DAVID AND CLAIRE'S SHOTGUN RANCH

Care and Feeding of Our Horses
(Natural Horse Care)

Feeding Wisely

The growing interest and trend in natural horsekeeping has made it all too obvious that many of our horses' ailments are man-made.
We (humans) have made many mistakes with the horse.
First of all, we have ignored the fact that horses are grazing animals with digestive tracts best suited for foraging for 15-20 hours per day. Horses have relatively small stomachs, which hold only about 5 quarts. The actual physical capacity of the stomach is larger, but the equine stomach begins to empty when it is only two-thirds full. Since horses cannot vomit, this is a safety mechanism to prevent lethal stomach rupture. Feed proceeds from the stomach through the small intestine, which is 70 feet long, where most of the starch, sugar, fat, vitamins and minerals and about half of the protein from the feed should be digested and absorbed into the bloodstream. The remaining nutrients and the plant fibers continue on to the hind gut.
Horses are grazing animals, limiting their feed intake to twice a day has a produced a myriad of health problems (ie. ulcers) and behavior issues such as pacing, cribbing, wood chewing, etc.
However, ignoring the fact that horses are a grazing animal wasn't enough, we also proceeded to feed them all the wrong feeds.
Most of the complete and pelleted feeds that are convenient for the owner are loaded with molasses and very high in non-structural carbohydrates ( sugar and starch). Some feeds are even high in fats. How much fat do you think a horse gets in the wild? How much grain ? How much alfalfa or any other legume hay? Is it any wonder that more and more horses are becoming insulin resistant. To learn about insulin resistance go to the Cushings and IR section.
Horses were meant to eat a variety of grasses and wild herbs. Why do we insist on feeding them according to human standards?
While horses love alfalfa, I believe that a diet of straight alfalfa is not suitable for our equine friends. Among other things it is too high in protein for the average horse. As a treat, I occasionally will divide a flake of alfalfa between all my horses in the winter. There is much controversy on feeding straight alfalfa and I could provide links ad nauseum on this topic. As far as I'm concerned, the bottom line is that alfalfa is too rich and too high in calcium totally disrupting the calcium:phophorus ratio. I think this excerpt from Equus magazine says it best:

<<Alfalfa is to horses like steak is to people; in moderate amounts it's tasty and nutritious, but it can cause problems if it becomes the majority of the diet.
Simply put, alfalfa has higher levels of protein and minerals than most horses need. An average horse, even one who works hard, needs only about 8 to 10 percent protein in his diet. Alfalfa, depending on its age at harvest, contains at least 15 percent and as much as 25 to 30 percent protein. Super-rich alfalfa is usually reserved for dairy cows, which need the extra nutrition to produce milk. Likewise, alfalfa is a good supplement for growing equine youngsters and pregnant or lactating mares, who need more protein to fuel their higher energy needs. But giving the average horse too much of this rich forage is asking for trouble. Besides taking in too much protein, which leads to smelly, ammonia-heavy urine, a horse's biochemistry may be adversely affected by alfalfa's high mineral content. In particular, alfalfa contains high levels of calcium, which can lead to metabolic problems like synchronous diaphragmatic flutter ("thumps"), and magnesium, which in excess has been associated with the production of enteroliths (intestinal "stones"). Given all of this, you don't need to pass up a convenient source of quality alfalfa, but you'll want to exercise caution in incorporating this rich forage into your horse's diet. Making alfalfa a limited part of his overall nutritional mix and balancing it with another type of forage will help keep your horse healthy.>>

Bermuda hay is our horses' mainstay. The amount and frequency of our feedings depend on the condition of our pastures.
I do not like my horses to go for more than a couple of hours without something in their stomachs. So, in the winter when we have no pasture I feed them 3-4 times a day.
We feed our hay in big rubber tubs in the pasture. (See above photo) I avoid conventional feeders and hay nets ( A warning about hay nets: Horses have been known to paw at hay nets and get tangled up in them with disastrous results. I will only use them if the horse is traveling in a horse trailer and then tied as high as possible). A horse's natural food source is found on the ground. Feeding off table height provides unnatural stresses on the muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments and heel areas of the hooves. The position of the horse's head affects the entire body. Example: A natural horse spends more time with the head in the grazing position therefore he has a steeper pastern and more weight on the toe. While a horse standing with a raised head has a more sloped pastern and more weight on the heel. If you look carefully at a horse's hoof you will notice that the toe of the hoof has a thicker wall than the side and heels, because by nature, a horse spends most of his life in a grazing posture. Forcing the horse to keep his horse raised changes his center of gravity and the back is no longer carried by the dorsal ligament, it sags so to speak. Refer to Dr. Strasser's book "Lifetime of Soundness" for a more in-depth explanation of this.

Vitamin and Mineral Supplementation
I have seen horseowners spend a small fortune on equine supplements, unfortunately most of the time they are not only wasting their money but can actually be causing more harm than good. A common misconception perpetuated by some popular supplement companies is that a horse will naturally eat the minerals his body needs. Enter the controversy of the free-choice minerals.

I quote Dr. Eleanor Kellon, renowned equine nutrionist and author.
<<<It's a myth that horses will only eat
what they need, or that they can "tell" what minerals are in
something they eat and will naturally/instinctively regulate their
intakes to achieve mineral balance. Take food choices for example. If
you give a horse the choice of eating alfalfa or a grass hay with a
more healthful mineral balance, which are they going to choose? Put
out a dish of free choice, unflavored phosphorus supplement next to
that alfalfa and they won't take what they need - if any at all -
because it's not palatable. Give a horse a choice of plain oats with
unflavored, balancing mineral pellets added, plain oats alone, or
oats coated with molasses. Can you predict their preferences?>>>

What people don't seem to understand about minerals is that it's not about quantity, it's about balance and ratios. If you don't know the mineral content of your hay and give your horse a supplement with X amount of minerals, you could actually be causing more of an imbalance. Mineral imbalances can cause all kinds of problems, such as a bleached out coat and mane in a dark horse...and you were blaming it on too much sun. Horses with mineral imbalances can also exhibit signs of hypothyroidism and PSSM/EPSM (see PSSM and a Quarter Horse named Doc ).
So, in order to give your horse the vitamins and minerals he needs you need to know what minerals are already in his feed. Does that make sense?? If your hay has extraordinarly high amounts of one mineral you obviously can't remove it from your hay but you can balance (or maybe the word "neutralize" would be a better word) it with the appropriate mineral. For example, AZ grown hay is traditionally high in iron and potassium. You would balance the high iron with copper (4:1 ratio) and the sodium:potassium:chloride (ideally 1:2.5:4 ratio), but then your copper should be at a ratio of 1:3:3 with manganese and zinc.
Sounds complicated ??
It is !
Which is why until recently I have had mine balanced by an expert...... Dr. Eleanor Kellon.
However, after taking Dr. Kellon's online nutrition courses, I now balance my own horses' diets. I highly recommend these courses to all discriminating & caring horseowners. You will be amazed at what you will learn.

Now , I realize that there are many horseowners that are in a boarding situation or do not have the storage space to buy their hay in bulk as we do. For these situations a regional custom mineral mix is a viable alternative. A member from the Yahoo Equine Cushings list made up such a mix for AZ grown bermuda hay. With a little research and expert advice you can have regional mix made up for your part of the country.

Doc enjoying his supplements and herbs

Our horses receive their supplements in the morning and at night, this is the only time they are confined. Each horse's supplements are based on their individual needs. I mix their supplements with either a pound of Lakin-Lite (alfalfa/bermuda blend) pellets or some rinsed and soaked beet pulp. Of course they all get our custom mineral mix and 2-4 tablespoons of iodized salt daily depending on the time of year. Stabilized flax and Vit E is also a must for everyone. And my older arthritic ones receive glucosamine hydrochloride, chondroitin sulfate and MSM. The meal is always followed with a ½ cup of one of my herbal blends.....this they demand in no uncertain terms.

24/7 Turnout

The other injustice we have imposed on the horse is confinement. Horses were made to roam and travel between 15 to 20 miles a day, but we have incarcerated them for our convenience. Many of the common health problems and lameness afflicting domestic horses are a direct result of man-made violations of their natural lifestyle. We try and provide our horses with the most natural environment possible, which is a challenge since they only have access to two acres. We have moved fences and put back gates in our stalls so that they may remain open for them at all times. We have even re-hung gates so that they are flush with the fence when left open. They sleep wherever they please. Our horses are confined for less than an hour a day to eat their supplements. They are healthier and happier than I have ever seen them.

Beet Pulp

All my horses eat beet pulp, some more than others. I find that ½ pound of moistened beet pulp helps get those expensive supplements down. I feed the shreds and I always soak them. Beet pulp is a great feed for horses. However no one can explain it better than Susan Evans Garlinghouse. Go to her site and read about <The Myths and Reality of Beet Pulp> and check out her section on <Alfalfa for Distance Horses>. Do not miss out on reading her famous<Beet Pulp Safety Warning> you'll love it. Don't forget to use your back button to get back to us.
Susan Evans Garlinghouse's site

Click here to read more about our Supplements

Water

Those who know me will attest to the fact that one of my pet peeves is clean drinking water. Horses like us, often do not drink enough water. If your horse's urine is dark and concentrated, chances are he isn't drinking enough. I add iodized table salt to their breakfast & dinner just for that reason. To encourage them to drink. I believe that our animals' water should be clean enough for me to drink. I personally do not like automatic waterers, for two reasons. You don't know how much water your horse is drinking since it keeps re-filling and because it does re-fill you are less apt to check it and clean it. I have heard of horses dying from drinking contaminated water. I heard of a horse that became very ill and within a couple of days died, later the owner found a decomposed squirrel in the bottom of his water tank. The horse died of botulism. I can only imagine how that horseowner felt. Water can serve as a reservoir for many different disease organisms and toxins. Stagnant water contaminated with manure or other nutrients may develop blue-green algae, which can poison livestock, causing muscle tremors, liver damage and death. In addition to the automatic waterers (which they rarely drink from) in their stalls, our horses have a 100 gallon water trough and two large tubs that they drink from. If a bird happens to fall in one tub they always have another source of clean water. What are the chances of birds falling in all three at once?

Hoof Care

If you read the articles I wrote about Doc you know that we began our barefoot journey with Dr. Strasser. However there are other practitioners other than Dr. Strasser that have had tremendous success with their barefoot styles. Let me say, that I am not against shoeing a horse, I have seen well shod horses and poorly shod horses. The same goes with barefoot trimming. If not done well it can cause as much damage as shoeing a horse incorrectly. However, my horses do well barefoot and I see no reason to shoe them. Every horse is an individual with different needs and different circumstances and should be treated accordingly.
Our horses are trimmed every 4 weeks by a farrier/journeyman, in between trims David and I keep their toes backed up and rough edges filed smooth. It is very important to find a good experienced trimmer. You need to find a trimmer who knows how to BALANCE a foot. That is not the same as doing a level trim. You need someone who knows how and when to trim the bars. One who knows just how much sole to remove and one who is not afraid to back up a toe.
As a horse owner the best thing you can do is educate yourself. Learn to differentiate between a well-trimmed hoof and a poor one.
Learn to recognize: a contracted hoof (go to section Just what is navicular anyway ), underslung heels, high/too low heels, long toes, flares, overgrown/overlaid bars, overgrown frog, etc. The list goes on and on.....the KEY is education.
How can you know if your trimmer/farrier is doing a good job if you have no idea what a healthy hoof looks like???

My biggest problem with hoof care in this part of the country is lack of moisture. Soaking their hooves in water and then applying a moisturizing hoof care dressing like Hoof Moisture by Haircare does help retain moisture. Just remember water is good for their hooves but mud IS NOT, because once the mud dries it literally sucks all the moisture out of the hoof.

Worming and Vaccinations

All horses have worms, unfortunate but true. How they cope with those worms depends on several things, mainly their overall health and their environment. A healthy horse's immunity controls the worm population quite well......assuming he has acres and acres of land and doesn't have to wallow in manure all the time.
I think a worming program should be based on your cleaning practices, the number of horses you have and the amount of land your horses have access to. We clean our stall area 2-3 times a day, our pastures daily and our arena is dragged at least once a week. Worms thrive in wet environments, our Arizona sun is part of our de-worming program. Our horses are rarely confined to their stalls and have very little contact with other horses. I worm my horses every 4-6 weeks with Ivermectin. Ivermectin has a very wide margin of safety and efficacy. I have never used Quest because of its low margin of safety. I follow up each paste worming episode with probiotics. For tapeworms I administer a double dose of Strongid paste in the spring and in the fall. I have never liked the idea of a continuous daily wormer. As a nurse my gut feeling is that when you administer something everyday the organism will eventually build up an immunity; and second I feel that giving a daily wormer is the equivalent to you or I taking antibiotics every single day. I don't know about you, but I would be battling yeast infections left and right. However, I am not opposed to using Strongid C for 30 days twice a year for tapes. Getting fecal counts is always a good idea too, but I don't depend entirely on them.

We vaccinate only for the most necessary, which in my part of the country is West Nile and the Encephalitis groups, and of course Tetanus. I discussed my feelings about vaccinations with my veterinarian and we have eliminated the Rhino-flu vaccine from our program. When we vaccinate we only give one vaccination at a time. This not only decreases the chances of a reaction, but if your horse does have a reaction you know exactly what he/she reacted to. Even though I'm a nurse I don't vaccinate my horses myself for one important reason: the improbable but possible anaphylactic reaction. My vet carries epinephrine with her, plus if such a reaction were to occur the extra people would come in handy...... not something I'd like to deal with by myself.

Grooming

People often ask me how I find the time to groom my horses every day. I only wish I had the time and energy to groom my horses daily, because they enjoy the attention and a good brushing. I believe a good brushing not only cleans but stimulates the oils in the coat. I think my horses are shiny and healthy looking because of their lifestyle and diet. I try to bathe (usually I only use shampoo on their mane and tail unless they're exceptionally dirty) each one of them once a week during the summer, but rinse them off almost daily. I'm almost as meticulous about cleaning the boys' sheaths and the girls' teats (or boobettes, as I call them) as I am about clean drinking water. I use KY jelly (generic one from Walmart is fine) for loosening up that grundge in their sheaths and between the girls' boobettes. I like it because it's water soluble. My horses will scratch their tails if their sheaths and boobettes are dirty. Of course, tail scratching can also be a sign of pin worms.

Click here for My Favorite Herbs and Fly Spray Recipes

A note on Natural Care: While I am a natural horse care advocate, I also realize that at times there is no substitute for modern medicine and technology. Not to utilize the benefits of progress and modern technology is extremist and a sign of inflexibility in my opinion. There is no reason why eastern and western medicine can't be used concurrently. I have learned that even though we try and provide our horses with a natural environment, we are still dealing with domesticated horses; more often than not, horses that come from a long line of domesticated horses. Our horses don't have the instincts, the genetic immunity and natural hardiness that their wild ancestors did. Wild horses aren't exposed to the man made diseases that our horses are exposed to; diseases and conditions that come from lack of movement, overcrowding and over-exposure to parasites. Many people assume that because it's natural, it's safe. That is not so. There are many herbs that are toxic to the horse (ie. black walnut, St. John's Wort). Sometimes these are used as wormers. One needs to develop the wisdom to know when to stay natural, with herbs and natural remedies and when to turn to modern medicine or use a combination of both.
Taking "Natural " Too Far, an article in Horse Journal (March 2006) addresses this dilema very well. I am in total agreement with their views.

A final note: I do not wish to offend or criticize anyone with my theories and beliefs in equine care. The information is here if you want it. Most of my beliefs and conclusions come from years of experience and my own research. Many of my feed and care practices have been influenced by many authorities. All I'm doing here is sharing what works well for us, but keep in mind that we live in the desert. Some of our practices may not be applicable to you. If you have questions or experiences you wish to share with us please feel free to e-mail us. One cannot learn if one does not have an open mind and there is always room for improvement, which is a never-ending quest for me.

Thunder, Lady & Doc.....my favorite butt shot.