Yellow Dock

In keeping with our theme of “herbs that we mistook for weeds”, probably no other herb has been as underappreciated by me as Yellow Dock (rumex crispus-- also commonly known as Curly Dock, for the wavy edges of its long leaves). We had been treating Nehalem’s liver with Burdock Root, when we started running low on funds for her herbs. It was late summer and I had pretty much exhausted our supply of Dandelion. I went to Heather at Mrs. Thompson’s Herbs for a suggestion and she said Yellow Dock is plentiful--I probably had some around the property-- and was excellent choice for what I needed. Armed with feeding instructions from Heather, I went home and looked up a picture of Yellow Dock so that I could go on the hunt for it. Upon seeing the picture in my Herbs for Pets book I laughed out loud. I have spent years digging this annoying, pervasive weed out of my horses’ pastures because it has a way of coming in with hay and taking over. Despite eating an entire humble pie composed of Yellow Dock, when Rachel suggested collecting some of the seeds from the few existing plants we had on the property so that we could plant some, I vetoed the idea. I simply could not bring myself to actually plant something I had such a history of removing. I was confident that we wouldn’t be able to keep Yellow Dock out of the fields if we wanted to and since there was plenty around at Whispering Meadows Equestrian Center and at friends’ fields we kept to just foraging for it as needed.

Yellow Dock is primarily used for the digestive tract, liver and skin. It stimulates bile production and helps clean the blood (this is what we were looking for to help Nehalem with her lymphoma). It also acts as a laxative. Yellow Dock is considered a quick cleansing herb. You will notice as you read our other blog posts we place a great deal of focus on the importance of getting the liver and intestines healthy, and Yellow Dock is an herb that gets right down to business in that department. Yellow Dock is an aggressive herb and not one that should be used long term. It works well with Dandelion, Marshmallow, and Slippery Elm. This is an excellent herb to feed if the problem is related to a need for a systemic flush.

Since Yellow Dock has a way of appearing to most of us as an annoying weed, make certain that the Yellow Dock you feed has not been subjected to chemical treatment. Now, when you are digging Yellow Dock out of your pasture, you can save and dry the root to be used whenever your horse might need a quick detox or liver boost. Just remember: a little bit goes a long way, so start out feeding minimal amounts, and monitor your horse carefully before increasing the dose.