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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.

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

16/12/2024

Lessons in Facilitating 'Weight Gain'

Eleysha contacted us late October because she had been struggling to keep weight on her horse Pippa, over winter. This had been her first winter on a track system and she had lost a lot of weight and top-line since the previous summer, despite still being in regular work and despite being fed 1 kg of copra every day.

The goal isn’t to ‘fatten’ the horse, rather to encourage muscle replenishment.

There are several things you can do nutritionally to help this along. We recommended some simple adjustments to Pippa’s diet and while she will continue to improve, Eleysha can’t believe the difference these have made already.

“Just wanting to give you an update on how my mare is going.

She is looking like a different horse in less than two months of the alterations to her feed.

I made the recommended changes: - swapped the copra for beet, added the crushed linseed, and added Shape Up (pure amino acids) and Alleviate Gold (Vitamins) mixed with GOOD2GO and meadow chaff.

Her coat is looking great, the weight is coming back, and her energy levels have improved without her getting hot and frisky.
Thank you so much for your help and amazing products”.
Kind regards, Eleysha

Many people think that all it takes is exercise to build muscle but while regular exercise, especially in conjunction with targeted exercises, can increase muscle size, we also observe muscle replenishment in horses that do very little exercise, either because they are too young or too old or who aren’t being exercised for one reason or another.

After all it makes sense that the ‘building blocks’ (amino acids) of muscle first need to be available in the diet. Neither repairs nor construction can take place if these aren’t readily available.

There are several amino acids that tend not to be as well represented in some protein sources like copra. Each protein source has its own unique ‘amino acid profile’ some being better suited to horses than others.

Muscle ‘growth’ occurs whenever the rate of muscle protein synthesis is greater than the rate of muscle protein breakdown.

A very under-estimated aspect, fundamental to achieving weight gain are the vitamins which are needed for the synthesis of the Non-Essential amino acids (those that can be made within the horse’s body) and for the complex processes that do the work - the repair and building of muscle tissue.

When horses live on short or lush green grass there is insufficient Dry Matter (fibre) intake for the hind-gut flora to ferment and consequently production of the B-Vitamins suffers.

ANY digestive upset at all in fact will cause the horse to become depleted in these critical vitamins which, being water-soluble are not stored. With the addition of any stress or acute illness the horse can become very depleted within a few days.

All it took to turn around Pippa’s poorly condition:
-Improved amino acid supply – while Good2Go provides maintenance amounts of protein (from linseed/sunflower), Pippa clearly needed more initially so crushed linseed was introduced to replace the copra.
-Beet because it has a low sugar content while providing Digestible Energy (needed to metabolise the protein)
-Adding ShapeUp (rich in amino acids) for 10-12 weeks
-AlleviateGold (rich in vitamins) for at least a month

An effective strategy for muscle repair and promoting top-line.

Photo Pippa late October 24 and again mid December 24
We will post another update in another month or so

11/12/2024

Get Grass Smart – Hives/Protein Lumps/Urticaria

We have had queries about why these small, round, elevated lumps on the skin appear occasionally on our horses. Referred to as ‘protein lumps’ or ‘hives’.

These raised areas can persist for a few hours, or several days. They might be in one area or scattered over the body.

Sometimes they are itchy but usually not painful. In more severe cases the lumps may ooze a liquid (serum).

Over the years we have observed a strong correlation between the incidence of these lumps and the consumption of short or lush green grass especially when there is a high clover component or when the horse is also fed lucerne/alfalfa.

Such forage inevitably has a high nitrogen content. In horses, ‘hives’ have generally been associated with high-protein diets and are often observed as being ‘seasonal’, more common in spring and autumn where they can develop within 15 minutes to 24 hours of a change in the grass or with the proliferation of clover.

They don’t tend to occur when the grass dries off and conditions don’t favour clover.

When ‘Alto’ in the photos suddenly came out in these lumps, it was actually in June – mid-winter.

At the time he was grazing short, green grass which we immediately analysed. The results showed the Crude Protein was a very high 27% (should be

09/12/2024

Good2Go is getting rave reviews!

Congratulations to Amelia French and her fabulous horse Nicau…

“Hi I just wanted to let you know that Nicau is doing really well on Good2Go!

We recently won Champion Grand Prix at the Canterbury Dressage Championships and he had good energy both days.

His coat is looking lovely and it's nice to not have to feed so many powders!”

We visited Nicau yesterday to take these photos of him and were very impressed with how calm and gentle he is.

At 18hh he is truly the epitome of a gentle giant!

Good2Go is only available in NZ at this stage.

For more info: https://www.calmhealthyhorses.com/g2g

Photo Credit: Cathy Dee Photography

03/12/2024

Get Grass Smart - Cocksfoot, Bromes, Timothy, Yorkshire Fog

These are 'cool season' grasses, all in the 'high production' category compared to the finer, shorter sward, low nutrient density grasses like brown-top, sweet vernal, in the previous Get Grass Smart Post. All were widely used by farmers prior to rye-grass coming on the scene.

As with all pasture what you sow will depend on the purpose – whereas the former ‘low production’ grasses are ideal for ponies as well as horses recovering from various ‘issues’, the following are more suited to performance or breeding horses and a mix of these make great hay for them too.

If you are planning on allowing grazing access to these grasses the ‘stage of growth’ at which you allow access is critical.

ALL grasses, when in the vegetative stage of growth (short or lush), are too low in Dry Matter, too high in CP/Nitrogen for horses, not to mention when they also have plenty of leaf area, are too high in sugars too.

MANAGEMENT is key – unless you have plenty of acreage and low stocking rates, you will need to have somewhere to keep the horses OFF this grass while you make the hay and for other times of the year when it is in growth mode.

A mix of the following make great hay for horses (in NZ)
When hay is grown commercially fertiliser will be added to increase yield and # of ‘cuts’ in the season. We have learned by experience that there is a fine line between achieving a good crop and rendering it unsuitable for many horses.

Cocksfoot
Also referred to as Orchard Grass, this grass used to be the NZ farmer’s main production grass before rye-grass.
It tends to make ‘coarser’ hay.

Brome Grasses
Prairie grass and Grazing Brome (closely related) are excellent for most horses – they are large-leafed grasses which grow well during winter and early spring and are drought tolerant.
They do not tolerate waterlogged soil conditions.

Timothy
Best suited to moist, cooler conditions of South Island. Timothy has a distinctive bullrush-shaped seed head (see photos).
Timothy grass doesn’t stand up to heavy trampling and is not very drought tolerant so it is great as part of a mix for Performance or Breeding horses. It is a ‘higher sugar’ grass than the likes Brown-Top/Sweet Vernal.

Grows only on moist, heavy soils in cooler regions and is highly palatable to horses.

Yorkshire Fog Grass
Doesn't mind the wetter conditions – a good grass for properties with less than ideal drainage.
Thrives on infertile and acidic soils.
Works well as part of a mix but can tend to dominate other species over time.
Due to their hairiness some horses do not find the leaves of 'fog' grass very palatable (but they do love the seed heads).
Be aware when making Yorkshire Fog into hay as it takes a lot more drying than other grasses.
For these reasons we tend not to include Yorkshire Fog in grass seed mixes.

For a good grass seed Mix in NZ contact Pastoral Improvements
[email protected]

Remember grass of any species is only 'horse-friendly' when allowed to mature before grazing.

If you are resowing - Brand new grass of ANY species is particularly potent and needs to be first grazed by sheep, (or mowed) when it is 6" high, then a crop of hay taken off it after which it should be left until it has 'dried/hardened' off BEFORE allowing grazing access for horses.
Photos:
1. Cocksfoot/Orchard Grass
2. Prairie Grass
3. Timothy Grass
4. Yorkshire Fog-Grass

28/11/2024

Clancy had a lot going on!

Clancy is a 14 yrs 15.2 QH gelding who had been struggling with EMS for years.

Back in early May, Amanda contacted us because Clancy had developed more issues – he had become anxious, girthy, had sacro-iliac issues, he was ‘wheezing’, had mud-fever, was itchy, ‘footy’, did the odd head-toss/flick and had cracks in hooves!

But Amanda’s main concern was that his urine was ‘constantly like yellow lotion’ and he was peeing ‘little and often’.

Amanda also observed intermittent swelling along his ventral line and his sheath, and between the jowls. He was extremely irritable around the belly and would nip and pin ears back. Grumbly tummy and mild ‘head-bobbing’.

The Vet was thorough, conducting an ultrasound of Clancy’s kidneys and ran bloods, he was low in sodium despite being fed salt.

Clancy had monthly body work, his teeth were up to date, vaccine up to date, hooves were up to date.

A 43 temperature prompted another vet visit – more blood work, abdominal tap, ultrasounds etc with no clear indication of why his temperature spiked.

At the time Clancy was turned out 5 hours per day on dry short grass, no green. His feeds consisted of 4kg bucket of lucerne/wheaten chaff mix, hygain zero 500g, 50-60g of salt. His plain grass hay was either Teff or Rhodes.

Mid-May we recommended some diet changes for Clancy. Even though the grass he had for 5 hours a day did not ‘look’ problematic, it was eliminated as was all lucerne.

He was transitioned onto a simple feed: plain white chaff, soaked beet, ground linseed, sunflower seeds for protein plus Supreme MVA (Minerals, Vitamins, Amino Acids) plus salt.

June 6th: “Clancy has stopped head bobbing. He is drinking 10-25 litres overnight of water but still peeing yellow lotion. The swelling of his sheath and between his jowls is nearly non- existent now. Thank you!”

June 21st Clancy still has the yellow lotion peeing issue even though bloods show he is well hydrated and his average water intake is up to 25-30 ltrs overnight,

July 31st Update on Clancy – he is still on all the supplements. He’s been going well: minimal to no swelling of the sheath, no swelling between the jowls, no head tossing and his urine has been looking the clearest for a week! Consistently the best and longest for years!

Nov 14

Hi just thought I’d update you on Clancy: He’s going fantastic - been off Alleviate Gold and SOS for about month but I have kept both on hand just in case. He’s more comfortable on the back and stomach area and even breaking straight into a canter when he’s goes out into his bigger run.

His urine is still normal and not peeing little bits all the time, he is actually doing big pees less often. His overall attitude is so much happier and back to the Clancy I used to know.

He can now be brushed on the belly and his back muscles are no longer tight and sore. Can’t thank you enough for the help you have given us as he and I have struggled for years and - your knowledge and help is the only thing that saved him from the pain and discomfort he was in.

Clancy had a lot going on and his story is a great example of the difference the right nutrients can make!

Importantly Amanda stuck with it UNTIL his metabolism returned to normal functioning – time frames are always hard to predict but look at the difference over the last 6 months.
Thankyou Amanda!
Photos, 6 months between

If you would like specific help with your horse, contact us via our Enquiry Form : https://forms.wix.com/70c7cae9-bec0-444a-b26e-7da5ba4e6762:9c61e4d3-2e6b-4825-9b94-bf9c0e57e82c

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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!