dancing horses

dancing horses

Sunday, December 1, 2019

Potion Making



So after weeks of rain and mud the temperature dropped suddenly and a bitter wind began to blow. I had to cancel a lesson because it was so horrible. Today is beautiful but Carmen is lame. I can't find any heat or swelling- I think that it's likely a stone bruise/ possible abscess from the sudden change in footing.

At least I'm 90% sure that's what it is. The other 10% is convinced that she's going to die. But let's not dwell on that.

would rather be doing this....
In the meantime I thought I should write about how I try to manage Carmen's gut health. You may recall that last year I treated her for ulcers with good results. I was really concerned that they would recur this summer when we started to travel to events. And we all know that I love a good plan.

First thing I did was sign up for an online course at Equine Guelph on gut health. I learned that I already know a lot but there were a few things that helped me figure out what to do. The main thing is to not have their gut empty. Which is a huge issue when you have a horse that would eat herself into blimpdom.


Forage: A slow feed haynet is the answer. Carmen also shreds them like paper. I started using the web ones and so far so good. While they don't slow down as much as a small hole haynet it does help.



Feed: During the warm months she has access to pasture which is so good for them. I switched feeds to the local feed store brand of fibre nuggets. It is essentially fortified hay and both horses are doing really well on it. You can feed it straight or soaked. I do both- I need to soak it to add in the vitamins and minerals I add.

Supplements: 

I have gone from a person who 'didn't believe in supplements' to one who uses them regularly. I try to make sure that there is science behind it. These are what I add:

Magnesium Oxide: I started Irish on this to see if it would help his head shaking. There is research that it helps about 50% of headshakers. It turned out to really work for him and now he barely shows any. I wondered it if had to do with my pastures and hay being low in Mg so I feed it to both horses. It can be an expensive supplement but I buy the Mag Oxide from the local feed store  by the bag (it's a cattle feed additive) and it works out to about $40/year.

Pre/Pro Biotic: This was recommended by the equine dietitian on the course. I use the Mad Barn brand but there are many out there.

Vitamin E/Selenium: Irish is on a mega dose of Vitamin E for his neuro issues but that's another post. There is evidence that our area is really low in selenium and I don't want any issues to pop up down the road.

Chaste Tree Berry: Now this one is a bit of a stretch. Carmen is more spooky and reactive when she's in heat. She also acts sore and needs a long slow warm up. I had been doing some research and there is evidence that this can help. It is also supposed to be good for those horses who are insulin resistant. As an Andalusian I know that this is a risk for her. It seemed to be a cheap experiment so I decided to try it. I am not sure if it's helping with everything but I do find that she's not so tight and sore during her heats. Sometimes it's hard to tell if she's in heat so that is staying. She also loves the taste of it.

this is the brand I use. There are others. 

Aloe Vera Juice: Believe it or not there is actual scientific research that shows that this can be of benefit to horses. Not at the same level as omeprazole but it does help. I buy it from Walmart of all places. It is palatable for horses and cheap.


Ulcer Meds: When Carmen and I head to a show I start dosing her with Omeprazole two days before we leave and while we're away.

Acid Management: While I groom and tack up Carmen I put a wheelbarrow of hay in front of her. This makes sure that there's something in her stomach to absorb any acid. The day that we trailer anywhere I give her Di Calcium Phosphate in her morning feed. This is an acid neutralizer. It's not good for an ongoing basis but every now and then is fine.

 I also do my best (as you know) to manage her stress levels overall during our rides. I don't always succeed but I feel that I have more good rides than bad.

 I don't know if all of this is needed but, as Ed says, it's all cheaper than treating for ulcers. This year she didn't show any signs of ulcers so I'm feeling pleased with myself. Now I hope that I'm right about her lameness.








20 comments:

  1. Omg that white horse gif.... lol. I love mag ox and also calcium chloride for helping keep a happy gut. Re the hay nets, I know one person who had a mare with.... robust tendencies, ahem, and they actually put the hay inside a small hole net, inside the web hay bag. Like a turducken, except hay nets lol.

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    1. A hay net turducken - sheer genius!

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    2. Ooh, we used to do that to Bridget...and her rage was real. Somewhere I have a video my coach sent me of B having a full on biting, body slamming war with her hay nets :D

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  2. Val was lame a number of times (4) last winter/this spring. The weather had been super wet for an extended period of time prior to the lamenesses. I also freaked right on out about it. What eventually helped us was applying Durasole weekly - especially ahead of wet weather. It has worked like a charm. If you want to try it and can't get it up there let me know - I'll send you some.

    Love the hay net layering strategy emma mentioned. I can imagine Val plotting my demise if I tried it on him lol...

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    1. I am picturing Carmen’s face now if I go that route. Everything was so mucky and is now so frozen. She was running around quite a bit Friday so likely bruised herself.

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  3. I hope Carmen rights herself soon and it isn’t anything major.

    I don’t feed much of anything at the moment. Our pastures have grass year round thanks to a nice mix of grasses and all mine tend to lean towards fat. I do give a ration balancer twice daily to ensure they all get the nutrients they need.

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    1. I wish I could have pasture all year but here in Canada it's just not possible. We also don't have killer temps in the summer so I guess it all works out.

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  4. Try the orange slow feed hay net. They have the small holes and are made of industrial grade fishing net. My girl hates them, which is to say that they work fabulously, are basically indestructible, and they prevent our beloved fatties from gorging themselves into oblivion. :-)

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    1. I looked at that a while ago but, if I am remembering correctly, getting it to Canada was a problem.

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  5. Scarlet's gut health has usually been pretty good. I'm always concerned about how he's doing but until now, he hasn't had any real health issues so I haven't seen a need to change anything. I am definitely looking forward to your post about Irish and his neuro issues. It's obviously something I'm trying my best to understand as well.

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    1. It's a difficult thing for sure. I will try to get that post written soon.

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  6. Fingers crossed Carmen is feeling better soon. Those fibre nuggets sound genius! I was pondering what would happen if a mineral/vitamin mix was pre added to hay cubes, thinking it would be the perfect food. Of course it's already a thing!

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    1. I am super impressed with the nuggets. A friend got me on to them.

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  7. I feed Phantom chaste tree berries from about Christmas through April every year - I'm convince it prevents her from tying up. The only year in the last few that I didn't give it to her she had problems, so I'm sure that the chaste tree berries is the miracle powder.

    Last time I bought it in bulk off Amazon for a good price, but it doesn't seem to be available anymore. Thankfully I should have enough left for this spring.

    The ground out here is terrible at the moment - we had rain and then it froze so the ground is rock hard and clumpy. I'm pretty sure Cisco's tootsies are sore with his thin soles and praying he doesn't get an abscess. I don't have time to deal with that right now! I kind of want snow to cover up the hard ground.

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    1. That is good info to hear about the chaste tree berries. I haven't seen any bulk place other than the kind I buy above.

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  8. Seems like 90% of horse ownership is playing detective and vet. Or, at least, it seems like it in some seasons of life. There are a lot of mystery lamenesses this time of year. I love your regimen. Very well thought out.

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    1. You speak the truth! Most of the time we're trying to figure out what (happened), why (it happened) and how (am I going to address it?). Ed will be the first to point out that my regimen changes. It's not random changes but I'm not sure he realizes that. :)

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  9. I feed many of the same supplements as you do. Everyone gets E (Rio used to get the expensive liquid one for the neuro issues), probiotics (I use equiotics as it was my vets favorite), and I also give everyone electrolytes year round (just in case). I tried Shiny on a chaste berry supplement, but ultimately settled on quietex. It has the mag in it also, and seemed to help her mare moods a bit better. But they are all different!
    Fingers crossed the lameness is just from the sudden frozen ground and she's back to her sound self asap!

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