Bud, my food sensitivity horse, is recovering from his severe setback. Bud did not eat more than a few handfuls of food for 10 days and the weather was in the 40’s and raining much of that time. One night got down to 18 degrees. Not only was the not eating but he was showing … Continue Reading »
Bud, my food sensitivity horse, has had a severe setback. Bud was doing fantastic and had gained so much weight he was almost too fat. His blood work had improved as far as his blood count and I felt the ulcers in his gut were almost healed. The follow up food sensitivity testing showed most … Continue Reading »
You know what they say about leading horses to water and making them drink … During the cold winter season, many horses drink less than they should, setting them up for impaction colic, poor digestion, and other kinds of problems. Most horses drink 8-10 gallons of water when the weather is warm, but may drink … Continue Reading »
I had an interesting call from a friend and client Sunday morning. Brenda had put out a new round bale of hay for her horses and one of them was not wanting to eat and acting like he had a mild colic. It was pretty obvious from the behavior she described that Quatro had simply … Continue Reading »
Bud continues to improve with his food sensitivities. He is now eating some grass like a normal horse and so far no colic. Now that he is getting to graze an hour a day he is not wanting to eat his beet pulp. Bud still gets his vegetables and his preference is, in order, carrots, … Continue Reading »
My food sensitivity challenged patient Bud is doing well. The last time I posted about Bud I had been letting him out a few hours a day to see if he could handle grass. Well he did fine after the hour on the first day but the next day I left him out for 2 … Continue Reading »
Moving from conventional horse care to holistic horse care is a process. It requires, first a shift in belief systems from medicine healing the horse to the horse healing himself. If a horse has been given drugs all of his life then his body is less able to mount a healing response on its own. … Continue Reading »
Bud is coming along nicely. I have been slowly cutting back on his low starch Kool and Kalm horse feed and adding some timothy hay cubes. I tested him for sensitivity to timothy and he came back borderline. I waited over a month for him to heal his gut from the bermuda and alfalfa sensitivity … Continue Reading »
It is fall in Central Texas which means mesquite bean and acorn season. I got a call from my neighbor a few days ago and her donkey with insulin resistance was walking stiff. My friend was confused because even though we had had some rain, the grass had not had time to grow so she … Continue Reading »
As I look out my window right now Bud is running up and down the fence line screaming like a maniac. He kept me up most of last night with the same behavior. It seems that now that my mare, Cerise, is in heat she thinks Bud is wonderful. Last week she was charging at … Continue Reading »
Bud is coming along very well. He has not had any obvious discomfort for over 3 weeks and I feel his gut is finally on the mend. He is able to handle larger meals and is close to being on free choice low starch Kool and Kalm. He gets his beet pulp 3 times a … Continue Reading »
I got blood work and food sensitivity results back on Bud last week and they confirmed several of my suspicions. Bud is still losing protein through his gut and he has increased immune response going on. This would be consistent with food sensitivities and indeed his tests came back with border line positive to both … Continue Reading »
Bud has been improving steadily but he still has a way to go. I have been able to learn so much having him right outside my window where I can watch him closely. I have determined that food sensitivities are a huge issue for him. He also can’t handle much food at one time. He … Continue Reading »
I still have Bud at the clinic and he is doing great. After watching him closely for a month it was clear that he always felt bad immediately after eating. He did not act like colic so much as he seemed to have very low energy and would lay down and sleep. I finally decided … Continue Reading »
Bud did very well yesterday and ate most of a small flake of coastal hay. In the past when he has eaten much coastal he has acted like he had an impaction. This makes me think his gut does not have good motility. It is possible he has a sensitivity to the coastal but he … Continue Reading »
Bud, the Arabian gelding with inflammatory bowel disease, is still living at my clinic. I thought he was turning a corner with getting his appetite back and gaining weight but after 1 day of eating me out of house and home he started acting uncomfortable again and backed off his eating. I have talked in … Continue Reading »
We are well into summer here in Texas but other areas of the country are still in spring. Mares are starting to cycle and it seems they tend to have more issues in the first few heats of the season. Signs that a mare is uncomfortable include: Swishing her tail Reacting to touch Resisting having … Continue Reading »
I have a patient in the barn right now who has some stomach problems. His name is Bud and he would died last year except that his owner took such good care of him. Bud quit eating and was having some colic episodes. After trying several nutritional programs and remedies we finally got a response … Continue Reading »
Yesterday I talked about the article in The Horse on worms in horses and the same issue had a great article on pre and probiotics. Anyone who has followed my holistic methods knows how strongly I feel about feeding a horse these products on a regular basis. In the past most articles I read suggested … Continue Reading »
As I was feeding my horses last night I heard Jamie, one of my chickens, squawking outside the chicken house. At first I thought that maybe one of the other chickens was in her favorite roosting spot, but she continued to squawk even after she had gone to her roost. All the other chickens seemed … Continue Reading »