Can you use horse products on humans?

That depends on what is in them and do not to assume that it is OK to do so. All the products you have bought for human use will have a full ingredients list (it may have been on the outer packaging), as they need to comply with legal obligations.

Depending on what the ingredients are and their intended use, the product may need to pass several different tests, possess an acceptable toxicology report, comply with various labelling rules and registering on the EU cosmetics portal, before finally being allowed onto the open marketplace. This is not so with pet products.

Next time your tack box is in front of you, pull out some of your favourite products and look for the ingredients list. You may struggle to find any listing any ingredients at all, yet alone have a full list. This is a widespread issue in the horse industry. Keep in mind that for something like shampoo, unless you are wearing gloves, your exposure time is greatly longer than when you are washing your own hair.

Some may simply say “Made from natural ingredients”. Regrettably, that is a well exploited manufacturer and marketeers’ loophole as the EU has no legal definition of the word ‘natural’. Anything, including petrochemicals and harsh or environmentally polluting chemicals can be used without consequence.

There are no EU regulations for the equivalent pet products, so manufacturers are free to use anything, if they can show the product is safe when asked. However, the issue is complicated, as the EU does not have a department for checking pet cosmetic products. Instead they rely upon consumers to bring any issues with products to their attention. This is unlike human products, that never make it onto store shelves unless they are proven safe beforehand.

We feel strongly that people working and living with horses should be given the opportunity to know what chemicals they are working with, so they may understand the personal and environmental impact of their choices in this regard.

You may like to read our blog on using horse shampoo on your own hair here

Our products

We strive to be a completely honest and authentic product range. All Topline Naturals products**, have been tested to meet the EU’s human cosmetics standard mentioned above and are registered on the EU cosmetics database. This is in addition to having the entire horse care range certified to meet the Soil Association Health and Beauty human organic product standards.

If you would like to wash your own hair using our Nourishing Shampoo, or perhaps use our Soft Mouth to moisturise your lips, please do go right ahead.

** Our Hoof Dressing does not have any obvious human equivalent uses; it is for hooved animal use only. We do however have a safety data sheet (SDS) created using human standards for this product.