New Pasture

Finale with her new herd

Last week my mare changed home. From a dirt paddock she went to a 18 acres pasture with lots of grass, trees and other horses. Before the move I was very worried. Scared of the separation from her herd, scared of the trip even if it was only a mile, scared of the integration to the new herd.

But everything went really well and smooth. She was ready and deep inside I knew it. 

Enjoying plenty of grass

It's been a week now and I love this place. I feel so grateful that my friend offered me to put her with his horses. She is thrilling over there. 

The pasture has the shape of a horse shoe:) with different elevation, different terrain. There is flat part but also hills and rocks to make it more fun. There is different type of grass (don't know them all yet), bushes and trees. It's beautiful and very peaceful. 

She has been integrated to the herd. She made friend with the gelding and her best friend seems to be Emma the mule.

Finale and her new boyfriend Ehu:)

My Parelli coach came to check it out and she said it was a great place to play with a horse. There is endless possibilities. Level 2, here I come:)

Yes Finale, all this space for you!

But what I like about this week is that I could witness my mare being a horse: choosing carefully which grass to it, testing with her lips, being very careful where she was walking, measuring every steps, communicate with her peers to find her place, following her new friends to discover the area, figuring out where the new noises were coming from, analyzing the environment. I could see her thinking. It was very moving to me and I wish every horse could get that. 

Psyllium and sand colic

Psyllium has been on my mind again. My mare lives in a rocky sandy paddock. She eats hay from the ground and although hay is fed in feeders it always ends up in the dirt where she will try to grab every possible crumbs. I am very concern about her ingesting sand and eventually developping sand colic so I've been thinking of doing a psyllium seven days treatment and then the monthly routine.

Psyllium is a natural source of fiber. It acts as a bulk laxative. It's helpful to clean sand from the intestinal tract. We find it in two forms: pellets and powder. The pellets are more palatable for the horse as flavor is added.
It is important to note that psyllium shouldn't be mixed with water when fed. It will turn into a sticky gel mixture and will present a choking risk for the horse. Also psyllium does not work as well when wet (we want it to get sticky in the gut to trap the sand). For that reason pellets can represent to best form to feed.

Studies have also shown that psyllium fed along  with probiotics improves the sand clearance. Therefore it appears to be a good idea to add some probiotics to the diet during the treatment.

What Ayurveda says:
Psyllium is a bulk laxative, demulcent, anti-inflammatory. It helps to absorb mucous and bacteria in inflammatory intestinal conditions. It drags toxins and worms out of alimentary canal.
Interesting fact:

• Prolonged use of psyllium reduces fertility.
• Psyllium may slow the absorption of other medication. It's better to take it two hours after medication (allopathic or herbal)

Source: Ayurvedic Medicine, Sebastian Pole

Now the best way to avoid sand colic is by prevention. Feeding in a clean area, having rubber mats under feeder and hay net is a solution. Or as Dr Juliet M. Getty wrote in her book "Feed your horse like a horse": "Best way to prevent sand colic is to provide forage -lots of it- all day long.".

Equine Nutrition #2: Composition of the food

In this post I will give an overview of the composition of the feedstuff. As you can see in the following diagram, there are two main components in food: water and dry matter. The nutrients are found in the dry matter fraction. This is where we find the minerals, the vitamins, the carbohydrates, the fats and the proteins. (click on diagram to enlarge)

Water

Water is an essential component of the horse's diet. Water is required for transporting nutrients in the body. It's involved in the thermal regulation. It's essential for the excretion of the waste products but also for the gut function.

Carbohydrate (CHO)

The carbohydrate falls into two categories:

- Structural CHO

It's the fibrous fraction of the food. The digestion of structural CHO takes place in the large intestine by microbial fermentation. It produces volatile fatty acids. It's the main energy source for most horses. It's a slow release energy but more steady and constant.

- Non-structural CHO

Non-strucutral CHO are in the cell content and they constitute the storage carbohydrate of the plant (energy source for the plant). We find here the starch, fructan and simple sugar. The digestion of starch and simple sugar takes place in small intestine by enzyme. It's a rapid source of energy.The fructans cannot be digested in small intestine and so travel through the large intestine where they are fermented by the microbial population. 

!!! If non-structural CHO are present in too big quantity the small intestine cannot digest them and the remaining undigested starch and sugar will end up in large intestine. The product of microbial fermentation will be lactic acid that can alter the gut environment. That is why we want to feed small amount of starch and sugar.

Oil and Fat

The fats that are present in forage are simple in structure. Fats added to the diet are mostly triacyglycerols. Horses don't require high level of fat. Fat is added to the diet to increase the energy content as it is a concentrated source of energy (2x energy content of cereals). The digestion takes place in the small intestine.

We are seeing an increase interest in the two essential fatty acids, Omega 3 and Omega 6, in terms of potential health benefits but more studies need to be done.

Protein

Proteins are required for structural purpose (muscle, skin, hair), formation of enzyme, hormones and immune system. 

There are two categories of protein: essential and non-essential amino acids. Essential has to be supplied in diet and non-essential are synthesized by the animal.

Lysine is an essential amino acid.

Protein requirement will increase with work, growth, pregnancy, recovery from injury, muscle loss, surgery, etc.

!!!! Too much protein will damage liver and kidney and create mineral imbalance!

Minerals

Minerals are required for growth, transport of energy, co-factors of enzyme, etc. They are mainly absorbed in small intestine. There are two categories: macro minerals and trace minerals.

Macro minerals are required in large quantities (Calcium, Phosphorus, Chloride, Sodium, Potassium, Magnesium, Sulphur). Trace minerals or micro minerals are needed in very small quantities (Cobalt, Copper, Molybdenum, Zunc, Manganese, Iron, Floride, Iodine, Selenium, Chromium).

!!!! Ratio between some minerals is very important like Ca:P 2:1 Calcium has to be twice as Phosphorus. Calcium has a good ration in forage but poor in cereals grains.

Another important ration is the Cu:Zn 3-4:1

Vitamins

Vitamins are required in small amounts but they are vital for many bodily functions like vision, immunity, growth, bone development, etc.

There are two categories of vitamins: fat soluble (A, E, D, K) and water soluble (C and B Complex).

The water soluble are not stored but are produced or synthesized by the organs.

A little walk outside the comfort zone.

I took my mare for a walk outside our usual path today. Fifi is a Right Brain Introvert in the Parelli language. In other word, she tends to be more on the fearful and nervous side, can be reactive, spooky and very emotional. Everything new or just different is a challenge in itself. Even going from working in the round pen to the arena made her nervous!

I love the look on her face saying something like "Are you really sure you want to go that way? I think I see something over there.... maybe we should go back".
It's not too bad on the photo. A few minutes later she got actually scared of the "something over there" that was actually a horse grazing and did a little dance on the spot. The good thing is that after that it only take her a minute or so to relax and chew and lick (secretly of course).
But at least we can go now. Before she wouldn't even want to walk there.
Love my Fifi:)

Rainy day, cookie day

Thanks to the weather, I had some time today at home to be able to cook some horse cookies.

All very good ingredients, organic, no sugar or molasses, herbs to improve joint health.

It smelled so good and they taste really good too.

Let's see tomorrow what Finale has to say about that:)

Ouch! Finale has a cut.

A few days ago I found my mare with a cut on her front leg. The cut didn't look too bad and the swelling was really mild so I didn't even mind cold hosing it and just cleaned the cut.

Second Day

The following day as you can see the swelling was more serious. It was pretty close to the cut. This time I used cold water for 10 minutes although I don't believe in icing when it's not right after it happens. Swelling is a natural reaction, it's there for something and I think we shouldn't always interfere with the body natural healing process. I cleaned the wound with Betadine and used Sore No-More on the swelling. Third day was pretty much the same with the swelling going down and being around the knee. It was huge. I let her out to graze and walk.

Fourth Day

This is the Fourth day and already better. I cleaned the leg with Castile soap and water, Sore No-More around the knee and a long walk with snack break.
Today it was very clean with no more swelling. All back to normal:)

I really like Sore No-More. It's a natural herbal liniment with cooling properties. It contains arnica, rosemary, lavender. It's very good on sore muscles, it reduces pain and inflammation, stimulates blood flow, loosens muscle and tendon. I even use it on myself sometimes, that's how much I like it:) I use the gelotion. I love the smell and the feeling. A must have in every grooming kit or even every bathroom;)

Joint Support Supplement

Joint Support by Christelle, Equine Ayurveda.

EA Joint Support is a herbal supplement that supports a healthy function of the joints and muscles.

Properties: detoxifies, lubricates and soothes the joint tissues. It has nourishing and anti-inflammatory properties.
Indication: arthritis, sprain and strain, bone fracture.

Main ingredients:
Boswellia (Indian Frankincense): It relieves pain from arthritis or post trauma. It has anti-inflammatory properties and can be used instead of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Used to speed the healing of wounds, broken bones and bruises via its blood circulatory action.
Turmeric: It treats inflammation in the joints, alleviates pain and strengthens the joints and tendons.
(Turmeric is also considered a blood "purifier" and it benefits the skin, the heart but also the digestive system.)

Formula can be adapted to specific condition (arthritis, bone fracture, etc...) and/or to specific constitution.
Other ingredients that can be added: Guggulu, Ginger, Ashwangandha, Black Pepper.