How to choose a CBD product for your horse
Don't even consider a product that isn't manufactured according to cGMP (Common Good Manufacturing Practices) or that doesn't have third-party lab certificates of analysis available for each batch of oil. When choosing from "approved" CBD products, assess how "friendly" the product and the company are. Do they have a proven track record—and do they have expertise with animals? Several studies testing commercially available CBD products have found that many don't deliver the dosage they claim, and a surprisingly high percentage are simply hemp cooking oil.
The best companies will offer money-back guarantees on their products and will be able to answer your questions about the source of their biomass and the extraction process. Good products can be made using ethanol or CO2 extraction; however, beware of incomplete, low-quality extractions.CBD oil should have a light herbal aroma and flavor and not taste of chemical residue.
For horses, look for a high-potency product, between 20 mg/mL and 60 mg/mL. Many hemp-based products are sold in 1 oz bottles due to their high cost. A 1 oz bottle of 20 mg/mL CBD contains 30 ml and will potentially give you 30 horse-sized servings if your equine partner responds to the lowest dose. Higher potencies offer more opportunities for experimentation to find the "sweet spot" for your horse.
For example, a 50 mg dose was more reliable and effective for severe lameness, mild to moderate acute laminitis, and equine metabolic syndrome. Surprisingly, although most CBD products are recommended for twice-daily administration, some horses whose owners could only access them once a day still responded well.
Will my horse get high from the CBD?
Used in medicine for thousands of years, the cannabis plant has two main compounds and over 200 minor constituents. The most abundant compounds are THC (trans-Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol) and cannabidiol.
THC is the part of the cannabis plant used recreationally and is associated with the "stoner" culture. However, THC is also a highly effective medication for chronic pain, psychiatric disorders, and many types of cancer. THC is psychoactive in humans and especially in dogs, which have a high number of CB1 receptors in their cerebellum, but its effects on other species are not well understood.
In contrast, CBD does not have profound psychoactive effects and, at low doses, is very effective at calming the nervous system without affecting cognition or balance.
How do phytocannabinoids work?
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) helps the nervous and immune systems to self-regulate and communicate. Acting primarily at the level of nerve synapses, the ECS is thought to be involved in pain relief, cancer prevention, metabolic balance, and the proper functioning of the gastrointestinal system.
It sounds like a miracle drug! This may be because the receptors that bind to phytocannabinoids (the cannabinoids that occur naturally in the cannabis plant) can intervene early in inflammatory cascades and prevent the degenerative changes that cause health problems.
A limited amount of clinical research is available on the use of CBD in animals, due to decades of research blockages. However, recent studies have shown that CBD holds great promise for helping with some very common problems in horses and dogs, such as behavioral issues related to anxiety and arthritis pain.
For more serious conditions, such as cancer, epilepsy, and diabetes, animal caretakers should seek advice from a qualified veterinarian before using high-dose cannabinoids.
The only side effect observed with CBD use in pets has been a slight elevation of liver enzymes. This side effect appeared in research studies using very high doses—eight to 16 times the levels that experienced veterinarians would prescribe for dogs. This suggests that many animals can achieve pain relief without the problems commonly associated with NSAID use, such as gastrointestinal upset or liver damage, when CBD is prescribed at appropriate doses. But how does this translate to horses?
Why does the size of the animal matter?
Animals come in all sizes. However, when it comes to medications and supplements, dosages don't increase at the same rate as animal size. This is because larger animals have a slower metabolism than smaller ones.
A healthy cat 's heart rate can be 150 to 200 beats per minute; an adult human's resting heart rate is only 70 to 80 beats per minute; and a typical horse's heart rate is only 30 to 35 beats per minute. With its slower metabolism, a horse can function more efficiently and use less energy to move.
This means that the "weight-based" dosage of many medications can be much lower for horses than for humans, cats, or dogs. For example, while the dose of CBD to relieve anxiety in dogs is around 0.1 mg per kg of body weight, research has shown that a dose of just 25 mg of full-spectrum CBD oil, rubbed into the gums, helps with similar issues in horses—which works at just 0.05 mg/kg.
This means that using CBD can be surprisingly affordable to help soothe a horse's nervous system.
Can I use CBD in competition?
The answer is no. Cannabinoids are not permitted during competitions and have been added to random drug testing programs. This prohibition is actually an early indicator of CBD's potency for behavioral and pain issues in horses. Therefore, if you are competing in events that conduct drug testing, you will need to stop giving your horse CBD at least seven days before the event.
