Not that I'm wishing to drag the year towards winter, but what a difference a couple of weeks make. There we were a couple of weeks ago melting in a heatwave and droughts everywhere; two weeks on and we've thankfully had the desperately needed heavy rain and - relief all round - cooler temperatures. And ... two of our horses are already showing they've noticed because they're already going through their autumn coat change.

My retired connie, 29yo Murf, is no more my sleek, silky, dappled summer boy - he's now sporting an oily, thicker, coarser, coat. As for 22yo Cookie, our beloved PPID gypsy coblet, she's been growing her thick winter coat for a few weeks now, which made my heart break for her during the heatwave.

The spring/autumn coat change has a significant effect on our horses' inner engines - we're talking major overtime for the horse’s two main detoxification organs, the liver and kidneys, as coat change time is when the whole protein metabolism is renewed. Old proteins are degraded and biotransformed for excretion, and new proteins are created, both of which put added pressure on firstly the liver, which has to biotransform (metabolise) the significant degraded protein waste, and for the kidneys which have to excrete all the excess urea created by this higher burden of protein metabolism.

The autumn coat change specifically, often accompanied by a change in forage as grass nutrients deplete and hay is reintroduced into the diet, is particularly burdensome on not only these two vital detoxification organs, but also on the lymphatic system, with lymph now overrun with the excess protein toxins. This risks the lymph becoming sluggish, typically presenting as lymph pads over the body, with the coat starting to look pretty rough, and often accompanied by unexpected itchiness and poor quality hooves. Owners can understandably become confused, thinking their horse is laying down fat, when it’s actually stagnating lymph building up all over the body.

See our LKL-CARE which is blended specifically to support liver, kidneys and lymphatics. Also useful is our WildFed blend, either added to the feedbowl or sprinkled over hay, which adds beneficial, natural nutrient diversity to their feed regime.

The winter coat has a very clear energy-saving function, giving horses their thick winter protection until the nights begin to warm up again. However, this can be difficult for our older horses, as they tend to hold onto their winter coat for longer as we head into spring. If you’re seeing clear early markers for kidney issues, i.e. poor coat quality, thrush-y hooves or abscesses/WLD, or general immunity issues, then this might also a good time to consider a full-body detox with our OptimaCARE programme, which comes as a 3-stage protocol, stage-1 addressing hindgut function, stage-2 for the liver/kidneys, and stage-3 toning both circulatory systems, namely blood and lymphatics.

Equally, if your horse has similar prolonged issues that never seem to clear up, they may very well be a KPU candidate - have a read of our KPU page to see if any of the symptoms resonate with you.

Sulphur deficiency

Sulphur is needed for the formation of keratin, which forms the new hair. Sulphur deficiency is difficult to identify in blood tests, but we can visibly see the presentations of sulphur deficiency in skin, hair and hooves, because sulphur is needed wherever we're talking skin, hair and hooves. If your horse is prone to eczema or mud fever, or you notice their mane or tail thinning, or they're struggling to grow a decent winter coat or shedding it in spring, this could well be a sign of sulphur deficiency. As for hooves, they’re built from keratin which is high in sulphur, so deficiencies will present at slower hoof growth, weak/soft soles, footiness, or poor hoof capsules – all likely to be a sulphur deficiency, and all kidney markers. It's now also thought that horses with chronic respiratory also have an undiagnosed sulphur deficiency.

We sell sulphur as MSM (methylsulfonylmethane).

Long and short, it’s always a good plan to support liver/kidney function as we head into autumn and spring as these vital detoxification organs have to work extra hard when the coat changes.

Originally published 13.9.22