Equine Herbalist

Equine Herbalist Rachel Kelly is a fully qualified Master Equine Herbalist, Iridologist, author, and teacher of herbal medicine.

She combines her passion for horses, herbs, and natural healing with a focus on natural diets using sprouted seeds to support health. Herbs provide natural and safe alternatives for equine health, herbs can help prevent the onset of disease, herbs can provide support and balance for every system in the horse's body.

I put this pyramid together about 15 years ago and it still stands the test it time.🌾 Forage is the Foundation of your H...
08/10/2025

I put this pyramid together about 15 years ago and it still stands the test it time.

🌾 Forage is the Foundation of your Horse’s Diet 🌾
It all starts with what’s in the hay.
Forage should be tested for minerals, sugar, and starch — without testing, you’re feeding the unknown.
Hay can vary hugely in protein, mineral content, and sugar levels, even from the same field.

✨ Build from the Ground Up:

🌱 Balance deficiencies with sprouted seeds, fodder (barley grass, wheatgrass), or chelated mineral supplements.

💚 Always match your balancer to your hay — if the minerals don’t address actual deficiencies, you’re just wasting money.

🌿 Use herbs to target your horse’s unique needs — digestive health, joint support, hoof condition, allergies, metabolism, or stress.

🍎 Fruits & Veggies:
Certain fruits and safe vegetables (in moderation) can make great treats or training rewards — especially cooling options in summer. Introduce all new foods slowly and avoid high-sugar or unsuitable options for metabolic horses.

🌾 Remember:
A forage-only diet can work beautifully once the balance is right — supported by good testing, thoughtful supplementation, and awareness of your horse’s workload and needs.

This weekend I'll be doing a little Q&A here on my page, so feel free to ask a question.
18/09/2025

This weekend I'll be doing a little Q&A here on my page, so feel free to ask a question.

💚Wholefood Nutrition for Horses: What Does It Really Mean?🌱In recent years, there's been a growing interest in wholefood...
11/09/2025

💚Wholefood Nutrition for Horses: What Does It Really Mean?

🌱In recent years, there's been a growing interest in wholefood nutrition — not just for humans, but for our horses too. But what does it really mean when we talk about “wholefood” diets for horses? Is it just feeding carrots and apples, or is there more to it?

🏵️As an equine herbalist passionate about natural, species-appropriate care, I wanted to break it down for you in simple terms.
Wholefood = Real Food
Wholefood nutrition means feeding your horse ingredients that are as close to their natural state as possible — minimally processed, nutrient-rich, and free from synthetic additives. Think of it as real food, not “food-like” products.

⭐It’s the difference between:
- A scoop of processed feed with molasses and binders
vs.
- A bowl of soaked grass nuts, chopped herbs, ground flaxseed, and a sprinkle of seaweed

💚Wholefoods are recognisable. They’re things you could grow, forage, or identify — like nettle leaf, linseed, dandelion root, or oats.

Examples of Wholefoods for Horses.
🌱Herbs: nettle, cleavers, dandelion, chamomile, meadowsweet
🫘Seeds: flax (linseed), chia, fenugreek
-🫚Roots: turmeric, marshmallow root, licorice root
🥕Vegetables (in moderation): carrots, beetroot, parsnip
🌾 Grains (when suitable): soaked or sprouted oats, barley
🏵️Natural supplements: seaweed, rosehips, brewer’s yeast
🌱Forage & pasture: high-quality hay, fresh grass, hedgerow herbs.

✨Why Choose Wholefood Nutrition?
1. It’s what they’re designed to eat
Horses evolved to browse and graze a wide variety of plants. Wholefoods honour this.

2. Better nutrient absorption
Whole plants provide nutrients in their natural, balanced forms — often with co-factors that help absorption.

3. Gentle, gradual support
Many wholefoods (especially herbs) support healing systems — liver, kidneys, digestion — without overwhelming the body.

4. Avoiding hidden nasties
Processed feeds can contain molasses, artificial flavours, chemical preservatives, and fillers. Wholefood diets cut out the guesswork.

What Wholefood Nutrition Isn’t
- Not just feeding a few carrots now and then
- Not about fancy powders or synthetic supplements
- Not a strict diet — it’s a philosophy of simplicity and connection to nature
- Not “one-size-fits-all” — every horse has different needs.

How to Get Started
1. Start with the basics: Review your forage. Good hay or haylage should be the foundation of any diet.
2. Reduce processed feeds: See what you can replace with simpler, real ingredients.
3. Add one or two herbs or wholefoods: Try nettle in spring, or a spoonful of ground flaxseed for the coat.
4. Observe and adjust: Wholefood feeding is intuitive. Watch how your horse responds.

🧙Final Thoughts
Wholefood nutrition isn’t about being perfect — it’s about being mindful. It’s about asking: Is this real? Is this necessary? Is this something a horse would choose if they could forage freely?

When you shift to wholefoods, you may find not only a healthier horse, but a deeper connection to how they eat, heal, and thrive.

🍂🌿 Hawthorn for Horses 🌿🍂✨ Why Hawthorn?Hawthorn is known as the guardian of the heart. Its deep red berries and green l...
28/08/2025

🍂🌿 Hawthorn for Horses 🌿🍂

✨ Why Hawthorn?
Hawthorn is known as the guardian of the heart. Its deep red berries and green leaves carry the strength and vitality of the hedgerow, supporting both heart and circulation. For horses, hawthorn:

Improves heart rhythm & muscle tone ❤️

Supports circulation & stamina ❤️

Strengthens capillaries (rich in rutin) — helpful for horses prone to nosebleeds ❤️

Provides antioxidant protection❤️

Brings a gentle calming effect❤️

Is especially valuable for older horses or those with heart murmurs❤️

✨ When to Harvest

Leaves & flowers: late spring (May–June)

Berries: late September–October, when rich red and slightly soft

✨ How to Prepare

Harvest carefully (watch the thorns!)

Dry leaves, flowers, or berries on trays in a warm airy space, or use a dehydrator

Or make a heart-supporting tincture: lightly crush fresh berries, fill a jar halfway, cover with raw organic apple cider vinegar, and steep 4–6 weeks. Strain and bottle

✨ How to Use for Horses

Dried berries: 20–40 g daily — best ground or crushed before adding to feed

Tea (infusion/decoction):

Steep leaves & flowers in hot water 10–15 mins

Simmer berries 15–20 mins

Cool and pour over feed

ACV tincture: 10–30 ml daily, split between feeds

Hawthorn is the hedgerow’s way of reminding us to care for the heart and the circulation — for ourselves and our horses. 🐴💚

Would you use hawthorn tea for your horse?

🌱✨ Sprouts – the ultimate in home-grown foods for horses! ✨🌱Did you know sprouted seeds are one of the easiest and most ...
25/08/2025

🌱✨ Sprouts – the ultimate in home-grown foods for horses! ✨🌱

Did you know sprouted seeds are one of the easiest and most powerful additions you can make to your horse’s diet? They’re nothing more than germinated seeds, yet they pack a serious nutritional punch – and you can grow them yourself at home in just a few days.

💚 Why feed sprouts to horses?
✔ Higher vitamin content – B vitamins can increase up to 500% after sprouting!
✔ Rich in live enzymes – up to 100x more than fresh fruit & veg, helping your horse absorb nutrients better.
✔ Extra essential fatty acids & fibre – supporting digestion, skin, coat & overall vitality.
✔ Minerals become more bioavailable – calcium, magnesium & protein are easier to absorb.
✔ Antioxidant rich – especially important in winter when fresh pasture is scarce.

🌾 Mung Beans – my top sprout pick!
Cheap, easy to sprout, and full of goodness:

Great source of protein & fibre

Packed with minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc & iron

Rich in vitamins A, B, C, E & K

Low glycaemic index – making them a smart choice for IR horses

Support collagen, elastin & hyaluronic acid production = healthy joints & connective tissue

💡 Simple sprouting tip:
Place 3–4 tbsp of mung beans in a jar, cover with water & soak overnight. Rinse & drain daily – within a few days you’ll have fresh, crunchy sprouts ready to feed!

👉 Sprouts are an easy, inexpensive way to boost your horse’s health naturally. Best of all – no soil, no mess, no chemicals, just pure living food 🌱🐴

Seeds to Feed ebook available for €15.99 DM me for more details

🐴 Are we actually riding two year old horses❓Maybe it’s time to ask ourselves: are we building athletes for the future —...
21/08/2025

🐴 Are we actually riding two year old horses❓

Maybe it’s time to ask ourselves: are we building athletes for the future — or breaking them before they even begin?

What's your thoughts 🤔

🌿 Hedgerow Herbs & Horse Health: Going Back to the Wild Diet 🌿Horses were never designed to live on grass alone. In the ...
20/08/2025

🌿 Hedgerow Herbs & Horse Health: Going Back to the Wild Diet 🌿

Horses were never designed to live on grass alone. In the wild, they would browse hedges, trees, roots, seeds, and seasonal herbs. This diversity gave them the ability to balance their own health naturally — body, mind, and spirit.

By bringing back some of that diversity today, we can mirror their natural rhythm:

✨ Pasture diversity – Over-seed with safe herbs like plantain, chicory, burnet, yarrow, and dandelion. These improve soil health and give horses natural choices.

✨ Hedgerows & strips – Willow, hawthorn, elder, dog rose, nettles, and meadowsweet provide minerals, fibre, bark, berries, and browsing options. For example, hazel leaves are higher in protein while hawthorn is richer in fibre — each plant has its own gift.

✨ Hand-grazing walks – Horses often make a beeline for the plant they need most. But also remember some horses will be greedy and over indulge in certain herbs so less is more.

✨ Hand-offering herbs – A small handful of nettle, cleavers, chamomile, or dandelion can be offered daily. These should be seen as supplements, not replacements for forage. A good rule of thumb is no more than 500g fresh in total per day.

✨ Paddock enrichment – Leaving “rough” corners or wild patches brings back herbs and flowers for self-selection, helping horses forage as nature intended.

⚖️ Laminitis-prone horses: Not all hedgerow herbs are automatically low in sugar.

👉 By reintroducing hedgerow herbs, we’re not just feeding our horses — we’re helping them reconnect with the wild diet that shaped their instincts and health for thousands of years.

💬 What’s the most unusual plant you’ve seen your horse seek out?

🐶We all know the dangers of walking our dogs in hot weather 🔥🌡️so what about exercising horses ??🌞 Hot Weather Horse Car...
15/08/2025

🐶We all know the dangers of walking our dogs in hot weather 🔥🌡️so what about exercising horses ??

🌞 Hot Weather Horse Care – Replenish Those Electrolytes remember horses sweat just doing nothing.

In the heat, horses sweat away vital minerals—sodium, potassium, magnesium, and chloride. Without proper replenishment, they’re at risk for dehydration, muscle cramps, fatigue, and unsteady recovery.

🌡️ What to Provide

💦Fresh, clean water available at all times.

👉Measured loose salt added to feed daily to meet their mineral needs.

🔥Electrolytes—especially after strenuous work or heavy sweating.

🌸Providing your horse with a good mineral supplements will also be very helpful.

🌱 The Wonders of Sprouted Seeds for Horses 🌱Did you know that sprouting grains and seeds can completely transform their ...
14/08/2025

🌱 The Wonders of Sprouted Seeds for Horses 🌱

Did you know that sprouting grains and seeds can completely transform their nutrition?

When a seed begins to sprout, it:
✅ Boosts vitamins – Barley grass, for example, can have up to 8× more vitamin E and 10× more beta-carotene than the grain it came from.

✅ Cuts starch – By day 4–6 of sprouting, much of the starch has been used up by the growing plant, making it easier to digest.

✅ Turns alkaline – Unsprouted grains are acid-forming, but sprouts help support a healthy acid–alkaline balance.

✅ Adds fresh enzymes & chlorophyll – Supporting digestion, recovery, and overall vitality.

👉It’s best fed alongside ad-lib forage, and can be a great way to add fresh greens and natural nutrition year-round.

For more information I've an ebook available to purchase 📑📖📚

🌾 Ryegrass & Horses – Friend or Foe?Do you feed it? Would you? Have you seen benefits – or problems?What’s your experien...
13/08/2025

🌾 Ryegrass & Horses – Friend or Foe?

Do you feed it? Would you? Have you seen benefits – or problems?
What’s your experience with ryegrass for horses?

Drop your thoughts below 👇🐴

🌿 Oils for Horses – Are They Really That Good? 🐴You’ve probably heard about adding oils like corn or vegetable oil to a ...
31/07/2025

🌿 Oils for Horses – Are They Really That Good? 🐴

You’ve probably heard about adding oils like corn or vegetable oil to a horse’s feed... but is it actually helping their health?

❗ The Problem with Most Oils

Most processed oils — think corn, vegetable, soy- are:

🔹 Heavily processed using chemical solvents like hexane
🔹 Often hydrogenated, which damages essential fatty acids
🔹 Stripped of nutritional value
🔹 High in omega-6s (like linoleic acid), which in excess can fuel inflammation

And remember: horses don’t have a gallbladder, so digesting large amounts of concentrated fat (like oils) is unnatural and puts strain on their system.

🌱 If You Do Use Oils...

Choose only cold-pressed, unrefined, and non-hydrogenated oils — and use them sparingly.

Some better-quality options include:

✅ Flaxseed oil – high in anti-inflammatory omega-3s (great for hay-based diets)
✅ H**p seed oil or sesame oil – offer a better omega-3 to omega-6 balance than sunflower or corn

👉 Most oils — especially cold-pressed ones — need to be stored in dark glass bottles, away from heat and light. They’re delicate and prone to going rancid quickly, which can do more harm than good.

❓Ask yourself:
Is your oil in a clear plastic bottle?
Is it sitting on a shelf with no care for temperature or light?
If so... what does that say about its stability — or its actual nutritional value?

🧪 Even cold-pressed flax oil can become unstable and lose its nutritional benefits when stored in plastic, exposed to air, light, or heat.

🌾 Whole Food Fats – A More Natural Option

Wholefood fats provide gentle energy, fiber, minerals, and support the gut:

🥄 Soaked or sprouted flax, chia, or pumpkin seeds
🌰 Micronised linseed – heat-stabilised and safer than flax oil
🌿 Ground h**p seeds – protein-rich, full of good fats

These align much better with the horse’s digestive system and overall health.

✅ Take-Home Message

🛑 Most processed oils cause more harm than good — especially if refined, hydrogenated, or stored improperly.
🌿 Choose cold-pressed oils only if truly needed — and store them with care.
🐴 For daily health, wholefood sources like soaked seeds or micronised linseed are a more natural, safer way to support your horse’s vitality.

🌿 Calming Horses Naturally: Herbs, Wholefoods & Supplements 🌿Horses experience stress just like we do. Whether it's due ...
30/07/2025

🌿 Calming Horses Naturally: Herbs, Wholefoods & Supplements 🌿

Horses experience stress just like we do. Whether it's due to travel, separation, changes in routine, or long-term anxiety, stress can show up as tension, digestive issues, poor focus, or even behavioural changes.

Thankfully, nature offers us many gentle allies to help soothe and support the equine nervous system. Here are some of my favourite calming options — safe, nourishing, and easy to add to the feed.

🥬 Wholefoods That Calm the Nervous System

Chia seeds – High in omega-3s and magnesium; support mood, gut, and anti-inflammatory pathways. I like to soak for 15 minutes before feeding.

H**p seeds/hearts – Rich in GLA, calming fats, and protein. Nourishes the nervous and endocrine system.

Linseed (flaxseed) – Ground freshly or soaked; supports hormones and inflammation, rich in magnesium and omega-3s.

Oats (whole and sprouted) – Avena sativa calms the nervous system, especially when soaked/sprouted. Avoid overfeeding if energy is high.

Pumpkin seeds (soaked) – Rich in tryptophan (a precursor to serotonin), magnesium, zinc, and calming oils. Excellent for the nervous system and muscle tension.

🌿 Herbs That Gently Soothe Horses

(Give as powders, dried herbs, or infused into feed)

Chamomile – Classic calmative and anti-spasmodic. Eases gut tension and settles anxious horses.

Vervain – Balancing for “overthinkers”; works on tension in neck, poll, and mind. Great for mentally busy horses.

Lemon balm – Soothing for nerves and digestion. Ideal for sensitive or unsettled horses.

Valerian root – Potent calmative (use with caution, competition rules may prohibit).

Wood betony – Grounds nervous energy; great for horses who are flighty or easily overstimulated.

Skullcap – Gentle sedative for horses that are twitchy, reactive, or nervous.

Hawthorn – Supports heart and circulation, helpful in emotionally reactive or stress-prone horses.

🌰 Wholefood Supplements for Calm and Balance

Magnesium (from food sources like pumpkin seeds, linseed, seaweed) – Often deficient in stressed horses. Supports muscles and mood.

B-complex from wholefoods – Found in sprouted grains.

🐴 Practical Tips:

Introduce new foods and herbs slowly, observing for any sensitivities.

Offer chamomile or lemon balm as a forage nibble in haynets or sprinkled over feed.

Blend calming herbs with linseed mash or soaked beet pulp for palatability.

Think prevention, not just crisis support—feed calming herbs before travel, vet visits, or herd changes.

Address

Graney Road, Lower Plunketstown, Castledermot
Kildare

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