James Hart Solutions Manufacturing Standards

We are Dedicated to Quality

Equine Herbals manufactures to stringent standards so our customers can rely on consistent, high quality products. Through drawing on traditional herbal use, up to date scientific knowledge, experience and proven formulations Equine Herbals brings you superior products.

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We Support Responsible Herbal Use

Unfortunately the popularity and success of herbal medicine has meant that demand for some herbs outstrips supply. Unless the plants are cultivated this can put pressure on wild stock and in some cases has led to herbs becoming endangered. An excellent example is Golden Seal, a North American native plant. It is such a good herb that it has been abused and overused. This led to it almost disappearing in the wild. Luckily the US government has stepped in and the plant’s survival is assured. Most of the Golden Seal now in use is from cultivated stock.

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Adulteration

It is easy to order dried herbs from a supplier but there is no absolute guarantee that what you get is what you order. Substitution may occur through an honest mistake, but some suppliers are less scrupulous. There have been many documented instances of adulteration of an expensive herb with cheap and sometimes even toxic alternatives.

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Quality Starts with the Raw materials

The levels of actives in plants varies throughout the year. It is therefore important to harvest at the correct time. The levels of actives also vary in different parts of the plant so it is equally important to use the correct part of the plant. A good way to look at this is to think about carrots. We generally harvest them in the autumn when they are best, and we eat the root not the top.

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Herb Drying

Once the herb has been harvested it must be dried in the correct way. If drying is too slow degeneration can be excessive and fungal growth may occur on the harvested plant. If it is dried at too high a temperature many of the delicate phytochemicals can be lost.

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Herb Storage

Correct storage of dried herbs is more important than people realise. After the drying process the herbs need to be properly kept. Herbs deteriorate over time if kept at room temperature. Tests carried out by Dr. Nigel Perry of Otago University clearly showed that to preserve their efficacy dried herbs need to be stored at about 5 degrees or lower. In his trials he used Valerian and Echinacea root. If stored at room temperature the level of actives in both these herbs dropped by half over a mere six months.

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Herb Sourcing

At Equine Herbals we do our best to ensure that the raw herbs we use are from cultivated sources or harvested from the wild in a sustainable and ethical manner. We only source through reputable established suppliers, we encourage local growers and grow some of our own herbs, so we can ensure that our herbs are correctly identified and optimally harvested. The herbs are processed as soon after harvest as possible to minimise the loss of actives.

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Further Testing

Before manufacture we follow rigorous procedures and exhaustive testing to make certain we are using the correct herb. We only use human grade quality raw materials.

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Extraction

Many companies that sell liquid extracts do not carry out their own manufacture. We believe this is an area that can often lead to compromises in quality, so we have a hands on approach and do all of our own manufacturing. We have been manufacturing extracts for many years for use by both humans and horses.

As the understanding of the principles of extraction has developed two main methods have emerged: maceration and percolation.

Maceration: the herb is soaked in a menstrum for a period of time, then the liquid is pressed out. The herb is discarded and the liquid is used. This process is easy but fails to extract all the available phytochemicals. It is a bit like making a cup of tea with a tea bag. The strength of what is left in the bag is the same as what you drink.

Percolation: in this process new herb is introduced throughout the process with the menstrum being passed sequentially through the system. The menstrum gains in concentration as it is repeatedly passed through new herb. This process ensures that the extract is fully potent and at end the used herb is fully extracted.

* Menstrum is the liquid used to extract the herb. It can be water, vinegar, wine, ethanol or combinations of these.

Over many years we have perfected a unique method of cold percolation to extract the full range of phytochemicals from the herbs, leaving the plant material exhausted. We use no heat if it may damage volatile plant constituents.

The manufacturing process is designed to comply with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP). All the extraction equipment is designed and built from stainless steel and the extraction takes place in a monitored environment.

In order to ensure that we are fully up to date with the latest scientific technology we work closely with Universities and research institutes. We continually monitor the latest research and where appropriate apply this in the development of new products and techniques.

Because we manufacture to the highest possible standards our customers can rely on consistent and high quality products.

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Extract Strength

An important issue that many herbal extract ranges do not address is the strength of their extracts. All Equine Herbals extracts are made to a strength of 1:2. This means that each kilo of plant is extracted into 2 litres of liquid. In this case an alcohol mix.

It is really important to know the strength so that you know how much herb equivalent you are giving your horse. As we know the effect that you can expect depends on the amount given so this is really important information.

Note: You may see references to tinctures and fluid extracts. This is really just a question of terminology and from a strict herbal point of view a tincture is an extract with a strength of 1:3 or weaker. Anything stronger is a fluid extract.

This table shows cost comparisons between extract strengths.

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Extract Cost

The above table shows that the stronger the extract the more herbal constituents are contained in the extract. i.e. the higher the Dry Herb Equivalent (DHE). This means that to achieve the same DHE you need to feed proportionately less of the stronger extract and more of weaker one.

Similarly one would expect the price to reflect this. Working on the price of a 500ml bottle of 1:2 extract of £20.00 one could argue that 500ml of a 1:3 should cost £13.30 and so on.

With Equine Herbal products you don’t pay extract price for fillers and sweeteners such as honey and cider vinegar.

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Why Use Liquids

Liquid extracts capture and preserve the phytochemical makeup of the plants in their natural state as closely as possible. We therefore manufacture the herbs as soon after harvest as possible to capture the herb at its best before it starts to loose its active constituents.

We are in no doubt that in most cases a quality liquid extract made with alcohol will give superior and quicker results than using the dried herb. Liquids are more quickly absorbed and give quicker results.

An advantage of using alcohol as the extraction liquid is that the strength can be varied depending on the plant. For example Echinacea is best extracted in 60% whereas for Devil’s Claw 25% is more appropriate.

Another advantage is that ethanol is an excellent preservative and in the amounts used in your horse’s feed it is quite safe.

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What about the Alcohol

Some people are concerned about giving their horses alcohol. There really is no need to be. Alcohol is a naturally occurring substance which can be found in fruit and all sorts of prepared feeds where some fermentation may have taken place. The liver of mammals is easily able to metabolise moderate amounts.

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Speed of Effect

Perhaps the most significant difference that you will notice between using a liquid extract as opposed to the dry herb is the speed of effect. Although Valerian should be withheld before FEI competition, it still remains the most popular calming herb used. One of its special advantages is how fast it can act. In many cases the liquid extract will calm an excited or anxious horse in about 20 minutes. A dry herb preparation of valerian will take hours or days to achieve the same effect, depending on the efficiency of the horse’s digestive system.

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Correct Formulations

Like many sciences herbal medicine takes many years of study, experience and practice. Between them James and Vanessa have over 25 years post qualification experience in the treatment of humans and animals. They are both full professional members of the New Zealand Association of Medical Herbalists, an internationally recognised professional body.

The Equine Herbals range has been designed to address specific issues with the products containing only the appropriate herbs. Unique to Equine Herbals is that from the inception of the range they were formulated and manufactured by qualified herbalists.

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Compliance

Many humans find herbal extracts to be quite unpleasant to take. The an old adage "The worse it tastes the better it is for you" definitely applies to herbal medicine. In humans compliance can be a problem, but horses generally love the bitter taste of many of the preparations. After all horses enjoy grass, leaves and bark, so why wouldn't they enjoy herbs?

Equine Herbals products contain only the rich, pure extracts of herbs and contain no unnatural preservatives, fillers or taste enhancers such as honey or cider vinegar.

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