Has anyone fed aloe?

[charliefar]

Just wondering if anyone has ever fed their ponies aloe vera ? I've bought him some gel for his crest which seemes to have relived his itching and some shampoo for his coat but was thinking skin conditions are usually better treated from the inside out. He already gets garlic,linseed &cod liver oil which has helped a lot but hasn't stopped the scurf.
My friend takes aloe as a drink so wondered if anyone had ever known it being fed to horses.

[dollylanedales]

I take it for my stomach ulcers!! And it does help. Very bitter on its own, so I have the honey one.

I know someone who feeds it to her horse, and her coat and mane have definitely improved while on it.

[Fi]

Yes, you can feed it to horses. It can be used to treat ulcers and such, and would help 'from the inside out'. I think a fair few people use it on racehorses for that reason.

[charliefar]

Thanks, I've just bought him some so will see how it goes !!

[Debbie]

You might try dropping the garlic from his diet. Some horses/ponies react to garlic by getting incredibly itchy.

[charliefar]

Thanks Debbie I'd never heard of that before,will try a pure cod liver oil next time then.
Its been so far, so good the Aloe apppears to have made a difference but as its never really stopped raining I'll wait til the next dry spell before I relax totally. I bought him some aloe body wash too and that was really good stuff.
fingers crossed tho.

[baroquefarm]

I feed it to my pony that has ulcers and it works great. Nothing else has worked for him.

[heathera]

I'm finding this interesting as I've wondered for a while whether Merlin has ulcers. He's not showing any blatant signs but he's still sometimes funny to girth and not always happy to go forwards into an upwards transition.

If I want to try him on aloe what is a good source? Do you feed the human version or is their an equine specific version that I could buy online?

[charliefar]

I don't think it would harm to try it, so have a go and see if it helps , I bought this from our local saddlers,
www.millbryhill.co.uk/equestrian-530/horse-supplements-780/barrier-aloe-vera-juice-48785.htm

It seemed odd at first as it says you can wash them in it or treat wounds so I was quite nervous feeding it to him but touch wood, its made a difference to him. His coat is much less scurfy and he's no where near as itchy (famous last words)

There are many different versions available and you can pay a fortune for it but this seemed adequate.

Good luck and keep us updated!