.

It is on www.allabouthorses.com/horse-health/prevention/

If you use this link, In the search box type "Garlic"

The debate is given as to whether garlic is beneficial or could be toxic.
You need to make up your own mind on this one, I am afraid.

[Thistle]

I used to use garlic but then learned that onions and other members of the allium family are toxic to horses. As garlic is part of this family I decided to stop using it though I have not read any research on this. In addition I have known a couple of horses whose itchiness improved when garlic was stopped.

[Jenny2502]

my horse has been on garlic since ive had him and it has caused no harm except garlic breath lol! :p

[Tre]

all my horses have it daily and always will, have used it for 30 years :) no harm has ever come to them from it

[SMC]

Hi have not heard that it is dangerous for horses. I did feed mine all winter on it hoping to keep the flies away, but this did not work and he has still been bitten. So back to fly sheet !!!!!!!!

[MelanieD]

The research involved feeding large doses of garlic to horses and it did cause a form of anaemia. But a lot of things have dose dependent effects where a large dose may be harmful but a smaller dose may be harmless of even beneficial so I'm not about to panic and never feed garlic again based on that article.

[Camyds]

But a lot of things have dose dependent effects where a large dose may be harmful but a smaller dose may be harmless of even beneficial so I'm not about to panic and never feed garlic again based on that article.[/QUOTE]


Yes I agree, it is the same with us humans. too much salt, too litlle? and the same for alcohol, too much, (arhmmm!!! ) or too little? (apparentley, a glass of red helps your heart) but,hey who knows, it is up to the individaul peeps make up the same as the hoss:cool: and, which company benefits from doing the survey at the time:p

Moderaton is the key:D

[artemis]

Most things are bad for you if taken in large enough quantities. If you read research articles usually find that the quantities used to get negative effects are massive. just use your common sense. After all the Romans used garlic in large quantities & it didn't wipe them out.!

[Libbyo]

Yes garlic and onions are the same family, but different. I have an alergy to onion, but can eat garlic!

[marli@missi]

Mine have garlic and has no harm, I've never heard of being harmful. And keeps flies at bay and healthy coat.

[Joyscarer]

I added it to Joy's feed last year and never saw much improvment in the fly situation, maybe I wasn't using enough?

As for being toxic, even the most benign of sbstances can be detrimental to wellbeing if taken to extremes.

Toxicity of a substance doesn't mean that in the right dose there aren't health benefits. Look at digitalis for use in heart conditions for example. ;)

[ForestGump]

I use garlic for Forest.

I started him on it about a month ago and found that within two weeks he was a bit down in the dumps, so I reduced the amount he was having so he still has it in his system but not as much! :p

As he is sensitive I found it good for his breathing (garlic is supposed to be good for respiratory). He does cough occasionally now he has been in during the day when it gets too hot but I've heard him cough maybe 5 times in a week whereas before he couldn't stop coughing.

Hes still not quite himself so I'm going to start him on a vitamin supplement so we'll see how he goes on that. :D

[eventerbabe]

If you were to feed your horse hundreds of grams of garlic a day then yes, it can induce amaemia. the 25g scoop most of us are feeding will have no impact whatsoever. I've always fed mine garlic (the freeze dried flakes).

[KT C]

I've always fed garlic to my horse, and it's done no harm (not sure how effective it is at keeping the flies away mind you...)

I do know of one horse who is allergic to garlic though - although garlic is supposed to be generally good for the respiratory system, it actually makes her breathing really bad. It's all down to the individual though; just like humans, some horses can be allergic to certain things - doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad for everyone.

[molly34]

If you mean the research mentioned in this (http://www.newrider.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1712626) thread, I think the responses speak for themselves.

I stopped feeding garlic when I cut Willow's hard feed, and noticed a massive difference in fly bites. Now she gets a few fresh cloves a day in a handful of chaff and she's much less bothered again.

[Ro5ie]

I think that garlic is OK as long as you don't feed too much. I've fed it to my horse, but it doesn't seem to do much to stop the flies biting - they must like the taste!

There is a good article on the benefits and dangers here.
http://www.equi-therapy.net/equi-therapy/herbal/garlic-horses.shtml

[KT C]

From a scientific point of view, as far as I'm concerned feeding onion tops to one horse isn't exactly conclusive proof that garlic is poisonous to horses, sorry! Many things are toxic in large doses - everything in moderation and all that!

I'm sure it will only be a matter of time before it's completely banned under EU regulations though... :rolleyes:

[Cate Ged]

Don't know about fly bites as I am lucky that where we are there aren't too many of them however I have noticed that if his skin looks bad (dry/flacky) then re-introducing garlic clears it up really quickly, :)