Do any of you use herbal supplements for you horses in the winter - or all year around for that matter.  During the summer I have Chief on apple cidar vinegar and garlic.  And I've used herbal wormers on him also.

Personally I've not had any real luck with any of the herbal remedies or supplements.  Wish I could say I have, but unfortunately, I haven't.  This is strictly my opinion, but they just seemed like a waste of money to me.  I think the only "green" thing I've used that has worked well is the fly predators.

I try not to use any, but with my rescue I will wait and see if I need to maintain him thourgh the winter with a weight builder, and both of my old men may have to start back on a joint supplement since the cold makes them more stiff.  If your horse is young and healthy then really you shouldn't have to use anything.  You know your horse, and if things start changing through the winter then you may need to adjust, but I would try him on the same as what you keep him on through the rest of the year, adding hay of course. 

txspots:

Personally I've not had any real luck with any of the herbal remedies or supplements.  Wish I could say I have, but unfortunately, I haven't.  This is strictly my opinion, but they just seemed like a waste of money to me.  I think the only "green" thing I've used that has worked well is the fly predators.

 I have heard this about 50% of the time.  I think maybe the remedies only work if the horse needs them in the first place

While I do subscribe to the philsophy "if it works don't fix it", my 22yo is insulin resistant.

Without question herbal remedies and five week trims are keeping him off Pergolide and from foundering (to-date he has never foundered and I've owned him 19 years).  He easily maintains his alpha-dominance over the rest of the herd, so his mental outlook and physical strength are still very healthy.

 Anything my horses are on, they are on 365 days/yr.  The only thing that varies from winter to summer is the amount of that "thing".

For example I double the chastetree on my I-R horse from spring thru September and triple his magnesium during those months.

The 10,000 I.U. daily of Vit E he receives will also get cut back during the cool months.  This is my first year using such a massive quantity, so I'm not sure how much I will gradually cut him back to.

I gotta say the Vitamin E has helped his summer sores immensely and the deep thorn apple thorn scratches he came in with on his shoulder really healed up in quick fashion.  Something that is very important when dealing with what is essentially Type II diabetes in a horse

I said all that to say I don't do anything different in the winter except for dosage amounts of whatever they are already getting

your insulin resistant horse sounds a lot like my old rescue who has Cushings.  I guess I did forget to put in the Chaste berry, which he was off of for 2 months to try to kind of revamp his system to it in a way.  He is my oldest and my dominate one also!

dude...be very careful of garlic...it's considered toxic to equine.  i lost one of my horses who may or may not've been poisoned by this product...he was getting the same amount as the others but evidently didn't handle it as well.  it may or may not've been a contributing factor to his demise...colic.

just a word to the wise is sufficient.

pass it on.