CareMore Nutrition

09/25/2023

It’s that time of year again. 🍁

WARNING! Hidden Danger in Fall Foliage

It is easy to get into the spirit of Fall this time of year. Everywhere you look there are pumpkins, hayrides, apple cider and the changing colors of the leaves. But did you know that there are hidden dangers in the fall for your horses? In the fall and winter, forages become scarcer and their nutritional value naturally decreases. As a result, horses will begin to look to plants they normally wouldn’t as a source of feed. One of the most dangerous of these is leaves. Those beautiful piles of red, yellow and orange leaves can be deadly to our equine friends.

Several types of leaves are toxic to horses and should be avoided at all costs. Horses like the taste and smell of recently fallen leaves so it is important to ensure that your pastures are free of the following types of trees and leaves that can prove toxic to horses:

Red Maple: Highly toxic to horses, ingestion of 1.5 pounds can be toxic and 3 pounds or more fatal. Symptoms include difficulty breathing, dark brown urine, increased heart and respiratory rates, lethargy and progressive weakness.

Cherry and Plum Trees: The leaves, twigs, bark and pit of this plant are all toxic to horses. Symptoms may include: Anxiety, weakness, convulsions and can lead to death.

Oak: Wilted Oak leaves and acorns can be toxic to horses in large quantities due to the toxin tannic acid. Symptoms of poisoning include lack of appetite, blood in urine, diarrhea, and colic.

Black Walnut: Toxic to horses. Symptoms of toxicity include laminitis, reluctance to move, difficulty breathing, increased temperature and heart rate, difficulty breathing, limb edema and increased gut sounds.

In order to keep your horses safe from the dangers of toxic leaves keep in mind the following:

Ensure that falling leaves from toxic trees are not baled into hay
Never dispose of raked leaves into your pasture
When creating new pastures, ensure that you are aware of what trees are in and near the pasture and cut down and remove any trees and branches from trees that can be toxic to horses
Supplement pasture intake with good-quality hay
Contact a veterinarian immediately if you believe that your horse may have ingested any of these leaves and is showing symptoms of toxicity.

Brought to you by CareMore Nutrition, the makers of RevolutionEQ and Prime4Life. www.CareMoreNutrition.com

12/13/2022

09/26/2022

This is our blog article from 2017 but since our first major storm event is headed to Florida now (2022) we thought it’s relevant to share again. Hug your horses, hay them up & hunker down.

IMPORTANT: FEEDING HORSES DURING IRMA - PLEASE READ & SHARE- For those of you whose horse are in the path of Hurricane Irma, and for any major barometric changes, please read this valuable information from Dr Jim Wright DVM.

The great barometric changes, especially in storms like Irma, from my experience, seems to greatly increase colic problems. I can attest after not being able to travel in Andrew, so your veterinarian may not be able to get to you. I recommend withholding grain for at least 36 hours before and 48-72 hours after a hurricane BUT give the plenty of hay to help maintain good GI function and to browse on as a pacifier.

Additional comments added

From Dave Thaler, Farm Manager, Ontario, Canada

Add a little apple juice to their water pails too...beet pulp also aids in keeping water intake up...soak properly couple hours before feeding...moist as possible.

05/28/2022

Important

10 things veterinarians want horse owners to know about Banamine.
1)Banamine is a brand name. Flunixin meglumine is the drug name but many people refer to it by the popular brand name “Banamine” made by Merck. This medication is available in injectable liquid and oral paste formulations.
2)Flunixin is classified as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug which can be shortened to “NSAID.” NSAIDs reduce inflammation, pain, and fever by decreasing certain biochemical reactions in the body. Other drugs that are also classified as NSAIDs include phenylbutazone (Bute), firocoxib (Equioxx®, Previcoxx®).
3)Flunixin treats pain. By far the most common implication for the use of flunixin in horses is analgesia, or pain control. Flunixin provides good pain control for visceral (in the belly) and ocular (eye) pain. It is often used in cases of colic (abdominal pain) to make the horse more comfortable which reduces the risk of harm to the horse and handlers. It is important to note that flunixin does not cure the cause of colic; it temporarily relieves signs by providing pain relief.
4)Flunixin can reduce fever. A normal horse’s temperature is between 98.5 and 100.9°F. Like humans, horses can develop a fever secondary to an infection or illness. Many febrile horses will not eat or drink well when they have a fever but their appetite improves once the fever decreases. Flunixin can be used to reduce the horse's temperature often making them feel better. On a cautionary note, we often recommend owners take a temperature BEFORE giving flunixin as this can also a mask a fever.
5)Flunixin lasts 12 hours in the horse’s body. Some owners with a sick horse give a full dose of flunixin and then redose the horse a few hours later when he/she became uncomfortable again. This practice is not recommended for two reasons. First, overdosing can increase the risk of adverse effects including kidney damage and gastric ulcers. Second, if a horse's clinical signs do not resolve with a full dose, an examination by your veterinarian is likely warranted sooner rather than later and administering a second dose may delay treatment.
6)Flunixin can cause gastrointestinal and kidney damage. The same pathways that are down-regulated by flunixin to reduce pain and inflammation also partially protect the kidneys and stomach. At a normal dose the risk of these side effects is reduced. However, patients treated with an overdose or long term dosing are at an increased risk for renal (kidney) damage, gastric ulcers, and hind gut (colon) ulcers .
7)“Stacking” NSAIDs is not recommended. As previously stated, other drugs commonly used in horses that are also classified as NSAIDs include bute, Equioxx and Previcoxx). It is important to note that giving either of these medications together or in combination with flunixin can cause the same adverse effects as overdosing. For this reason,we do not recommend “stacking” NSAIDs or administering two of these drugs together. Many geriatric patients receive Equioxx or Previcoxx daily for pain and inflammation associated with arthritis. If this is the case, we recommend discontinuing that medication before starting another NSAID an allowing enough time for the body to clear the first drug completely.
8)Flunixin does not cause sedation or cure colic. Although we often use flunixin in colic cases, it is for the purpose of pain control. Alleviating the signs of colic by controlling pain is safer for the horse and handler when a horse is being treated and gives the horse’s body time to respond to treatment (ie oral fluids, IV fluids, motility agents). We often recommend removing hay/grain from a horse that has been administered flunixin for signs of colic until he/she can be examined by a veterinarian. In some cases, once the horse FEELS better he/she will try to continue eating and make the colic worse. If you think your horse may be colicking, we recommend calling your regular veterinarian and following her/his recommendations on medications and feeding.
9)Flunixin should NOT be given in the muscle (IM). Oddly enough, Banamine is still labeled for IM use in horses on the bottle but I strongly recommend against this practice. In rare cases, IM administration of flunixin (or phenylbutazone) has been known to cause a secondary condition called “Clostridial myositis” which can be fatal. The medication irritates the surrounding muscle tissue and bacterial spores can take advantage of the inflamed environment and cause a massive release of toxins. This disease is extremely painful and the treatment can be quite gruesome but horses that are not diagnosed and treated promptly may die from toxic overload. For this reason, we recommend only injecting flunixin in the vein (IV) or squirting the injectable fluid or paste in the mouth.
10)Flunixin injectable solution can be administered by mouth. The injectable formulation of flunixin can be administered by mouth at the same dose as IV use. Oral administration (either injectable solution or paste) takes about 20-30 min to reach full effect compared to 5-10 min with an IV injection. Oral administration does not take significantly longer than IM injection to reach peak absorption and is much safer for the horse.
Lastly always call your veterinarian if you suspect your horse appears off in any way before administering any medication.

01/17/2022

The main ingredient in RevolutionEQ, Prime4Life and Sale Prep. Thank you for your post, Esco Buff!

01/17/2022

https://aeon.co/essays/horse-human-cooperation-is-a-neurobiological-miracle

The horse is a prey animal, the human a predator. Our shared trust and athleticism is a neurobiological miracle

01/14/2022

10/14/2021

Meg Hems

"That ride was for Devyn. She fought cancer for ten years, and evented all the way through, and had me eventing with her, and it was fun.But she just lost her battle about a month ago. She was the one who encouraged me to give Thoroughbreds a shot, and told me that this is going to be the horse that'll take me somewhere. So shout-out to Devyn, for the horse, the encouragement, the inspiration."

Meg Hems and Nucks (Mission Impazible - Majestic Risk, by More Than Ready) dedicated their Freestyle routine to a beloved friend and Thoroughbred advocate today, and the emotion in the TCA Covered Arena was palpable.

It's a long road to the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium, presented by Thoroughbred Charities of America (TCA), and no two trainers' roads look the same. There's a popular saying in the horse world that "it takes a village" to get a horse and rider to the show ring, and Hems was riding for a very special friend and major part of her village today.

Nucks is a 2015 New York-bred gelding, bred by Dutchess Views Farm, Inc. He made 12 starts but never broke his maiden, retiring with $12,013 in earnings.

08/23/2021

The Problem: Summer Weight Loss in horses and dealing with heat.

It’s a beautiful hot summer day when you notice that your horse seems to be losing weight. This makes no sense to you. There’s no reason they shouldn’t be able to keep on weight when they have plenty of access to forage as well as their standard feed, right?

To figure out what is happening to your horse, it is important to understand how a horse’s temperature is regulated. Horses normally maintain a body temperature of 99 to 101 degrees Fahrenheit. Horses burn calories, otherwise known as digestible energy, to heat AND cool themselves.

Explained in scientific terms:

The Thermal Neutral Zone (TNZ), is the range of temperatures that a horse requires to maintain their internal temperature through metabolic regulation. The TNZ ranges from 40 degrees Fahrenheit to 77 degrees Fahrenheit. When temperatures spike above the high end of the TNZ, a horse’s body will use evaporative cooling measures to lower their internal temperatures. This requires digestible energy. The issue is that just like us humans, horse’s tend to lose their appetites in high heat. So, right at the time that your horse needs more calories in their diet, they stop wanting to eat as much.

In simple terms:

By keeping a horse’s caloric intake the same during periods of high heat, a horse will naturally lose weight due to its metabolic system burning more energy in the evaporative cooling process. While you may assume that increasing forage would be a great answer to this issue, the exact opposite is true.

Because:

Horses ferment forage in their guts and the fermentation process produces even more heat, causing the horse to expend more calories on cooling themselves. The best option is to add natural plant-based fats to a horse’s diet. Fat will reduce the heat load on your horse and keep them nice and cool while giving a caloric boost to help them maintain weight.

A solution:

How do you get your low-appetite horse to get enough calories in them to cool themselves efficiently? You add a high-fat, plant-sourced supplement to their diet. CareMore Nutrition’s RevolutionEQ, Sales Prep™ & Prime4Life formulas are safe sources of natural plant-based fats and oils that will keep your horse extra calories it needs to effectively cool themselves without weight loss. And without making them hot or unmanageable. Fed once daily, our formulas contain 36.4% crude fat and more!

And of course, don’t forget to give your horse plenty of clean, fresh water.

07/18/2021

06/18/2021

Too accurate to not share!