Phelps Farrier Service

10/13/2023

This is for everyone who is confused about horse weight, this is not to shame you or your horse. These pictures are only to educate you in a way that would be best understood on what a healthy horse should look like. There are a lot of people, and even some veterinary professionals, that would say the last picture represents a healthy horse, but it does not. Today, because there are so many overweight horses, it is hard to recognize when your horse is unhealthy but I hope this picture is able to give you some perspective.

10/10/2023

Question

Is it safe to graze horses after a killing frost? What do I need to consider before turning them back out on pasture? Also, what defines a killing frost?

Response

A killing frost (or hard freeze) refers to a frost that is severe enough to end the growing season. The National Weather Service defines a hard freeze when temperatures fall below 28ºF for a few hours.

We recommend keeping horses off pastures for 7 days after a killing frost. Frost-damaged pastures are higher in nonstructural carbohydrates because plants can not use up their stored carbohydrates as efficiently. It can take plants 7 days to return to more normal nonstructural carbohydrate levels. Higher levels of nonstructural carbohydrates can lead to an increase risk for laminitis, especially in horses diagnosed with or prone to obesity, laminitis, Cushings, and Equine Metabolic Syndrome.

The decision to graze again after a killing frost depends on the condition of your pasture. After a killing frost, no additional regrowth of the pasture will occur, even though the pasture might appear green in color. If your cool-season grass pasture is

✅ taller than 3 to 4 inches, then grazing can resume 7 days after a killing frost and can continue until the pasture is grazed down to 3 to 4 inches.
❌ shorter than 3 to 4 inches, then no grazing should occur after a killing frost.

The 3- to 4-inch minimum height recommendation is necessary to help maximize winter survival and can help predict a vigorous and healthy pasture come spring. We do recognize horses rarely graze uniformly and pastures tend to have areas of both over and under grazing. Therefore, owners need to base decisions on the average appearance of the pasture.

10/02/2023

01/31/2023

01/25/2023

05/03/2021

I use four nails a lot, I use five nails a little bit, I rarely use six and I pretty much never use 7 (even in shires!) why is this when a lot of people use five as a minimum?

Personally I think that the less holes that you can put into a foot the better as there is then less chance for a bacterial invasion to occur or foot chipping of (often through perforation due to nail holes being close to each other), when the horse looses a shoe.

If you have good nail placement and good clenches then that’s the best for the horse. If they are going to catch it extra nails won’t help it stay on!

03/03/2021

Good things to know about.

Horse owners are reminded to watch for hoary alyssum in their hay. Hoary alyssum is a perennial toxic w**d commonly found in sandy pastures and hay fields in the Midwest. Hoary alyssum is toxic when horses graze the fresh plant in the pasture or when consumed as a dried plant in hay. Most hoary alyssum poisoning occurs when horses accidentally consume it in hay. Common signs of toxicity include:
- Swelling and fluid build-up in the lower legs or “stocking up”
- A fever of 103F or higher
- Warm hooves
- Pronounced digital pulse (laminitis)
- Stiff joints and an unwillingness to move
- A “camped out” stance
- Rarely death

There is zero tolerance for hoary alyssum in hay intended for horses; do not feed hay infested with hoary alyssum to horses. Hoary alyssum does not affect other livestock, so hay infested with hoary alyssum can be fed to cattle. In most horses, clinical signs normally disappear with supportive treatment 2 to 4 days after removing the w**d source. However, some horses may be slow to return to full performance or may never completely recover.

For more information on hoary alyssum visit https://extension.umn.edu/horse-pastures-and-facilities/hoary-alyssum-most-common-poisonous-plant-horses-minnesota

02/02/2021