what is sillica in???

[Megans mum]

I have heard that sillica is good for growing feet' so what food is it in or do you have to get it in pill form' I have a gelding who's feet are very slow to grow or he is wearing them faster than they grow and I want to give him a bit of help' thanks :)

[herbyhorse]

Equisetum arvense - horsetail
Urtica dioca - Nettle

mostly latex-ey leafy plants

both are available in human tintutures of which 1 -5ml per day should be enough ...

please pm for more info.

[Megans mum]

thanks Herbyhorse I did think that horse tail was poisonous and my filly had a very bad nose when she was out in the field it was in last spring' I do feed nettles when I cut them and I see they are eating them anyway this year so is that telling me something''''''''''''' should I feed the tincture do you think or just rely on the green type? thanks for the reply anyway'

[Bebe]

The homeopathic remedy Silicea is supposed to be good for sandcracks, soft soles and horn quality, might be worth looking into further? I gave it Bebe when she had an abcess too, did seem to help her quite a bit.

[Megans mum]

thanks Bebe will definately talk to my chap about it'

[virtuallyhorses]

Are we talking about the mineral Silica? This is the most common mineral on earth ie sand\rock\gravel\quartz . If you are looking for a plant with a good silica content, grass and therefore also hay, is about as good as you get. The stronger and less nutritious the grass the higher it is likely to be in silica (as this is part of what makes grass tough) Do not waste your money on buying silica supplements with silica already in almost everything your horse is currently eating it is highly unlikely that adding more is going to have any effect on your horse's hooves.

Silicea is simply another name for silica, most frequently seen when people are trying to flog expensive nutricuticals ;) You may also see 'colloidal silicea' or 'colloidal silica' - all colloidal means is that it is a liquid (water) where the element has been made into particles which are small enough to be permanently suspended (they never sink to the bottom). Why is this good? Well there's nothing particularly special about it - you never have to shake the bottle :D and in theory the smaller the size of the particles the easier it is to digest or be absorbed by the skin... how relevant this is in real terms is debatable (since the things that your horse naturally eats and comes into contact with aren't colloidal generally).