Mickie Magan Equine Herbalist

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Grose Vale, NSW
Mickie Magan Equine Herbalist

Improving and enhancing your horse's health and performance through preventative and therapeutic herbal medicine, natural diet and supplementation.

Herbal Medicine for horses. Helping your horse with preventative, therapeutic medicine and natural supplementation.

18/08/2026

Or more importantly, can YOU tell me something?
I’d love to know what topics you would like to see coming up.

Always had a question but we’re too afraid to ask?

It’s hard sometimes as horse owners to ask about things in front of others at the yard or agistment.

Asking questions is how we learn. If people roll their eyes at you because you don’t know something and want to find out information that can help your horse, then it’s not you who is the dummy.

Coming up with daily content can be difficult some days.
I do schedule most of my posts so if there is something you would like to see a post about or a question answered, you can put something in the comments or if you’re shy, you can send me a private message.

Sharing knowledge is better for us all and our horses.
I have learned a lot over the years from other horse people Ive met.

Perhaps some of you would like to share your knowledge with me and my followers by telling of an experience you went through with your horse.
If you would like to be the inspiration behind one of my posts, I would be grateful for your input.
You will remain anonymous in the post.
You never know, someone else might have wanted to know the exact same thing as you did.

17/08/2026

Everything about Aloe Vera says stay away.
It’s fibrous outer skin, the spiny leaves and the bitter taste of the gel and juice.
Yet it’s healing properties are many and so effective.

It’s my go to healer in almost every prescription when treating gut ulceration.
The gelatinous centre is immensely soothing to the mucous membranes of the gastrointestinal tract.

A herb that is both a demulcent and an emollient, meaning it soothes internal and external tissues.
Useful on scrapes, cuts and burns.
Aloe Vera is a hidden gem.

16/08/2026

It’s very rare for me to dispense a single herb.
Exceptions would be something like Devils Claw for pain, which would also come with a prescription for the actual issue itself. The other is Scullcap for headshaking The dosage of which are critical and is often given as a separate medicine.

Recently I was asked to dispense just one herb because the person was told the particular herb was good for the horse’s condition.

She was correct, in part. However one of the issues is that while one herb gains “notoriety “ for a specific use or solution, there are many considerations in herbal prescribing.

In a prescription, we use 1 circulatory herb. 1 liver herb. Often a nervine ( not always) and the rest is attributed to the illness or injury at hand.

The reasons are as follows:

Circulatory herb is given as the blood goes to every part of the body.
Liver herb is because the liver processes every single thing that enters the body and decides where it needs to go.

Other herbs included are chosen not just for their use but their ability to potentiate other herb’s actions and efficacy.

15/08/2026

Banjo had an episode of impaction colic. His mum gave him my Colic Rx and within an hour he had evacuated his bowels, got up off the ground and resumed his dinner. I just love these messages.

14/08/2026

We tend not to think too much about hooves until we have an issue with them.⠀
A puncture, laminitis, seedy toe etc.⠀
⠀
When we look at the amount of work the feet do, it makes sense we should know a bit about them.⠀
⠀
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗻𝗼𝗻-𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽: Healthy hooves grow around 1 cm per month through the hoof wall. Ideally they should be worn down around the same rate.⠀
If your horse has slow growing hooves, it may be an indication of a circulatory or dietary issue.⠀
⠀
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹: The front hooves are more circular in shape than the back hooves. This is so they can expand under stress for weight bearing.⠀
⠀
𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗹𝗲𝘅𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲: Even though they appear hard, they actually have some “give” in them. The hoof itself absorbs between 60-80% of impact during work. Add in jumping or galloping, that’s a lot of weight bearing.⠀
⠀
𝗦𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁: The sole if viewed from underneath, should be as wide as it is long. If your horse has long toes, or long walls or under run heels, this will affect his balance, which then has a trickle down effect to how the muscles develop and are used.⠀
⠀
𝗧𝗵e𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗶𝗿𝘆: Not really but they are made of keratin, which is the same substance that our nails and hair are made of.⠀
Quite a different concentration and many more layers, which is why they are harder than our nails

13/08/2026

Scullcap is a herb that must be used with caution. Another very specific helper in the case of head shaking syndrome.
It’s also works as an adrenal tonic and balancer, due to a volatile oil called Scutellarin which increases Vitamin B 3 absorption and helps to balance Adrenalin and noradrenaline which is needed for a healthy nervous system. Not to be confused with Chinese scullcap which is an anti-viral.
Scullcap should be administered by a qualified herbalist as dosage is critical and test dosing on its own is required. 🌿🌱🐴

12/08/2026

Horses don’t cry over sadness or frustration, but I’m sure they would if they could!

The lacrimal duct generates extra tears as needed.

A lot of us have had horses that seem to have a constantly weeping eye.
The eye generates extra fluids in the case of a foreign body or irritation.
If the horse appears to be fine and behaving as normal, it could indicate that the nasolacrimal duct is blocked.

Often the vet will insert a thin length of soft plastic tubing straight up the nasal passage and gently pump a saline flush up the tube.
When it meets resistance, the pressure of the saline builds up and “pops” the blockage out. ( I have had a couple land on me over the years so stand to the side! )

Other possible causes are flies, infection and dust/ pollen particles.
Some horses tear up only in spring or summer and are fine in the cooler months when it’s not so dry or dusty.

If you have a horse that’s susceptible to eye irritation, you can help by dampening feeds and soaking bay to limit the dust exposure.

Fly masks that cover the whole face rather than the dangly string ones are more effective for keeping foreign bodies and insects away.

I like to hook over the ears then wipe my hands all around the face to ensure no flies get trapped inside the mask before I do it up.

11/08/2026

A herb that is used in specific circumstances.
Valerian is the herb of choice for horses that exhibit their stress by getting neck and flank sweats accompanied by elevated heart rate, tight back or muscle lock and the tell tale sign of hard pebbly manure.
Valerian is an antispasmodic which makes it a go to in cases of impaction colic.
It acts as a sedative, muscle relaxant and a mild laxative. It is a very useful herb for horses with any type of nerve damage.
It is a go to herb for stringhalt, tying up and muscular spasms from stress or colic.
It is not advised to use in horses in active competition as it contains Valerianic acid which is an FEI prohibited 🚫 substance.

10/08/2026

For those of you waiting on orders, I’m having drama with Shopify.
It needs an update but when I put all my information in, I can’t access my account.

I’m so sorry for the delay.
Please bear with me while I sort this out.

Many Thanks to you all.

09/08/2026

What a great day on Saturday we had at Janisa.
Amazing women of like minds and some really thoughtful questions.
Thank you for coming.
It was great to meet all of you!
Special thanks to Lisa Nicholson and Boyne Equine Health for their exceptional organisation and hospitality.
Lots of learning and laughing. 🩷🤣

Address

Grose Vale, NSW

Telephone

+61412800868

Website

https://www.equineherbalist.com.au/

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