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Headley Holistics LLC Evolved Remedies--A Wellness Re-Evolution for Horse, Hound and Human!

10/16/2026

Two words on a feed label can hide what’s really in the bag. 🔍
Ingredients are listed by weight, heaviest first, so the first three or four are most of what you’re feeding. Then watch for catch-all terms like “grain products” and “plant protein products.” Those let a company swap ingredients from batch to batch without changing the label, so you can’t always know which crops are in there.
Why it matters: many grain crops aren’t just sprayed while they grow. Glyphosate can also be sprayed right before harvest to dry the crop down, which leaves the most residue behind. Lab research shows it can shut down a pathway many good gut bacteria rely on, and in cell studies it damaged the gut lining at high doses and interfered with a key hormone enzyme. That’s a lot of question marks to feed every day.
The good news is the same as in the video. Clean forage first, then a few whole foods. Every horse we’ve moved off grain and onto that has gotten better.
New here? Your first order ships free with code FREESHIP at the link in bio.
Follow Headley Holistics I Natural & Holistic Wellness Experts for more Horse Health Truths.
Sources: Luthersson, N. et al., 2009, “Risk factors associated with equine gastric ulceration syndrome (EGUS) in 201 horses in Denmark,” Equine Veterinary Journal. Shehata, A.A. et al., 2013, “The effect of glyphosate on potential pathogens and beneficial members of poultry microbiota in vitro,” Current Microbiology. Mesnage, R. et al., 2021, “Use of sh***un metagenomics and metabolomics to evaluate the impact of glyphosate or Roundup MON 52276 on the gut microbiota and serum metabolome of Sprague-Dawley rats,” Environmental Health Perspectives. Vasiluk, L., Pinto, L.J. & Moore, M.M., 2005, “Oral bioavailability of glyphosate: studies using two intestinal cell lines,” Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Richard, S. et al., 2005, “Differential effects of glyphosate and Roundup on human placental cells and aromatase,” Environmental Health Perspectives. Benbrook, C.M., 2016, “Trends in glyphosate herbicide use in the United States and globally,” Environmental Sciences Europe.

10/15/2026

When you look at Toby’s hooves. There’s a line that tells his whole story. 🐴
A hoof grows down from the coronet band at the top, slowly, a little each month. So when a horse or mule’s diet changes, the new growth shows up first at the top and works its way down. On Toby, you can actually see where the old hoof ends and the new one starts. It takes most of a year for a whole new hoof to grow out, so what you’re seeing at 12 weeks is just the beginning.
Full transparency: we sponsored Toby’s supplement program in exchange for Leslie sharing his journey with us. The care, the miles and the love are all hers.
Thank you, Kaylea Hitt , for giving Toby a second chance. We can’t wait to see where he is at week 24. 💛
Follow Headley Holistics I Natural & Holistic Wellness Experts to keep up with Toby’s journey.

10/14/2026

The short list we feed our herd has one mineral that isn't a whole food. Here's why. 👇
It's the copper. Zinc and copper share the same doorways into the gut, so too much of one crowds out the other. Most feeds use cheap oxide and sulfate forms, and in research on zinc, the oxide absorbed only about half as well as the sulfate, while a good amino acid chelate did even better. So we add a clean, chelated copper on its own to keep zinc and copper in balance.
A few other things on that list that people ask about:
Plain white salt. A horse needs about an ounce of salt a day just standing around, and more when sweating. We feed it loose, because it's easier for a horse to get enough than by licking a block.
Distillers grains. That's what's left over after corn is used to make ethanol. It shows up in a lot of feeds because it's cheap.
Hay pellets. Clean, complementary hay pellets in the bucket give the whole foods something to ride in, without adding grain.
Want to start with the basics? Everything we use is at the link in bio, and your first order ships free with code FREESHIP.
Follow for more Horse Health Truths.
Sources: Craine, J.M., Elmore, A. & Angerer, J.P., 2017, "Long-term declines in dietary nutritional quality for North American cattle," Environmental Research Letters. Pirhofer-Walzl, K. et al., 2011, "Forage herbs improve mineral composition of grassland herbage," Grass and Forage Science. Davis, D.R., Epp, M.D. & Riordan, H.D., 2004, "Changes in USDA food composition data for 43 garden crops, 1950 to 1999," Journal of the American College of Nutrition. Wedekind, K.J., Hortin, A.E. & Baker, D.H., 1992, "Methodology for assessing zinc bioavailability: efficacy estimates for zinc-methionine, zinc sulfate, and zinc oxide," Journal of Animal Science. National Research Council, 2007, "Nutrient Requirements of Horses."

10/13/2026

Your horse doesn't digest hay. The bugs in the gut do. 🦠
Horses can't break down fiber on their own. The bacteria in the hindgut ferment it and turn it into fatty acids, which supply a big share of the energy your horse runs on. So when you feed fiber, you're really feeding those bugs. That's why diet does more for the gut than anything you can scoop out of a tub.
It also works the other way. In one study, ponies on a high-starch diet had a different mix of gut bacteria and were more reactive than when they were on high fiber. What you feed the gut shows up in the horse's behavior too.
On the root cause: the research on PFAS and the gut lining is mostly in lab animals and people, not horses yet. We're telling you that straight. But the pattern lines up with what we see, and there's no upside to a daily dose of chemicals.
And on pain meds: long-term bute is linked to gut damage, including a condition called right dorsal colitis, an inflammation in part of the large colon. Black cumin, on the other hand, calms inflammation through more than one pathway.
Follow for more Horse Health Truths.
Sources: Schoster, A., Weese, J.S. & Guardabassi, L., 2014, "Probiotic use in horses – what is the evidence for their clinical efficacy?" Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine. Bulmer, L.S. et al., 2019, "High-starch diets alter equine faecal microbiota and increase behavioural reactivity," Scientific Reports. Zhang, B. et al., 2024, "Impacts of PFOS, PFOA and their alternatives on the gut, intestinal barriers and gut-organ axis," Chemosphere. Kanter, M. et al., 2005, "Gastroprotective activity of Nigella sativa L oil and its constituent, thymoquinone against acute alcohol-induced gastric mucosal injury in rats," World Journal of Gastroenterology. Houghton, P.J. et al., 1995, "Fixed oil of Nigella sativa and derived thymoquinone inhibit eicosanoid generation in leukocytes and membrane lipid peroxidation," Planta Medica. Flood, J. & Stewart, A.J., 2022, "Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs and Associated Toxicities in Horses," Animals.

10/12/2026

The first thing most people notice on black cumin isn't the flies. 👀
Fly control is the benefit everyone buys it for, and it's the slowest one to show up. So here's roughly what owners tell us they notice first, so you know what to watch for while you wait.
The first few weeks: a calmer, more settled horse is one of the very first things clients report. The coat and skin usually come next.
Through the winter: keep an eye on the feet, as long as the rest of the diet is clean. A hoof grows down slowly from the coronet band, so a full new hoof takes most of a year. The new growth at the top tells the story first.
Spring: the shed-out. Then next summer: the flies.
And here's why the manure side matters so much. House flies breed mostly in manure, and one female can lay hundreds of eggs. Cutting down the larvae there means fewer flies around the whole barn, not just on one horse.
We've also seen the full program support a balanced metabolism. Two of our rescues, Ranger and Duncan, came in at opposite ends of the scale. Same program, and each one moved toward what he needed.
Haven't started yet? There's still time to get ahead of next fly season. Try a 2-week supply of Organic Black Cumin Seed Press Cake at the link in bio.
Follow for more Horse Health Truths.
Sources: Farag, S.M. et al., 2020, "Larvicidal efficacy of Nigella sativa seeds oil and its nanoparticles against Culex pipiens and Musca domestica," Journal of the Egyptian Society of Parasitology. Bulugahapitiya, V.P. & Arachchige, P.T.K., 2007, "Mosquito repellent compounds from the seeds of Nigella sativa L.," Proceedings of the Fourth Academic Sessions, University of Ruhuna.

10/05/2026

If you’re going to look into black cumin for this, here’s exactly what the research does and doesn’t say.
The respiratory work on Nigella sativa is real and it goes back decades. Two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled human trials in 2017, Koshak and Salem, found improved asthma control, better lung function and lower inflammatory markers. The mechanisms are worked out further than most botanicals: nigellone was shown to inhibit histamine release from mast cells back in 1993, and thymoquinone downregulates leukotriene production through the 5-lipoxygenase pathway. That’s the same pathway we covered in the joint video, doing a different job.
Here’s the honest part. All of that is human and laboratory work. There is no equine respiratory trial. The mechanism is established, the horse study hasn’t been done, and we’d rather tell you that than let you assume otherwise. On our farm we have seen Black Cumin Seed Press Cake work very well for horse allergies and respiratory issues.
On the vet visit, it helps to know what you’re actually asking for, because “he coughs a little at the start” tends to get waved off. Ask about scoping the airway and a bronchoalveolar lavage, which samples what’s actually down in the lower airway. That’s how mild asthma gets identified instead of guessed at, and it rules out the things no supplement has any business near.
Start tracking the pattern this week. Stalled or turned out. Wet weather or dry. Which season. Bring that with you to the appointment, because a written pattern is worth a great deal more than a description from memory.
Follow Headley Holistics I Natural & Holistic Wellness Experts.
Sources: Couëtil, L. et al. (2020), “Equine Asthma: Current Understanding and Future Directions,” Frontiers in Veterinary Science 7, 450. Koshak, A. et al. (2017) and Salem, A. et al. (2017), randomized controlled trials. Chakravarty, N. (1993), mast cell histamine inhibition.

10/01/2026

You’ll see the new hoof long before it ever reaches the ground.
A horse grows about a quarter inch of hoof a month, so a whole new foot takes roughly a year to come down from the hairline to the dirt. That’s the number people quote when they tell you to be patient. But it’s misleading, because you don’t have to wait a year to know whether something is working.
Watch the band of new horn right at the coronary band. Within a couple of months you can see the difference coming in — tighter, smoother, less flaring and fewer rings than the old growth below it. That line where the new hoof meets the old is your answer. Full repair takes a year or more. Knowing you’re on the right track takes weeks.
Here’s the other half, and it’s the part we didn’t have room for in the video. Pulling contaminated feeds out isn’t only about removing the contaminant. The lining of the gut is where mineral absorption physically happens — that’s where the copper and zinc your horse’s feet are built from actually cross into the bloodstream. A damaged, inflamed lining absorbs poorly no matter how good the feed on top of it is. So healing the gut and feeding the minerals aren’t two separate jobs. One is the door the other has to walk through.
And one last thing worth sitting with, given how this industry is built: the NRC has never established a biotin requirement for horses. Not a high one. Not one at all. Meanwhile your horse’s own hindgut microbes synthesize biotin on their own, every day, as long as that gut is healthy enough to do it.
Want the full rundown of what’s hiding in horse feed? Grab our free Hidden Toxins eBook — link in bio. Follow Headley Holistics I Natural & Holistic Wellness Experts for the rest of this series.
Sources: Josseck, H., Zenker, W. & Geyer, H. (1995), “Hoof horn abnormalities in Lipizzaner horses and the effect of dietary biotin on macroscopic aspects of hoof horn quality,” Equine Veterinary Journal 27(3). National Research Council (2007), Nutrient Requirements of Horses.

09/30/2026

Before you take this one on faith, here’s who did the work and who paid for it.
The study ran across more than 300 horses on 32 farms in the US and Canada, focused on Welsh ponies and Morgans because both carry higher metabolic risk. It was funded by the Morris Animal Foundation, a nonprofit. Not a feed company, not a chemical company. We spend a lot of time on this channel asking who funded the research, so it’s only fair that we tell you when the answer comes back clean.
What they measured is worth understanding too. Instead of hunting one chemical at a time, they tested each horse’s plasma for total estrogen-like activity, meaning everything in that blood acting on the estrogen receptor, added up together. That total tracked with serum glucose and insulin, with glucose and insulin after an oral sugar challenge, and with leptin.
Now the limits, because they matter. This is an association, not causation. It’s a snapshot in time, not horses followed across years. And glyphosate specifically was not one of the compounds measured, so anyone telling you this study proves a glyphosate link is overreading it. That includes us. Lead researcher Molly McCue said it plainly: it remains to be seen how significant the association is.
We’re not going to dress a maybe up as a certainty. What we will say is this is the first equine evidence pointing at something most horse owners have never once considered, and what it points at is the one input you completely control.
Follow Headley Holistics I Natural & Holistic Wellness Experts for the rest of this series.
Sources: Durward-Akhurst, S.A., Schultz, N.E., Norton, E.M., Rendahl, A.K., Besselink, H., Behnisch, P.A., Brouwer, A., Geor, R.J., Mickelson, J.R. & McCue, M.E. (2019), “Associations between endocrine disrupting chemicals and equine metabolic syndrome phenotypes,” Chemosphere 218, 652-661.

09/29/2026

You can check this one in about ten seconds, with your hands.
Run your hand along the top of your horse’s neck, poll to withers. You’re feeling for whether that crest is soft and mobile, where you can rock it gently side to side, or firm and thick and set in place like it was poured there. The hard crest that doesn’t move is the one that matters. There’s a formal 0 to 5 cresty neck scoring scale your vet can walk you through, but the hands-on version tells you most of what you need to know.
Do it monthly. Same horse, same spot. You’ll pick up on direction long before you’d ever notice size, and direction is the useful part.
On the exercise side, the video said the effect fades in a day or two. Here’s what that means in practice. One bout of work improves insulin sensitivity for somewhere between 12 and 72 hours depending on how hard it was, which is why the research points toward three to six days a week rather than saving it all for the weekend. Intensity matters, but frequency is what keeps the effect from lapsing. Three honest sessions in a week beat one long ride every Sunday.
And a caveat worth saying plainly: some horses don’t respond much to exercise alone if the diet is still driving the problem. That’s why the sugar comes out first and the work goes on top of it, not the other way around.
Tomorrow we get into the driver behind all of this that almost nobody is talking about. Follow Headley Holistics I Natural & Holistic Wellness Experts so you catch it.
Sources: Pratt-Phillips, S. (2024), “Effect of Exercise Conditioning on Countering the Effects of Obesity and Insulin Resistance in Horses - A Review,” Animals 14(5), 727. Meier, A.D. et al. (2018), Domestic Animal Endocrinology 63, 1-9.

09/28/2026

The starch number on the bag isn’t the number that matters. The number per meal is.
In that Danish study of 201 horses, risk tracked how much starch arrived at once more than the daily total. Horses getting between one and two grams of starch per kilo of bodyweight in a single meal were about 2.6 times more likely to have ulcers. Push past two grams in one meal and it climbed to 3.2 times.
Which means the same bag of feed can land on either side of that line depending on nothing but how you split it. A thousand-pound horse eating six pounds of a 30% starch feed in one sitting is deep into the risk zone. Split it into two meals, morning and night, and each one comes in under. Same feed, same total, very different stomach.
One more thing worth knowing when you go read that bag. “Grain products” isn’t the manufacturer being vague. It’s a legal category. Under federal feed labeling rules a company using that collective term is allowed to print it instead of naming the actual grains, and the mix can change batch to batch. Same goes for “processed grain by-products.” If those words sit near the top of your ingredient list, you are not being told what’s in there, and that’s perfectly legal.
Go read your bag. Then read the inactive ingredients on your supplements, because that’s where most people find their real surprise. Tell us in the comments what you found.
Want the full rundown of what’s hiding in horse feed? Grab our free Hidden Toxins eBook, link in bio. Follow Headley Holistics I Natural & Holistic Wellness Experts.
Sources: Luthersson, N., Nielsen, K.H., Harris, P. & Parkin, T.D.H. (2009), “Risk factors associated with equine gastric ulceration syndrome (EGUS) in 201 horses in Denmark,” Equine Veterinary Journal 41, 625–630. Feed labeling collective terms: 21 CFR 501.110.

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