Calm Healthy Horses

Home
New Zealand
Rangiora
Calm Healthy Horses

Calm Healthy Horses calmhealthyhorses.com provides a new perspective on how grass affects horses thereby solving the vast majority of health and behavioural issues.

Save time, money and stress with our simple feeding recommendations.

20/02/2025

Get Grass Smart – Knowledge Heads Off Trouble

It's Red clover season now, but the following points apply to all clovers and lucerne/alfalfa.

Neither clovers, nor lucerne are GRASSES so are not suited for horses who evolved as Graminivores (Grass eaters) – a vital point that is overlooked by so many people.

Some horses are OK on a small proportion of these legumes but there is no actual need for either and horses with issues are far better off without them.

Many people think clover is beneficial as part of a diverse diet but
-clover can take over as in the photo
-it is a case where disadvantages can out-weigh advantages.

High Potassium and CP/NPN/Nitrate levels disturb multiple metabolic pathways and contribute to respiratory issues, staggers, EMS, obesity, Laminitis, HS, PSSM symptoms, tight muscles, SIJ, allergies, and many more.

Understanding the following will save you and your horse a great deal of unnecessary trouble.

Farmers sow clover because it is an efficient ‘Nitrogen fixer’ but for horses whose metabolism is already compromised due to grass related issues, problems appear when even the smallest amount of clover creeps in - be it in the grazing or in the hay.

Clovers including Red, White, Sub-Terranean, Alsike, Crimson, Trefoil are simply not suitable for horses for the following reasons...

PHYTOESTROGENS
Got a super hormonal, moody mare or a grumpy, aggressive gelding? Check your paddock and/or hay for clover!
Clovers contain hormonally active compounds which have oestrogen-like effects on animals, disrupting reproductive cycles.

It is common for many people to not want to own a mare because of hormonal behaviour (kicking, squealing, striking, grumpy around other horses), as were our mares before we removed clover from their diet. For the last 15 years with zero clover in their diet, we are lucky if we even notice when any of them come into season.

PRIMARY PHOTOSENSITISATION
Mud fever and sun burn are actually ‘photosensitisation’. In horses, this is very much due to the ingestion of clovers and also lucerne.

HIGH CRUDE PROTEIN
Around 22% - when 12% is more suitable for horses. Even on maturity clover plants maintain 16%
The problem is the nitrogen component which, in the absence of a rumen, is a stress on the horses’ metabolism to efficiently excrete.

WSC & STARCH
Clovers store sugars as starch contributing to obesity, EMS & laminitis
Legumes are often recommended because they are lower in sugar but this is a negative when you have high crude protein Energy from carbs is needed in order to process the high Crude Protein.

HIGH POTASSIUM
Levels of this are 2-3% where they should be well under 2% for horses. Chronically high potassium is a major cause of mineral imbalances contributing to ‘Grass Affected’ issues affecting so many horses.

VERY LOW SODIUM -
Sodium levels are only 0.01- 0.02%. If potassium is 2.2% then this means there is 110-220 x as much potassium as sodium.

GOITROGENS
Interfere with Thyroid function. They affect the iodine uptake by the thyroid gland or inhibit thyroxine hormone synthesis. The most common goitrogen is thiocyanate from white clover.

For all these reasons clovers get in the way of you having a consistently calm, healthy horse. If you run a breeding operation they interfere with many aspects of reproduction at significant economic cost.

It's not a good time of the year now but to avoid paddocks as in the picture, early spring is the time get your paddocks sprayed out with a broad leaf spray - then you won't have your fabulous grasses taken over by clover as in the photo.
If you have any environmental concerns over this please read the following link...
https://www.calmhealthyhorses.com/nitrogen-clover

At the moment, if your paddocks look like this, make sure your horses are on their dry lot/track if you have one, or section them off to a smaller area and ensure they are getting plenty of plain grass hay no clover.

PHOTO: Red clover out-competing brown-top

15/02/2025

Get Grass Smart - Does the Colour of your Hay Matter?

Yes it does for some horses.

What is fantastic here in NZ these days is that companies (for example - Jones Hay, Northland and Highfield Equestrian, Taranaki) are growing hay specifically for the equine market.

Rye-grass and clover free – yay!

Here are some relevant points to understand:

Whether any particular hay will be suitable for any individual horse, depends not only on the nutrient composition of the hay, but also on the metabolic status of the horse for whom it is intended.

The colour of hay can be a useful indicator of its nitrogen content, as it reflects the stage of growth at which the hay was cut – nitrogen is a key element in the growth of plants, especially during the early stages.

Green hay typically has more leaves and the nitrogen content in leaves is higher than in stems.

There is a widespread assumption that green, leafy hay is desirable for ALL horses because it is considered higher quality and more ‘nutritious’. Whereas in actual fact it would be great to have later-cut options also available so you can buy hay to suit.

Because horses are not ruminants they don't have the same ability to process high-protein, nitrogen-rich forage as cattle and sheep.

Paler green is desirable – bright, fleuro -green is more likely to cause issues.

Excess nitrogen can cause or aggravate digestive upsets – soft manure, FWS and diarrhoea. It can disrupt the microbial balance in the hind-gut, triggering a cascade of stresses on the horse’s metabolism.

If you have at risk horses or ponies be wary of claims made about hay being ‘Safe for laminitis prone horses’. Request a copy of the Analysis.

We have observed cases of horses developing laminitis on forage where sugars were very low (well under 10%) but CP was high (>20%), nitrogen (>3%, best under 2%) and potassium too high (>3%, needs to be under 2%).

Note - soaking does not reduce the Crude Protein/Nitrogen levels in hay

Generally, pregnant & lactating mares, young, growing, elderly or working/performance horses, or those who have had a nutritional setback, require more nutritious (greener and leafier) hay than do horses with health, movement and behaviour problems.

As plants mature, their nitrogen and therefore protein levels decrease and the green fades out to yellow then brown.

Yellow, brown hay has been harvested later in the growing season and generally works well for horses and ponies recovering from a wide variety of issues.

Equines prone to, or recovering from, laminitis/head-shaking, sacro-iliac, behavioural or other grass-related issues do best on later cut and therefore browner coloured hay.

We are approached by people globally, whose horses are having chronic digestive and other issues like Head-Shaking or PSSM, and who cannot source later cut hay because the hay-makers ‘think’ they are doing the right thing by producing only green, leafy hay.

Hay, cut when it was green, can also bleach out when exposed to heat and sunlight in the drying process. This is also why hay bales can look brown on the outside but surprise you when you open them.

Realistically many people don’t have any choice when it comes to sourcing their hay and often the hay in any season is the result of the local weather!

If you can, discuss your requirements with your hay-maker.

While colour generally serves as a visual cue to assess the hay's overall quality, the only way to be sure about exactly what you are feeding is to take a sample and send it away to be analysed.

To summarise, lower nitrogen forage helps horses maintain a more stable digestive environment and prevents them from developing complications related to the ingestion of excess nitrogen.

11/02/2025

Dissections.....

We would like to encourage anyone having major issues with their horse, to beware of advice from people who are not vets to euthanise and dissect to try to establish the cause, and to read the following article…
https://vetcompendium.org/the-ethics-of-dissections

We are not against euthanasia in principle, if it is absolutely warranted.

Our concern is for the horses who are unnecessarily euthanised. It never ceases to amaze us how horses who have had serious issues for many years, respond to changes in their management, environment, forage and feed as did Sue’s horse Cloud in the photos.

Dr Kevin Haussler, DVM, DC, PhD expresses concern about how perceived pathologic findings are interpreted –

It is too easy for unqualified people to make faulty assumptions when
“The diagnostic process is run in reverse – ie the specimen dictates the clinical signs.
For example, radiographic findings of osteoarthritis, are notorious to being poorly correlated to clinical signs. Horses can have moderate radiographic evidence of cervical articular process osteoarthritis and actively perform at high levels of competition. Anatomical variations and asymmetries are commonly observed.”

Fiona’s story in our last post is a classic example of how you could easily be led to believe that you have done everything possible and the only avenue left is euthanasia.

Photos: Our UK Distributor Sue Dawson’s horse ‘Cloud’ was due to be PTS as a 6 year old because despite his dedicated owners spending a lot of money and effort, he had failed to respond to extensive treatments for multiple major issues.

Napping to the point of being dangerous, headshaking, hypersensitivity (especially at the base of neck-wither), very tight hamstrings, unable to trot a circle on the lunge, unusual sweat patterns.

Sue changed his management and gave him time. Cloud took around a year to come completely right, he is now enjoying life and competing in both Dressage and Show Jumping.

07/02/2025

Senior Citizen Blaze is now free of Head-Flick!

In early December 24, Fiona contacted us via the Enquiry Form because her 23 year old TB Blaze was suffering from head-flicking accompanied by photophobia (not being able to stand the light).

Yesterday we received this update:
I wanted to say thank you so much for guiding me through this. I was extremely concerned that we wouldn’t be able to resolve this and now my boy is bright eyed and back to his cheeky self. Thank you.

In a nutshell this is my journey with head flick:

Over approximately 7-10 days I went from having a happy horse who ran my herd to one that couldn’t move his nose away from the darkest corner of his stable and was suffering injuries on his head and nose from rubbing on hard surfaces and banging into walls and fences due to the flicking.

It was absolutely no life for him and I knew that if I couldn’t resolve it, the only option was to put him to sleep.

I spoke to numerous nutritionists, body workers, feed companies and contacted my vet.

Everyone had an opinion but nobody was exactly sure what was the best solution as their experience was limited. We tried a few things but there was limited or no change.

As I researched online desperately looking for the answer, I found an article by Calm Healthy Horses who spoke of the epidemic of head flicking in New Zealand. I emailed them and received an almost immediate reply asking for a range of details about my horse, his environment, feed & health etc.

In 24 hours I had a program for him and the tools to start turning his life around.

It’s been 2 months and I now have a horse who is back to running the show, starting back in work and getting a little time in the grass paddock. I am so thankful we found Jenny and Calm Healthy Horses.

Photo: Fiona & Blaze

29/01/2025

Do you need to weigh your hay?

In our view it is never a good idea to restrict access to hay - especially when horses are not on any grass.

Advice to weigh hay mainly comes from concern over horses who are obese, EMS and prone to laminitis. The object of weighing hay is to avoid wastage and to control intake.

You can easily avoid wastage by adjusting how much you feed based on what is left.

For horses who need to lose weight, it is preferable to soak** the hay prior to feeding, rather than restrict it.

Whether the horse will lose weight or not will depend on the nutritional quality of the hay. Fibre content is relative to the maturity of the plant at the time of cutting.

An over-looked point is that hay differs in nutrient composition according to stage of growth and the time of day at which it was harvested.

Weight of the hay will vary accordingly. For example mid-mature grass is considered ‘high quality’ hay, it will have more leaf, less stem, a higher moisture and nutrient content and weigh more than hay cut at a more mature stage of growth which will be less nutritious and higher in less digestible fibre.

When you feed later-cut, more mature hay the horse can have more hay of a day and not be required to go for any time without.

Hence there is no point in weighing hay because it doesn't tell you what nutrients that particular hay contains.

It is simply not practical to have to analyse every batch of hay to find out the nutrient composition. Forage analyses are worthwhile if you are buying large quantities from one source and it is intended for horses prone to laminitis.

The way to ensure a contented horse is to make sure forage is available to him at all times. Not doing so is stressful for him, reduces chew time over the 24 hour period and increases the likelihood of him developing ulcers.

*Slowing down consumption by serving the hay in small mesh hay-savers promotes trickle feeding and increases chew time.

Photo: Both these horses came to us because they had suffered serious laminitis. They lived on a 100% grass free Track, always had ad lib access to hay and never had another bout.

**Advice on how to soak hay can be found in the following link:
https://www.calmhealthyhorses.com/soaking-hay

*Glunk, E.C., M.R. Hathaway, A.M. Grev, et al. 2015. The effect of a limit-fed diet and slow-feed hay nets on morphometric measurements and postprandial metabolite and hormone patterns in adult horses. Journal of Animal Science 93(8):4144-4152.

27/01/2025

Get Grass Smart - Be Proactive!

The high rainfall in many areas this ‘summer’ is causing digestive issues for some horses.

Grass growing in these conditions has a higher than normal water content and therefore a LOW Dry Matter (fibre) content.

This was a serious problem in spring of 2023 when we conducted forage analyses on such grass because the horses had developed severe digestive upsets such as diarrhoea. The analyses revealed VERY LOW DM content

21/01/2025

Get Grass Smart – Living with ‘Paspalum Grass’

Paspalum is a warm season, sub-tropical, low oxalate grass which, despite often being referred to as a ‘weed’, is actually considered desirable as part of the grass sward on many livestock production farms in northern NZ and various regions of Australia, Asia, Africa and America. There are multiple varieties.

Paspalum grows well over the summer months when other species go dormant. It rapidly spreads and takes over the pasture via horizontal underground stems (rhizomes) which have nodes from which roots and shoots sprout into another plant.

We used to worry more about Paspalum in horse pastures than we do nowadays. One advantage is that it out-competes perennial ryegrass in summer, then, even when it grows poorly through winter, there is less ryegrass.

The main problem with it are the ergots (Claviceps Paspali) that develop on the tall seed-heads especially after a wet, humid summer.

They start out sticky and yellowy grey eventually becoming black - they are potentially more of a problem in Autumn. If enough are ingested by any livestock over a couple of days they can cause excitability, trembling and staggers.

Fortunately the seed-heads are not very palatable and relatively large quantities of them have to be ingested for the ergot to cause problems. Hence cases of horses developing ‘Paspalum staggers’ are actually quite rare.

Ingestion of the ‘ergots’ is more likely to be accidental when they stick to the horses muzzle and legs as he walks through.

When at a mature stage of growth the leaves and stems are perfectly safe for horses to graze.

Nevertheless no-one wants to end up with their paddocks dominated by Paspalum.

A plant survives in a pasture only because conditions are favourable for it. This applies to both desirable and undesirable plants.

Paspalum thrives in lower-fertility, lower pH soil environments, tolerating both wet and drier soils.

An alternative to using glyphosate to rid your pastures of Paspalum will be to improve the fertility of the soil for the purpose of encouraging other species to grow. Carefully when it comes to horses. Best to do a soil test first so you know your starting point and therefore know what to apply, rather than guessing, and in what quantities (to make sure you don’t end up over-doing the improvement!)

When paspalum is mown/slashed regularly, it changes tactics, and instead of growing tall, it produces seed-heads on a shorter stem.

Having a Dry Lot of some description enables you to graze it when it is safe and keep the horses off it if it is not.

As with all grasses, the nutritive value declines as it matures. For horses, WAIT until after the young, green and vegetative stage and graze it when it is more mature -but not rank as in the photo.

Paspalum can be made into hay but should be cut before flowering to avoid baling the seedheads.

Photos
1 - Paspalum grass
2 - Seed heads
3 - Rank
4 - Ergots forming on seed heads (Photo Credit : Harry Rose https://www.flickr.com/photos/macleaygrassman/)

13/01/2025

The ‘Spooky’ Horse

Normally, 'spooking' is a Spring and Autumn thing however, this summer in New Zealand, it has been incredibly wet, the grass has stayed green and the clover has sprouted.

While it IS normal for horses to 'notice' and 'look at' unfamiliar objects, it is NOT normal for them, especially those who have been well educated, to be over-reactive and spooky.

You know it's not a training issue because, when the grass browns off in summer, the spooking magically disappears.

It is certainly NOT normal for a horse to spook at objects they are familiar with - having walked past these same items no trouble last week.

Many people don't think it is an issue because their horse ‘has always been like that’, or they blame it on his breeding. We can say this is never the case – merely a sign that some diet adjustments are needed.

Neither are ‘sugars’ in the grass the cause, but they do potentially add more energy to the reaction.

It is NOT normal when horses do any of the following:
• Spook because an object that was there yesterday is not there today
• Duck when going under power lines or under an over-bridge
• Spook at something underneath them like a pole on the ground (as in the picture) or even a white line on the road, and try to leap over it
• Spook at completely normal things like a bird flying out of the hedge or shadows on the ground
• Spook at ‘something’ in the corner of the arena
• Startle when velcro on covers is ripped open

More dangerous (and more common when horses are grazing cool season grasses):
• Violent spooking at minor things
• Remaining on edge for some time after
• Spook then spin and bolt off - or buck after spooking
• Freeze - 'turning into a statue' making it impossible to get their attention and you know they are liable to explode
• Feeling their heart pounding from the saddle

It's not an adaptive feature to spend their lives being SO reactive - if something is out of the ordinary, of course they will notice and in the wild maybe run a few yards, then stop and assess the situation.

The best solutions for spooking are...
• If you cannot control access to green grass, do what you can to increase hay intake
• Eliminate any clover or lucerne (as hay or chaff)
• Make sure you add salt to feeds rather than relying on a salt lick
• Feed GrazeEzy as per the instructions on back of bag, when on ANY green grass.
GrazeEzy helps counterbalance high potassium in the grass and also contains calcareous red marine algae to stabilise gut pH

**If you feel that your horse is on edge when tacking up - don't get on!*

For more specific help please fill out our Enquiry Form (NZ, UK & Australia) : https://forms.wix.com/70c7cae9-bec0-444a-b26e-7da5ba4e6762:9c61e4d3-2e6b-4825-9b94-bf9c0e57e82c
Photo courtesy Of Treena from Ireland

08/01/2025

Locking Stifles Resolved....

We just received this 3 month update on 'Merlin'.

Left pic was when I first met him 3 months ago- he had stifle lock issues, arthritis and was on ulcer supplements.

I asked you lovely ladies for your experience with stifle problems & grass intake and you suggested a clear connection between them both and to put him onto my grass free track system with my herd and Premium MVA Minerals daily same as my other horses, plus how to address the locking stifles.

Right pic yesterday- after living on my track system for 3 months, 24/7 access to rye free meadow hay & daily CHH bucket feed.

No health problems, no other supplements - he is doing amazing!

The 2 times he ate grass and his stifle relapsed, I added as you recommended AlleviateGold & SOS to his feed for 5 days and he came right again quickly so I now have this on hand in case I need it.

Thank you for all your guidance with my gorgeous boy who is now loving life 🥰
Simone

Contact us via our Enquiry Form for help with any issues you are having. Here is the link:
https://forms.wix.com/70c7cae9-bec0-444a-b26e-7da5ba4e6762:9c61e4d3-2e6b-4825-9b94-bf9c0e57e82c

05/01/2025

Get Grass Smart – it’s ALL about Management!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Our CHH perspective and recommendations come from the fact that we deal with the never-ending stream of people who have problems with their horses - all too often, major and all of them directly attributable to forage and feed.

Calm Healthy Horses addresses the various issues affecting domestic horses as MANAGEMENT issues not HORSE issues.

Horses evolved on, and therefore are only adapted to, vast semi-arid environments where rainfall and therefore fresh, green forage, were comparatively scarce. Very different from the small acreages of permanent green grass in regions which are more wet than dry where we keep them these days.

When you construct a green grass free area in the form of a Dry Lot or a Track, you are in effect, creating a ‘mini version’ of a semi-arid area: a Mini-Desert Environment.

This ENABLES you to manage the grass on the remaining areas of the property. It gives you somewhere to keep your horses at times when the grass isn’t suitable.

If you have sufficient land, are not over-stocked, and you can keep grass at a more mature stage of growth ahead of your horses, then you may not need to create the 'desert' area.

We sincerely hope that those who rent out their paddocks for grazing become educated. Agistment owners should have grass free options (not just yards or ‘yaddocks’) available so their clients can appropriately attend to their horse’s individual needs. In these environments there is no ‘one-size fits all’ grazing strategy that works for a whole group of horses.

In our view it is not acceptable to have ‘Field Rules’ that put both horse’s welfare and rider’s safety at risk.

A proper mini desert environment will become your biggest asset because it enables you to MANAGE access to the grass you have so that it doesn’t cause your horse to develop issues.

NOT understanding or having control over your horse’s grass intake can be expensive in more ways than one:

1. You can spend a LOT of money on investigations and treatments which are ‘barking up the wrong tree’. Money better spent on a permanent solution suited to the requirements of the types of horses on the property.
2. Loss of priceless confidence - which can be a major challenge to recover from.
3. WASTED YEARS because you can’t get the horse ‘right’ and therefore you can’t enjoy your horses or make real progress.

It is Summer down under – the best time to get your mini desert underway and completed in time for when the autumn rains arrive and the grass greens up!

Whether your mini desert takes the shape of a Dry Lot or a Track is often dictated by the drainage of the terrain on your property and the resources available.
Obviously it is easier and less costly on dry, well-draining land.

Do what you can with resources available with the view of extending it later.

Once you have experienced the difference in your horses after being kept on a mini-desert vs before when they were on green grass, there is no going back!

Look out for more posts on the subject of creating Mini-Desert Environments.
If you already have one, take a picture of it and post below in the comments. 🙂
*PICS
Cathy's Zephyr and Marshall Art have a great time whether on their dry lot or out for some grazing

23/12/2024

There once was a horse who wore glasses,
Whose riders would land on their arses
He was heard to exclaim
‘I won’t take the blame’
It’s to do with those bloody green grasses

Merry Christmas from the entire CHH team…

*CHH Cathy Dee is responsible for this Limerick and image

21/12/2024

Simple Adjustments were Game Changers:

Laura first contacted us because her lovely showjumping mare Carolina, had gone from being bullet proof and jumping 1.30m classes, to not even wanting to jump cross poles!

She had also become much more ‘spooky’ to ride and ‘tight behind’. (No different to handle).

In our experience the spookiness and tight muscles are related - caused by the long, lush spring grass she was being strip-grazed on at the time, with a couple of sections of hay per day.

It was this lush, green grass that was what was really getting in the way of her performance so we recommended no more strip-grazing, getting her completely off the green grass and feeding more of plain grass hay instead.

Laura worked out she could achieve this by utilising a combination of her yard and turning her out on the arena at night.

The lucerne chaff was swapped for oaten chaff and we adjusted her daily feeds, transitioning from bagged feed to plain feeds with Premium MVA and initially using GrazeEzy & SOS to help her settle and help her muscles to soften up.

Two weeks later she was back out jumping happily and since she hasn’t looked back!

“No more dealing with ‘grass affectedness’ and she looks a million dollars!”

Laura has a great team behind her :
Farrier - Glen Colby
Bodyworker - Jo Stutton
Coaches - Kylee McCambridge and Colin and Toni McIntosh

With competitions coming up in January Laura has all her ducks in a row!

17/12/2024

Get Grass Smart - Know What to do and Why

Dry summers make life easier for horse owners, wetter summers need more vigilance and attention to management.

Some people manage their horses successfully with the pasture they have available because their horses don’t seem to become ‘affected’ or if they do, any issues tend to be on the mild-moderate end of the spectrum.

In other words the metabolism of these horses is functioning normally and coping relatively well with any fluctuations in the grass.

These horses are balancing their own minerals and maintaining internal equilibrium. Homeostasis is working as it should.

Bear in mind that problems can brew sub-clinically for periods of time and eventually reach ‘tipping point’ after which health, movement and/or behaviour issues become evident.

Most of the owners who contact CHH are those whose horses have arrived at this point and are now struggling with ‘grass’ issues on the more serious end of the spectrum. Their horse’s metabolism is no longer coping with the imbalances of the pasture. They are needing help because they are now having difficulty maintaining equilibrium on their own.

Hence it pays to understand how changes in the weather can affect the nutrient composition of the grass and the metabolism of your horse.

For instance on the east coasts of NZ we have had a prolonged DRY SPELL to the point of extreme fire danger - unbelievably there are nitwits out there who toss cigarette butts or decide it is a good time for fire-works! Thankfully broken by 25mls of drought-breaking rain over the last 24 hours.

Very welcome on the one hand but with that amount of rain and warm ground temperatures things will rapidly green up!

Be proactive as this represents a sudden change to your horses’ forage – no green to very green.

Technically this means his forage has gone from ‘high fibre : low Crude Protein/nitrogen’ to the opposite ‘LOW fibre : High Crude Protein/nitrogen’. Low potassium to high potassium. It takes a couple of days for his kidneys to adjust to this change. As this grass emerges from the ground it is not yet high in sugars but as it gains leaf area sugar production will increase.

Preferably avoid horses consuming this grass but if that is not possible do what it takes to increase your horse’s hay intake. This is the BEST way to take care of the flora in the hind-gut and avoid upsets to the digestive, nervous and muscular systems.

For horse owners who rent grazing or have a challenge managing access to grass - adding salt is important along with using GrazeEzy & SOS which are formulated to counterbalance the effects of this ‘traitor’ grass. Use more when it rains, less over dry spells.

Other parts of the country have had very regular rain with warm temperatures so in these regions pasture tends to be lush – the same principle applies because this grass is also very low in Dry Matter.

Avoid processed/extruded feeds for ‘grass-affected’ horses because they are highly digestible and quickly metabolised. They work for ‘normal’ horses who are doing intense exercise but the last thing you want to do for a horse that has health and behaviour problems, is add quick release energy!

Plain feeds like non-lucerne chaff/beet/crushed linseed/sunflower work very well for the vast majority of ‘grass-affected’ horses.

Be aware - it is too easy to jump to false conclusions when the introduction of a new feed happens to coincide with either a change in the grass or the fact the horse’s metabolism just reached ‘tipping point’!

Photo: One of our CHH horses enjoying some high fibre/low nitrogen grass on a beautiful December evening

Address

Rangiora
7440

Telephone

+6433125567

Website

http://www.calmhealthyhorses.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Calm Healthy Horses posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Calm Healthy Horses:

Videos

Jess’s daughter’s pony had become a Head-Shaker Here is a typical real-life example of our message in last night’s post (and why to become “Grass Smart”)! Thanks Jess for sharing the journey! We brought our lovely young (6) Connemara pony home in mid-December 2023 for my 11 year old daughter. We didn't ride much in December and January because of the weather but, when we did ride, we noticed she was quite snatchy with the reins. We didn't overly think it at the time but instead brought some balance support reins to help support my daughter when she did this which became increasingly often (I would ride her without them). However, looking back now I think this was the start of our pony exhibiting ‘grass-affected’ behaviour. The pony, lived out 24/7 on stressed, overgrazed grass with our other 3 ponies who have never exhibited any issues in the 4 years that we have kept them at this location. The grass is also heavily rich in clover in parts which I now know to be detrimental to their health. After the rein snatching behaviour and as we headed into spring, the head shaking started in earnest. We did all the normal checks - teeth, saddle, bridle, bit, back etc and everything was absolutely fine but the head-shaking had worsened so much by June 2024 that we really could not ride our pony (even with a nose net (of which we tried various types!) and which provided some relief but not much) and cancelled all planned outings. I also realised having done a lot of research that the pony was probably in pain a lot at this point and we did not want to hurt her or us. She head-shook on the lunge in a head collar and whilst ridden out hacking and when turned out on grass. Interestingly, she showed no head shaking behaviour in an arena so we were able to keep her schooling up to a limited extent in an arena but could not ride her outside where she was a bit ‘footy’ as well. We were in contact with the pony's previous owners who assured us tha

Angus had a mild Head-Flick along with serious Muzzle Twitching! Laura contacted us about her horse Angus back on 21st August Over the previous 4 - 5 months Angus had begun showing the odd ‘flick’, become tight in his back and hind-quarter muscles, didn’t want to be bridled and became agitated when tied up. He had also developed incessant twitching of his muzzle shown in the video and wanted to rub his head a lot. His teeth were checked (no issues). Veterinary assessment was ‘Trigeminal Mediated Head-Shaking’. We helped Laura make some diet changes which included eliminating the short, green grass as much as possible, increasing hay consumption, altered his daily feed and switched him to our CHH supplements (which we know how to use for horses with these issues). Less than a month later Laura can’t believe the difference in such a short time. Even her Mum says he is a completely different horse, 'his eyes have relaxed'. “He’s even filled out, and the body worker said his muscles feel really good, no tightness or tightening and his top-line has improved even though he is out of work”. All the ‘symptoms’ Laura listed are frequently seen in HS horses so they all tend to resolve along with the HS. Thanks so much to Laura for sharing!

Calm Healthy Horses – not just for horses! Myskee contacted us because her young pet pig (Pickle) became tender on her feet, jumpy, grumpy/ not wanting to be touched, pushy, unsettled and tense. She wanted to know if our products would be safe to feed to pigs. Based on the issues she was displaying we recommended AlleviateGold. Myskee gave her one scoop (10g) for 2 day’s mixed in with her food. Within a few days: “Our baby girl is feeling much better! She now has a big smile, loose wagging tail, back to being affectionate and is overall way more comfortable! Your products are honestly magic in a bag. Thank you so much”. As the products are minerals with vitamins, there is no reason they should not address the same mineral imbalances horses suffer from and way back in time, horses and pigs, believe it or not came down the same evolutionary line. Pigs too are mono-gastrics. All mammals in fact, share the same basic physiology.

GRASS AFFECTED SYNDROME - IS THIS TRUE? More and more horse owners are keen to learn about the grass their horses are grazing, because they wish to avoid their horses becoming ‘Grass-Affected’ Hence we are starting a series of posts around the subject so everyone can “Get Grass Smart” Before we begin a few points need clearing up. We were astounded to read a recent post by a company denying that there is any such thing as a ‘Grass Affected’ horse. Instead, horses grazing spring grass are merely ‘fresh and uppity’. If only that was all they were! Here are some facts around the matter. There are plenty of owners who manage their horses just fine out on their pasture, often with the help of appropriate supplements, but sometimes one or more aspects of the grass overwhelm the horse’s metabolism, as is the case with the horse in the video. This results in horses becoming hyper-sensitive, dangerous to handle, let alone ride, get sore feet and laminitis, some develop sacro-iliac issues, head flicking, or staggers - to list just a few examples. The safest, quickest, and many times the ONLY way to help these horses and keep their handlers/riders safe, is to take them off the offending pasture. Safety is paramount. The horse in the video had suddenly become very stiff, couldn’t lower her head to the ground, couldn’t even get to the water-trough. The vet ran blood tests and we addressed the mineral imbalances - actually signs of 'grass tetany'. Her owner did a great job in difficult circumstances and now the horse is steady and sound again (took around a week). We don’t advocate at all, locking horses in yards or pens (except as an emergency short term measure) rather we give in-depth advice about how to manage horses in their particular situations. It was asserted that ‘Grass Affected Syndrome’ is not a veterinary defined term – we would say YET because many vets are now recognising this as a very real issue as we are getting more and

Head-Nodding/Flicking/Shaking/Ear shy ............. In our experience these are 'neurological' issues and are nearly always directly attributable to nutrition. When this owner contacted us about her horse who had rapid onset of 'head-nodding’, we knew what to suggest because we have prior experience of successfully managing this and other metabolic conditions. In the first video you can see how miserable he is! Although not as common as ‘head-flicking/shaking’ (where the horse involuntarily flicks his head upwards), ‘head-nodding’ or flicking the head downwards is a variation of head shaking that we have encountered before. Affected horses share similar levels of irritation to the facial nerves which results in the nodding, we noticed the ‘aeroplane ears’ which also tend to present in head-shakers. Additionally, this horse had a degree of light sensitivity, which is another classic symptom in head-shakers. For this horse we were able to quickly identify the mineral imbalances and micro-nutrient deficiencies that needed addressing. He was already living in a grass free zone and fed plain grass hay, so we were able to make some simple feed adjustments and offer some appropriate supplementation to bring him relief. As a result, the ‘nodding’ lessened within a few days and had completely gone within 10 days. In this case the response to the dietary changes were relatively rapid. In our experience this can happen with many horses and ponies, but equally highly sensitive and chronic cases can take much longer to achieve this level of recovery. It all depends upon the individual horse, already being on a grass free / hay-based diet probably helped in the speed of recovery in this case. It is important to note that we were only able to offer our help because we have developed our own range of supplements that are purpose-built to support horses with dietary related metabolic conditions. Our formulations have evolved over 20 years in

Hyper-sensitivity – unwillingness to be touched/brushed/flies drive them mad! It can be puzzling when your horse uncharacteristically ‘doesn’t want to be touched or brushed’, girthed up or gives you the evil look and even threatens you when you are putting his cover on. In more extreme cases this can get to the point where they can be ‘twitchy’ as in the video clip we took to illustrate the point. Well handled domestic horses would normally only twitch like this when a fly lands on them. The question comes to mind – is this ‘behavioural’ (ie has the horse has become ‘naughty’) or is he genuinely trying to communicate with you that the act of being touched or groomed is not a pleasant experience for him. He will give you plenty of warning signs to ‘cease and desist’. First he will try to avoid being touched by moving away – these will escalate to pinning the ears, giving you a ‘dirty look’, tensing his muscles, swishing his tail and if you still don’t take heed he will reach around and nip, stomp his feet, even swing his hind-quarters towards you. The horse is just doing his best to communicate his discomfort. Respect the fact he is trying to tell you something and take heed. Communicate to him that you are listening by backing off – this will immediately de-escalate the ‘behaviour’. When horses exhibit these signs they are ‘not at Square One ie they are not in a fit state to proceed with handling/training. In our experience it is a waste of time, unpleasant for the horse and potentially very risky, to be trying to 'work through' any of these issues by persisting because this is not a training issue. Rather, aspects of the horse’s diet are disturbing the bio-chemistry of nerve function. In this case it is affecting the horse's peripheral (outer-most) nervous endings. The horse’s skin is densely populated with nerve endings all over his body (unlike we humans) and in these cases, those tiny nerves are inappro

Kara did not think this day would ever come! Thanks so much to Kara for sharing King’s journey back from head-shaking. Feb 24th - Kara from VIC, Australia, contacted us because her16.2hh, 9 yr old TB ‘King’ was head-shaking so badly she had given up riding him. The videos show how uncomfortable he was and how the urge to rub his nose was strong! A Veterinary consultation resulted in King having Allergy Tests and he was put on a course of preddy granules, plus a cortisone shot (to reduce symptoms of allergic-type reactions). Neither made any change for King. Back then King was on agistment and his forage consisted of short, green grass plus half a bale of Teff hay over 24 hours. However, Kara managed to find a way to section him off in a suitably sized area with some trees, to get him off the green grass as best she could and increase his hay consumption. We over-hauled his hardfeeds to be more appropriate and incorporated some of our supplements which we know work well for head-shaking horses and which included addressing the oxalates in the Teff hay. Kara kept touch with us over the next few months so we could adjust his supplements according to how he was doing. As is the norm for HS horses, it wasn’t an over-night fix but by early April King was showing signs of improvements. When being lunged there were signs of HS but nowhere near as bad as he was around a month or two ago. We explained how to not have any particular expectations of a day and adjust what she was doing to stay in his comfort zone and not stress him at all April 25th – On lunging there was definitely an improvement - First 10 minutes or so he was great, wind also picked up as well as a bit of rain which I found aggravated it a little more. I’ve found that he doesn’t get the violent “zaps” as much anymore, just shaking and nose blowing. We assured Kara she was on the right path and to keep up the good work. May 15th “Some good news, King has been doing amazing a

Misconceptions about the 'Grass Affected' condition. A few of the comments in the previous post highlighted some misunderstandings. Some people seem to think that if you buy a horse that isn’t Grass Affected, or is claimed to not be Grass Affected by the seller, that this horse will be safe to buy – that it is more or less a guarantee that it won’t be Grass Affected at your place – not true. What the thinking here is, that some horses don’t get Grass Affected. Also not true. In fact, just because they are not symptomatic does not mean they are not brewing for it sub-clinically and won’t become symptomatic on the grass at your place. The point is, that the horse’s metabolism can cope for so long, it copes until it doesn’t – ie reaches ‘tipping point’. That could be the moment he reaches your place (or soon after) or it could be when spring or other conditions make a change in the grass that tips him over, or it could even be several years down the track before things start going haywire. Horses that are kept out on the range or on vast acreages of native unimproved land are least likely to get Grass-Affected. Horses kept on dairy pasture or equivalent, are very likely to get Grass-Affected. “Can you do any sort of testing blood work to try and not buy a grass affected horse?” Short answer – no. Whether or not he becomes Grass Affected depends on the pasture both past and present – not the horse. If you have the right set up, you can take on any Grass Affected horse, no matter how bad he is (provided it is safe for him to travel) keep him as we advise and end up with a brilliant horse. The opposite to this is when people who don’t understand the grass, buy perfectly good calm healthy horses and turn them into 'Fire-Breathing Dragons' by keeping them on the wrong forage. Similar things can happen when grazing brand new grass – look out for a post on this soon.

Like so many wee ponies, dear little Coco ran into trouble with laminitis and Cushing’s. Despite being taken off grass a month before contacting us, and being fed plenty of 3 year old plain grass hay, along with being put on Previcox for pain and Prascend for the Cushings, managing these issues was proving difficult. Belinda reached out for help and we went over Coco’s diet. Coco was previously getting the following as a hard feed… A Cup of soaked beet Half a cup of zero 2x a day along with some supplementation (not from our range) These feeds are advertised as ‘laminitis safe’, However we maintain that these claims shouldn’t be made at all - whether any particular feed will cause or exacerbate laminitis or not, will be down to the metabolic state of the horse they are being fed to. As Coco was clearly still in a lot of pain (see start of video) priority was to get her pain-free. We advised all hard feed be removed at this stage and instead a slurry of AlleviateGold and SOS, with her pills crushed and in there too, syringed in morning and night. Belinda also made sure the pony had a soft pile of sawdust to stand in – this is very important to help support the bone column as well as giving her somewhere comfy to lie down. Two weeks later Belinda reported that the pony had ‘improved loads’ and she sent another video – what a great improvement! Now she could halve the Gold and SOS and introduce a small feed of the following… Timothy chaff and a handful of sunflower seeds with PremiumMVA The final video we received today – just a month later, shows her much welcomed recovery. Back to her ‘sassy’ self! Well done Belinda, bringing a horse or pony through laminitis is hard work but worth the effort. The way forward to ensure no relapses is to create a 100% grass free track with options of shade and shelter and friends. Ideas around this are here plus there are great facebook groups now that this way of keeping horses has become mo

This story is for those people who have Head-Shaking horses or as in Logan’s case ‘Head-Bobbing/Nodding'. Logan’s dedicated owners stuck with it, gave us feedback all the way and this account is a great illustration of the process. While it took 4-5 months to resolve, this is not a long time in the lifespan of a horse like Logan who now has many happy years ahead of him. It was interesting that in this case, the issue was not caused by green grass – but by the hay he was consuming plus his metabolism had been compromised by Lyme disease. Logan’s owners Anne & Dave live in Oregon, USA. Thankyou Anne for your detailed account! “Here’s an uplifting story to provide hope. Our Logan is a 19 yr TWH Gelding. His primary job is as an excellent, trusted trail horse. He has a very calm, quiet, thoughtful disposition. He lives in a drylot paddock at our home with us and his brother from another mother, Lucas. He had sudden onset headshaking (HS) starting November of 2023. It presented as “nodding” (which we equated to humming to himself), then a little more amplitude we called “bobbing”, with “snapping” in varying degrees. Some days he was very, very hard to watch, and he certainly would not have been rideable on these days. At some point, I could not hold a feed pan for him without ensuring I gave him plenty of room to snap and not clock me. And his 90% uv mask made little difference....he still ‘bobbed’ He is fed Low Sugar tested hay and a premium brand of supplements. It is of note that although he lives in a dry lot, and is fed tested hay, his supplements were alfalfa- and flax- based… with a small amount of molasses in one of them. At the time this started, he wasn’t working much as the weather was icy…. His health history includes presenting as “positive” for Lyme disease when we bought him 12 years ago. He has an extensive list of allergies, as confirmed by allergy testing, and was treated with a serum protocol. Whe

Wrapping your head around the ‘Grass’ message!! The previous post pointed out that ‘all grass is not equal’ and that it is necessary to understand the various aspects of the grass your horse is eating. Because of course horses are supposed to eat grass, understandably it can be a stretch for people to come to the realisation that it isn’t ALWAYS good for their horses. We do see/hear our message being misinterpreted - ‘taking the horse off grass’ actually means taking them off UNSUITABLE grass. This usually means off short or lush green grass. We recognise there are many horse owners out there who genuinely don’t experience their horses becoming ‘grass-affected’ on their grass in their neck of the woods. We are happy for them but it pays to note that there are also vast numbers of horses who cannot cope with the grass that they are living on. Our messages are principally directed at the thousands of horse owners with horses who DO get ‘grass-affected’. We’re not just talking about horses getting a bit over-weight or a bit spooky here and there, we are helping horses globally who get footy, EMS, Laminitis, HS, PSSM, SIJ, Digestive Disorders, ‘Neurological & Neuro-muscular Disorders’, become hyper-sensitive or over-reactive, Behavioural, Allergies, Reproductive Issues and so on. These sadly, add up to an astronomical number of horses! The conditions listed can cost the owner not only financially but in WASTED YEARS, not to mention the stress of it all. Failure to understand the grass aspect may even be the end of the horse especially if seen, evaluated, diagnosed by people who do not understand this. There are horse owners who ‘get by’ because their horse doesn’t get ‘bad’ enough or do anything ‘scary’ enough that they are motivated to do something about their grass and they are inclined to put things down to the horses ‘temperament’ or breeding. This is so not true - all horses should be nothing other tha

What does ‘Neurological’ mean? It pays to understand this if you are a horse owner! The term means there is a problem with the nervous system. Alarmingly, this seems to be only interpreted to mean there is a ‘physical injury’ hence the x-rays and scans. That the most likely cause, given the horse has been out on green grass, is a ‘bio-chemistry injury’ isn’t even on the radar! This is yet another scenario where a lot of money can be spent looking for the least likely cause (which in Jimmy’s case could have resulted in him being pts) when the real cause is hiding in plain sight! "This is Jimmy our 12year old Welsh pony. I woke up one morning back in May 23 to find Jimmy shaking & wobbly (kinda like he was drunk). He was struggling to walk, high stepping in back end & had a wide stance when standing (like he was bracing himself). I contacted the vets, they checked for all sorts, eg: laminitis, took bloods, x-rayed his neck & back, but apart from a couple of things on his bloods that were slightly low everything else was fine. After several of these episodes & several more vet visits it was thought to be ‘Neurological’ & the next step was Massey for a Neuro test & CT scan. Big decisions were ahead of us. Do we continue to Massey (which would be very costly, and potentially still not get an answer) or do we make the hard decision to put Jimmy to sleep! After speaking with our farrier Lee Jenkins, she recommended I talk to Jenny at Calm Healthy Horses. Jenny put us on a very intensive nutritional plan to address the ‘neurological’ issues (Premium MVA/SOS/AlleviateGold plus increased salt intake) and increased the protein with crushed linseed and sun-flower-meal. We continued to keep in touch & altered things when needed & after about 8 weeks Jimmy was back to normal!! It’s now 5mths since his last episode & he’s still doing great!! Thanks to Lee Jenkins for pointing us in the right direction, Jenny & Cathy for your advice & support!