CBD for Horses and other Large Animals 200 pounds or greater


Many horse and other large animal lovers use CBD for mood stabilization. Horses, donkeys, llama, alpaca, and other large animals commonly experience anxiety, boredom, and stress. Many also suffer from an extensive list of medical problems: arthritis, herd bound issues, muscle soreness, chronic laminitis, stall rest, trailering stress, farrier visits, nausea, seizures, etc. CBD has been found to help relieve these issues.
Mesa Lavender Farms® Large Animal CBD Tincture is formulated using CBD isolate derived from industrial hemp grown in Colorado. CBD is one of at least 113 cannabinoids identified in cannabis. Unlike cannabis grown for THC, Industrial Hemp was developed with a high concentration of CBD and a low amount of THC.
There is no THC in Mesa Lavender Farms® Large Animal CBD formulation as seen on the Certificate of Analysis. Analyses also show our isolate is free of heavy metals, Enterotoxigenic E. coli, Salmonella, and other bacteria as well as fungi.
Unlike Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) CBD does not produce psychoactive effects, and at low doses will be very effective even when rubbed into or applied to the animals’ gums. Due to a large animals’ lower metabolic rate, lower levels of CBC than you or I would take can still be effective.
The carrier oil is medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil from coconuts, it’s known for its health benefits such as increased cognitive function. Our MCT oil does not contain palm oil and is USDA certified organic.
Our tests using friendly horses and donkeys indicate two flavors, peppermint and apple are preferred. Both of these flavors are food grade certified. Mesa Lavender Farms® does not want to provide our customers, to include horses, donkeys, etc. with products which will cause harm.
Our CBD for Horses and other large animals is available in 4-ounce bottles and is formulated so each milliliter (cc) contains 20 mg of CBD. The recommended starting dosage rate for large animals is 1 mg per 10 pounds of body weight. To make dosing your animals as convenient as possible we have included a syringe to facilitate dosing.
A 200-pound animal will require 1.0 ml of Mesa Lavender Farms® large animal tincture while a 1000-pound animal will require 5 ml of tincture.
Table 1 Recommended dosage chart
Body weight | 200 | 250 | 500 | 800 | 1000 | 1200 | 1500 |
ml/cc | 1 | 1.5 | 2.5 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 7.5 |
Use the syringe to draw out the required amount of CBD tincture based on the animals’ body weight. Squirt the product under the lips or tongue to achieve the most effective results. Or rub into the gums as recommended above. Some people see results in as soon as 10 minutes or up to an hour, but you should plan on 30-45 minutes before you see the effect. When trailering animals, especially ones that are easily spooked, you should give them a dose of Mesa Lavender Farms® Large Animal CBD Tincture 30 to 45 minutes before attempting to load them.
You can increase the dosage if the condition is severe but within limits. Research has shown that the body absorbs CBD on a bell curve or inverted U-shape. When ingesting a low dose of CBD, you don’t see the intended effect, at a moderate dose, you do see the intended effect and at high doses, you go back to seeing no effect. Once you find the optimum dosage amount stick with that rate. More definitely does not necessarily mean better results!
What about adding CBD for Horses to the feed or water?
Adding CBD to the animals feed results in a loss of ~80% of the CBD due to it being lost in the digestive system and broken down in the liver (the first pass effect). Rubbing/applying the CBD to the gums results in a higher percentage of the CBD being absorbed than added to feed or water. To be effective when added to food or water, you would need to up the dose by 4 to 6 times.
What about CBD for Horses when competing?
“CBD, both natural and synthetic forms, are likely to effect the performance of a horse due to its reported anxiolytic effects. This substance is no different than legitimate therapeutics that effect mentation and behavior in horses. It is for these reasons that USEF prohibits CBD and all related cannabinoids. Horses competing under USEF rules who test positive for natural cannabinoids, synthetic cannabinoids and other cannabimimetics will be considered in violation of GR4 beginning September 1, 2019.”
Since CBD reduces the anxiety of horses and provides the animal an advantage during competition, it can not be used. Jockeys can however, use CBD as long as it does not contain THC. The World Antidoping Agency provides more information on this topic.
What about topical applications?
For sore joints you can also use Mesa Lavender Farms® CBD salve or CBD lotions. Rub on the aching joint for quick results. Since lavender helps with inflammation, we would suggest one of the formulations which contains our Lavender essential oil.
What about you smaller animals?
Note: For animals under 200 pounds we recommend using our standard CBD for Pets formulation and dosing using the eye dropper included with this formulation