Support for Horses with Lyme Disease
Lyme disease is most prevalent in the Northeast, upper Midwest, Mid-Atlantic, and California-Pacific Northwest regions of the US. It’s caused by a tiny coil-shaped organism known as Borrelia burgdorferi, a member of the gram-negative spirochete class of bacteria. Under a microscope, these bacteria look like miniature springs or old telephone cords.
B. burgdorferi thrives in a low-oxygen environment. It seeks connective tissues, joint cartilage, brain and spinal cord membranes, sheaths surrounding organs and muscles, and tissues between body structures. It does not thrive in the lungs or blood.
Symptoms of Lyme disease in horses
Documented clinical disease syndromes in horses with Lyme disease include:
- neuroborreliosis (muscle atrophy, weight loss, cranial nerve deficits, ataxia, change in behavior, muscle twitching, neck and back stiffness)
- uveitis (eye inflammation)
- bursitis (inflammation of fluid-filled bursa sacs near the joints)
Treatment of equine Lyme disease
According to researchers at Cornell University, “There is no consensus on a preferred drug for treating equine Lyme disease.”
At present, doxycycline and minocycline are the most popular choices for antibiotic treatment for Lyme disease in horses. However, the Cornell researchers point out that it is more difficult to treat Lyme disease in horses than it is to treat humans or dogs. This is due to bioavailability limits and potential for GI-tract upset when these oral antibiotics are given to horses.1
Nutritional support for horses with Lyme disease
Fortunately, there are foods and nutritional factors that can provide support for horses dealing with either acute or chronic Lyme disease.
Probiotics
The gut is the seat of the immune system; supporting the microbiota that live there is critical to equine health.
Probiotics are essential for reestablishing beneficial bacterial colonies in the GI tract during and after antibiotic therapy. A horse on 30 days of minocycline or doxycycline is going to need an additional 4-6 weeks of probiotics after treatment. During treatment, do not give probiotics at the same time you give antibiotics.
All probiotics are not alike! look for probiotic supplements that are enteric coated or microencapsulated to ensure passage through the stomach.
To recolonize the gut, your horse will need a minimum of 100 billion CFUs (colony-forming units) of active probiotic bacteria. Many probiotic supplements provide far less than that.
If your horse gets diarrhea from the antibiotic therapy, choose an active yeast probiotic (warming, in Ayurveda). If your horse does not get diarrhea from the antibiotics, look for the bacterial strains Lactobacillus and Bifidus (cooling, in Ayurveda).
A very helpful bacterial group is the spore-producing genus Bacillus, which can form a barrier in the intestinal wall to crowd out pathogenic bacteria.
BioStar probiotic recommendations
Hedgerow GI is a comprehensive formula for equine gut health, with multiple cooling bacterial strains plus the spore-forming bacteria Bacillus subtilis. 150 billion CFUs per scoop.
Hedgerow Restore is the same formula as Hedgerow GI with the added benefit of native eggshell membrane collagen to rebuild and strengthen the gut lining, plus the Ayurvedic blend triphala to regulate the intestinal inflammatory response.
Bio Yeast EQ combines two active yeast strains: S. cerevisiae and S. boulardii. Recommended for horses with diarrhea. 100 billion CFUs per scoop.
Omega-3 fatty acids
Chia Seeds
Omega-3s can be helpful in calming inflammation. Great choices include flaxseed (stabilized or freshly ground), flaxseed oil, chia seeds (with the added benefit of protein and fiber), and camelina oil (cold pressed).
BioStar’s omega-3 recommendations
Chia seeds provide a 3:1 ratio of omega-3 fatty acids to omega-6 fatty acids, plus protein and fiber.
Gold Star EQ Camelina oil provides a 2:1 ratio of omega-3 fatty acids to omega-6 fatty acids.
(Note: Hemp seed oil would not be a good choice in this case, as the omega-6 content is higher than the omega-3.)
Immune support
Bovine colostrum is one of nature’s most perfect immune foods, because it’s an immune system regulator. If a horse’s immune system is underactive, colostrum will kick it into gear. If a horse’s immune system is overactive (as it is with allergic responses), it will bring it back to homeostasis.
A key consideration when choosing bovine colostrum for your horse is the IgG antibody percentage. Many bovine colostrum supplements provide 15% IgG. Look for bovine colostrum with at least 35% IgG. (BioStar’s Colostrum-38 provides 38% IgG.)
Other supportive foods include astragalus (huang qi), cordyceps mushrooms, and turkey tail mushrooms.
Quercetin can also be supportive to the immune system and helpful in regulating inflammation.
BioStar’s Immune Support Recommendations
Optimum Defense is an equine wellness formula with vitamins and proteinated minerals, plus bovine colostrum, astragalus, cordyceps and turkey tail mushrooms. It also includes holy basil for regulation of cortisol, and quercetin phytosome extract to support a healthy immune and inflammatory response.
Colostrum-38 EQ provides 38% IgG for regulation of the immune system.
Antioxidants
Vitamin E is an essential antioxidant for horses. Increasing vitamin E through supplementation can be very helpful for horses with Lyme.
CoQ10 is a powerful antioxidant found in every cell in the body. It helps prevent mitochondrial dysfunction, reduces oxidative stress, and plays a role as a mediator of the inflammatory process.
According to the Lyme Disease Association, “Lyme symptoms such as fatigue, neurologic issues, cardiac issues and joint inflammation may benefit from supplementation with CoQ10 as it can reduce damage to the tissues resulting from excessive inflammatory responses in the body.”2,3
BioStar’s Antioxidant Recommendations
Sunn-E 1000 provides a full range of vitamin E tocopherols (alpha, beta, delta, gamma) from expeller-pressed sunflower oil (not soy!).
*Coming in 2025: Bio-Q10 paste with CoQ10 and added Capros® for nitric oxide support.
Stress and Lyme disease flare-ups
Holy Basil (Tulsi)
It’s not uncommon for horses to recover from Lyme and then relapse months or even a year later. Many human studies on Lyme disease point directly to cortisol—the stress hormone released by the adrenal gland in response to physical or emotional stress—as a major trigger for Lyme flare-ups.
Ashwagandha and holy basil (tulsi) are Ayurvedic plants that can help regulate cortisol. This can be very helpful for managing stress in horses.
BioStar’s Stress Support Recommendations
Thera Calm EQ provides holy basil to help normalize cortisol levels, plus the Ayurvedic blend haritaki for GI tract support.
Equilibrium EQ provides ashwagandha to help normalize cortisol levels. *Not USEF show-safe.
Feeding a horse with Lyme
When supporting a horse with Lyme, it’s important to scrutinize the horse’s feed and supplement regimen. Certain ingredients like artificial flavorings, mineral oil, vegetable oil and soy (which is high in pro-inflammatory omega-6s) can aggravate the condition, and may contribute to stress on the GI tract as well as the body system at large.
Added sugars like dextrose, sucrose, and molasses can contribute to inflammation. Remember, sugar in food like carrots or apples is part of a food matrix of fiber, a little protein, and carbohydrates. That food matrix slows the release and absorption of the sugar. This is very different from the quick absorption of refined sugars and molasses, which can lead to inflammation.
Diversity of the gut microbiome is important. If you are feeding timothy hay, add some alfalfa pellets, orchard grass pellets or teff hay pellets for diversity of beneficial bacteria in the gut.
healthy alfalfa
REFERENCES:
1 – https://www.vet.cornell.edu/about-us/news/lyme-disease-horses
2 – https://lymediseaseassociation.org/lyme-tbd/research-other-pub/coq10-supplement-as-support-to-lyme-treatment/#:~:text=Lyme%20symptoms%20such%20as%20fatigue,inflammatory%20responses%20in%20the%20body.
3 – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9027459/
