YOU can’t move on social media at the minute for posts on the health benefits of Lion’s Mane, Reishi, Cordyceps and other types of medicinal mushrooms for humans. Less so for horses however, but there are a few brands available, harnessing their healing power.

The use of medicinal mushrooms in equine health is a burgeoning field with significant potential to support immune suppression during stress or illness, joint inflammation due to arthritis or rigorous exercise, recovery from injury or surgery and to improve overall well-being. While medicinal mushrooms have been extensively studied in human and veterinary medicine, the evidence specific to equine health is still emerging.

On a trip to a horse show in The Netherlands recently, I got talking to Iain Cart of ImmuBiome EU. As it transpired, Iain had been on a journey, which had led him not only to helping his horse’s health through mushrooms, but also his own.

“Horses have always been a major part in my life, my father bought me my first pony at four years old and I caught the bug ever since. Show jumping in particular was my focus, I competed nationally on ponies and horses. At 16 years old, I had an accident, which left me unable to walk for several months. I was born into a farming background and have always worked outdoors, in 1989, my father and I started a company growing and laying turf. This was a very strenuous occupation and, having a weak back, I was always compromised. I suffered daily with severe back pain and was taking anti-inflammatory tablets several times a day.”

Wits end

Cart has had many horses in his life, but one problematic horse in particular beat him and his team, including the vets, back in 2014. “He had become very stressy, extremely girthy and difficult to ride. I went along the vet route and had all of the usual checks, i.e. teeth, saddle, lameness and gave a course of GastroGard, as ulcers were suspected. All to no avail. I was at my wits end with this horse, so one night I contacted an old friend, who had moved to the USA many years before. We had not spoken for over 10 years, but I knew the USA were far more advanced in medical intervention than the UK.

“I explained the issues I was having and she put me in touch with Chris Culmone, who had started taking mushrooms himself as he suffered with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), he was blown away with the results and started to work for the company. Chris, the president of ImmuBiome, is a name well-known in the equine industry, often referred to as the ‘mushroom man’. His battle with progressive MS fuelled his determination to make a difference in the lives of horses.”

Anti-doping nutraceutical

“I called Chris in America and explained my horse’s problems and, of course, my own troubles with my back. He suggested a few different products, which I purchased to try. Within four weeks, my horse was totally different, his coat was shiny, he was more relaxed, no longer girthy and his rideability had improved dramatically.

“Equally significantly, after three weeks of taking them myself, as a last resort to my own problems, I came off all of the anti-inflammatories and have never taken one since. I was totally converted to the power of mushrooms! I didn’t know at the time that, for centuries, mushrooms have played a major part in Chinese medicine and are still often used instead of drugs to treat many ailments and conditions worldwide.”

The founders of Immubiome have been working with medicinal mushrooms and performance horses for over a decade. According to them, the key lies in treating each mushroom species as the independent entity that it is; knowing which parts of each mushroom contain the desired compounds, how to best isolate and concentrate these compounds and which mushroom parts are best left alone.

“There have been a lot of success stories, but one stands out for me the most,” Iain recounts. “My best show jumper had a heart as big as a lion, but his conformation made him very hard on himself. He was regularly treated by the vet to keep him comfortable and sound. He lacked energy and power. So much so, that the farmer in me fed him sheep nuts, so he was bursting with energy. Otherwise, he was very flat and unwilling to work.

“After I started him on ImmuBiome’s Strength & Stamina product, he was a different horse and certainly did not need the sheep nuts any more! He moved to a basic low energy mix, otherwise you would not stay on him. He decked me many times in the collecting ring, as he felt so well. Looking back now, I realise he wasn’t lazy at all, he was just very uncomfortable. The best of it was, I didn’t have the vet out to him for 18 months.

My vet who previously treated him could not believe the difference since he had been on ImmuBiome, he was no longer pottery on a hard circle, his stride length had increased and he felt more supple. Her words were: “Don’t expect me to recommend this, as I’ll be out of a job”. She giggled, but of course she did and sent me many new clients. Many friends, who had seen me previously struggling with my horse at shows, could not believe the difference in him and asked what I had given and where they could get it from.

“In 2018, Chris Culmone left the original company and started his own (with famed microbiome expert/inventor and CEO Mark Kane Berman) they wanted to produce the strongest anti-doping nutraceutical on the market, working together with top vets in the USA, Immubiome was created.

“As 80% of the immune system starts in the gut, this seemed like the perfect brand name. “Immu” for the immune system and “Biome” for the microbiome in the gut, commonly known as gut flora. I saw a business opportunity to supply mushroom supplements in the UK and have never looked back.”

ImmuBiome contains mushroom mycelium and also mushroom extracts and other ingredients including the superfood bovine colostrum and beta-glucans. Also added are several strains of pre-biotics and pro-biotics at three billion per scoop.

All of ImmuBiome’s ingredients are human grade and were tested in the LCH laboratory in Paris and, importantly, they do not contain doping ingredients.

The innovative product is used by many professionals including 5* and Olympic riders. “Show jumping was my passion, so I started promoting ImmuBiome to this sector, although in the USA racing is the product’s biggest market. In 2019, I moved to The Netherlands, as I already had many top stables in Europe using the mushroom product. Then, as the UK had voted to leave the EU, I wasn’t sure what effect this would have on my European business. Luckily, we made the right choice, my UK base ships to the UK and Northern Ireland and my Dutch base ships to Ireland and the rest of Europe.

“There are now nine different products in the ImmuBiome range to cover many ailments and conditions, whether it be allergies, ulcers, respiratory problems, and nerve/muscle recovery, inflammation, soft tissue injuries etc.”

As interest grows, future studies are likely to provide an even clearer understanding of how medicinal mushrooms can be effectively integrated into our horses’ daily care.