Actually yes, under most conditions. For horses living in fairly natural conditions, such as those in living in pasture and exposed to the weather, being dirty actually helps them stay warm. Ugly as it is, dirt forms a layer of insulation in your horse’s coat, keeping him warmer than if his coat was brushed totally … Continue Reading »
How is this for frustrating when it comes to horse feed: you have a horse that has fatty deposits on his neck and back as well as a hay belly, but still has ribs showing and very little top line? It’s enough to drive any horse owner crazy …and believe me, I have seen quite … Continue Reading »
HORSE Health Care in Winter: Tips on Horse Feed and More Keeping your horse warm, healthy, and happy during the winter can be challenging, especially if you live in a climate with extreme cold weather. While temperatures don’t drop too far here in Texas, I have many clients in northern states who struggle to keep … 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 »
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 »
I am headed out of town this weekend to speak at the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association meeting. My brother, Morry, is feeding the horses for me while I am gone. I know he is very responsible and will do his best but I am nervous because he does not have any experience with horses. … Continue Reading »
The weather is finally being more normal for south, central Texas and we are having highs in the low to mid nineties. Not only are the days less hot but the nights are cooler and the heat does not start so early in the morning. Many people who stopped riding during the extreme heat are … 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 »
Things have really changed in the 30+ years I have been caring for horses. It used to be oats and pasture were all you needed to feed a horse and the only concern was getting enough grain in the diet to keep the them fat without causing colic or founder. Hay was given only when … Continue Reading »
I am working on a Five Element feeding book and I am very excited about encouraging people to grow vegetables and herbs as food for their horses. The drought we are having right now has pointed out to me how much I depend on my horses having some native pasture to balance out their needs. … 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 is hanging in despite high heat and humidity. With 100+ temps and heat indexes up to 105 even my stomach is upset. I have found with Bud that he has the most trouble if he eats all he wants so even though he is not to the weight I want I am rationing his … Continue Reading »
On my last post I started talking about cure, palliation and suppression of symptoms. This post continues that post. Palliation – This is what happens most often when treating symptoms. We have been conditioned to expect this most people don’t mind giving medicines long term as long as they get rid of symptoms. Many horse … Continue Reading »
I have been approaching my practice and life from a holistic perspective for about 20 years. This has been a process. I did not wake up one morning or read a book and decide to be holistic. I did, however, grasp the concept and I have been striving to achieve it ever since. I want … 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 »
After 2 years of time recovering from her last case of EPM, Cerise has the symptoms again. I noticed in Feb. that she was losing some muscle tone but I was not able to work her because I was sick so thought that was the problem. Most horses won’t lose muscle tone in only … Continue Reading »
Blue-green algae plays a very important part in my holistic healing practice for horses. The blue-green algae I have been using for the last two decades comes from Klamath Lake in Oregon. It is distributed through network marketing. It is very high in chlorophyll, beta-carotene, vitamin B-12, amino acids, vitamins and minerals. I trust this … Continue Reading »