Hidden Fox Farm

09/28/2023

Time To Shine…aka Scotty is availble for ⛵️. Scotty is a 2018 16.1 TB gelding who has a great jump, lovely mover and easy change. He has just started showing in the 2’6 and is ready for the Baby Greens. Easy enough for a jun/am to ride and show in a trainers program. He is very sweet to work around with a great personality. Text/pm Adie at 614-736-1492 for price and video. We are located in Ohio.

12/12/2022

Fascinating Facts About Horse Digestion

Many people anthropomorphize horses. We think they should be clean. We think they should wear nice, warm blankets when it’s cold, and we think they should eat two or three meals a day.

Horses are horses–not humans. They should be treated like horses. They like to get dirty. They can regulate their own body temperature in most cases. They have a unique digestive system that is very different from the human digestive tract.

Understanding horse digestion should be a top priority. It sometimes seems that the horse’s digestive system is quite delicate, but many of the common digestive problems are due to the unnatural way horses are fed. When a horse is out in the wild with thousands of acres of free-roam grazing, and the only external demand is to maintain itself and occasionally run from predators, this configuration serves it quite well, most of the time.

A minimum of 10 acres is required per horse to make enough forage for consumption, allow adequate movement, and to minimize parasitism. This is difficult to achieve in the modern world for most people. Riding or lunging must suffice for exercise, and the horse is much more reliant upon hay. Dewormers, of course, rid them of parasites- at least most of them, there are exceptions.

Here are some fascinating (and good-to-know) facts about horse digestion:

1. The horse is a non-ruminant herbivore. The digestive system share features with dogs and cats (and humans) which are monogastric, as well as the ruminant in which there are 3-4 gastric compartments. (Camelids have three).

2. As forage (the horse’s natural food) is chewed by the horse, the salivary glands produce up to 10 gallons of saliva (per day). Saliva is crucial for neutralizing stomach acids and reducing the risk of gastric ulcers. Horses do not make as much saliva when eating grain-type feeds.

3. The esophagus, which empties into the stomach, only works in one direction for the horse. Food cannot be regurgitated or vomited.

4. Gastric capacity is 8-10 liters, which is quite small compared to other parts of the digestive system.

5. Water only remains in the horse’s stomach for about 15 minutes before moving on to the small intestine. Food retention varies depending upon the type- grass, hay, or grain.

6. When the stomach is empty, acid can attack the squamous cells in the stomach lining, often resulting in ulcers. Therefore, small frequent meals, access to a slow feeder, or access to pasture are important.

7. Most of the digestion and absorption of sugars, starches, proteins, and fats occurs in the small intestine.

8. Horses do not have a gall bladder. Instead, the small intestine aids in the digestion of fats.

9. More than 1g/kg of sugars and starches spill into the colon, potentially causing colitis and diarrhea. Horses should be fed primarily forage and only small amounts of a low carbohydrate concentrate.

10. The cecum is homologous to the human appendix.

11. The colon is shaped like a stacked horse shoe, with varying dimensions to allow proper food mixing and digestion.

12. Food enters and exits the cecum at the top. This is a common site for impaction colic, which is often due to lack of water intake.

13. The cecum and other parts of the large intestine contain active populations of bacteria and yeast, which help break food down in a process called fermentation. This results in the formation of free fatty acids, from which the horse derives most of its energy. It also results in a large amount of gas, as a by-product.

14. The bacterial and microbe populations become specific in fermenting the type of food the horse normally eats. When a new food is introduced suddenly, the bacteria/ microbes cannot ferment it effectively and the result is often colic. (Therefore, all feed changes should be made very gradually.)

15. Borborygmic sounds or ‘Gut sounds’ indicated that food is moving through the digestive tract. An absence of gut sounds likely means there is some digestive upset or obstruction.

16. A horse requires a minimum of 1.5% of his body weight daily of long-stemmed roughage (grass/ hay) for normal digestive tract activity; this is 15 pounds of roughage for a 1000 lb. horse.

17. The entire digestion process, from oral to aboral, takes about 36-72 hours.

18. If it were to be stretched from end to end, the horse’s digestive tract would be about 115 feet long, from mouth to a**s.

Fox Run Equine Center

www.foxrunequine.com

12/12/2022

To my ladies😊

BY LAUREN MAULDIN The adult amateur, regardless of geographical location, is typically skittish in the winter. Less sunlight, colder temperatures, and holiday stress make a trifecta that can result in some interesting behavior. While many trainers and horses recommend medicating your adult amateur,....

07/24/2022

Claire and Miel Jump Off

07/24/2022

Claire and Miel Future Round

07/24/2022

So proud of Claire and Miel on their first Futures Prix win!

Claire Austin and K T Miel Sweep the $10,000 WEC Futures Prix

Claire Austin and K T Miel scored the $10,000 Futures Prix win. Photo courtesy of Winslow Photography.
The heat was on during the $10,000 WEC Futures Prix as twenty horse-and-rider combinations raced to finish Bobby Murphy’s winding tracks in record time. Nine teams advanced into the jump-off and six went double clear. The competition was tough, but none could catch seventeen-year-old Claire Austin and Michael Kirby’s K T Miel.

Ringside, we chatted with Claire. “This horse is just plain good! He loves to do the inside turns and is with me wherever I point him. He’s newer to me and I just began riding him in January, so this is very exciting for me and the team.”

Claire and K T Miel accept their awards in the winner’s circle. Photo courtesy of Winslow Photography.
The dueling duo from Powell, Ohio, turned out their best rides to take home the blue-ribbon honors with a time of 36.381 seconds in round one. The pair immediately caught their breath before riding the short course, which they completed in a speedy 34.274 seconds for the win.

Rinehart courageously piloted Captain American to another Futures Prix top finish. Photo courtesy of Winslow Photography.
Previous Futures Prix winners, Richard Rinehart and Captain America (Contendro) held the lead for much of the class but ultimately were surpassed by Austin who secured a near two-second lead. Rinehart of Rinehart Farm in Westfield, Indiana, and the eight-year-old gelding left all rails untouched as they floated through round one in a swift 76.825-second finish before flying through the jump-off in 36.782 seconds to later land in second place.

11/01/2021

The games !!

11/01/2021

The games !!!

11/01/2021

Happy Halloween from Hidden Fox Farm!! The party did not disappoint
🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

04/23/2021

We are always so thankful for our wonderful barn family but wanted to send out an extra thank you to the grandparents and the amazing support you give to your grandchildren. Not only did we see grandparents coming out to watch lessons and sharing pony stories but also helping out by rolling polos (always appreciated!) and we had another grandma make an amazing penne and (homemade!) meatball barn dinner. We love to see you all at the barn supporting your grandkids and cheering them on!

04/07/2021

Looking for a part time stable hand at our barn in Ostrander (close to Delaware/Dublin/ Marysville) to work from 9am to 1pm. Duties to include stall cleaning and bedding as well as turning out and bringing in horses. Previous experience recommended. $12/hr

03/29/2021

JayZ, owned by Annette Spicker and Grace Pruchnicki, had his official retirement party this weekend!! His only job now is to enjoy eating grass with his pony friend, Twilight and go on some trail rides. A special thanks to the Gottfried family for allowing him to enjoy his new life of leisure at your farm.

03/29/2021

JayZ, owned by Annette Spicker and Grace Pruchnicki, had his official retirement party this weekend!! His only job now is to enjoy eating grass with his pony friend, Twilight and go on some trail rides. A special thanks to the Gottfried family for allowing him to enjoy his new life of leisure at your farm.