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Learn More about Biotin!
15/10/2019

Learn More about Biotin!

Are you searching for the best biotin for horses? There are many options available and I have reviewed the top horse biotin supplements on the market and after reading this article you will know my recommendations. Check out the quick list below for links to customer reviews and prices for my picks,...

25/08/2019

Do You Ride Horses? Helmets, Do you Feel they are necessary? Or only Sometimes?

How to Speed Up Healing, Recovery, Improve Performance and Overall Health!
14/08/2019

How to Speed Up Healing, Recovery, Improve Performance and Overall Health!

Your body runs on bioelectricity

A Great Article on Feeding Your Horse!
06/08/2019

A Great Article on Feeding Your Horse!

In 1923 American Horse Racing Jockey Frank Hayes died of a heart attack during a race. His horse won with Hayes still in...
14/07/2019

In 1923 American Horse Racing Jockey Frank Hayes died of a heart attack during a race. His horse won with Hayes still in the saddle. He is the only Jockey to have ever won a race while dead.

Frank Hayes (1888–1923) was a jockey who, on June 4, 1923,[1] won a steeplechase after suffering a fatal heart attack halfway through the race[2] at Belmont Park in New York State, USA.

Obesity is a rising problem for horses, just like for humans, partly due to a tendency for an owner with a horse of perf...
12/07/2019

Obesity is a rising problem for horses, just like for humans, partly due to a tendency for an owner with a horse of perfectly acceptable body condition to be criticized and accused of not feeding enough.

The rise in equine obesity It is time for the veterinary profession to act on the increasing prevalence of obesity in horses Farm Animal Equine Nutrition by Jonathan Pycock 08 February 2019, at 2:25pm Obesity in horses is now considered by equine welfare charities to be the greatest threat to equine...

That the expression "hands down", used in the example: "You'd beat me in a race hands down" originates from horse racing...
12/07/2019

That the expression "hands down", used in the example: "You'd beat me in a race hands down" originates from horse racing.

You see it with superlatives: the most, the best, the funniest, the worst, the loudest, the weirdest … hands down. Hands down in these cases means “without a doubt, no question.” Where does this expression come from? For me, it always conjured the image of someone slamming their hands down on ...

Sergeant Reckless, a War Horse who served during the Korean War and was responsible for resupplying multiple front line ...
11/07/2019

Sergeant Reckless, a War Horse who served during the Korean War and was responsible for resupplying multiple front line units 51 times in a single day in 1953.

Staff Sergeant Reckless (c. 1948 – May 13, 1968), a decorated war horse who held official rank in the United States military,[1] was a mare of Mongolian horse breeding. Out of a race horse dam, she was purchased in October 1952 for $250 from a Korean stableboy at the Seoul racetrack who needed mon...

24/06/2019
SUSTAINABLE HORSE KEEPING REDUCES ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTSMay 10, 2019As horse owners, we need to consider the impacts we h...
13/06/2019

SUSTAINABLE HORSE KEEPING REDUCES ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
May 10, 2019
As horse owners, we need to consider the impacts we have on our neighbors and the environment. Are we contributing to reduced water quality in our watershed, creating an eyesore and a fly haven? Or is our horse operation pleasing to look at, healthy for our horses, and a home for wildlife? By increasing our awareness of how we impact the environment and taking steps to minimize that impact, we can help preserve the equestrian way of life that we enjoy.

The good news is that what’s good for the environment is also good for you, your horses, your farm or ranch, and your neighborhood. Let’s look at some examples of environmentally friendly horse keeping techniques you can implement:

Create a sacrifice area or paddock to keep pastures from becoming overgrazed, particularly during winter. Sacrifice areas help prevent the damage horses cause by grazing and trampling dormant plants. This area should be on higher ground, away from ditches, creeks, or other bodies of water, and should be surrounded by a grassy buffer such as lawn or pasture to act as a filter for contaminated runoff. Sacrifice areas also confine manure and urine to an area that’s easier to manage. Use a footing such as coarse washed sand or crushed rock will help cut down on mud problems in the winter months and improve chore efficiency.

Cross fence pastures and rotate horses in order to prevent overgrazing and soil compaction. Poor pasture management results in reduced quality and quantity of grass and increased soil erosion, nitrogen runoff (from manure and urine), and weeds. At least three inches of leafy grass is needed for rapid regrowth and for the biofiltration of nutrients, sediments, and chemicals. Pounding hooves compact the soil, which makes water infiltration and root growth difficult, increasing feed costs due to reduced pasture productivity. Because many weeds are toxic to horses, it can also increase your risk of expensive vet bills.

http://www.horsesforcleanwater.com/blog/2019/5/9/sustainable-horse-keeping-reducesnbspenvironmental-impacts

A horse is capable of up to 14.9 horsepower.
01/02/2019

A horse is capable of up to 14.9 horsepower.

Your car's power output can be measured in a variety of ways, with horsepower being the most common. But does one horsepower really equal the power of one horse?

Horse and Rider Combo PEMF session!!!$13045 minute horse session30 minute human sessionon the same VISIT!
11/01/2019

Horse and Rider Combo PEMF session!!!
$130
45 minute horse session
30 minute human session
on the same VISIT!

Mobile PEMF Therapy... we travel to YOU!!!

Hoof tips
06/12/2018

Hoof tips

Farrier Chris Volk shows you 10 hoof care tips to help keep your horse's hooves healthy and strong.

tips on getting a saddle.
09/11/2018

tips on getting a saddle.

A new saddle is probably the most expensive piece of equipment you will buy, after the horse. Here are some things to take into consideration when making your selection to buy a saddle.

29/10/2018

Watermelon is generally safe for horses, but don't give them too much, and you might want to cut up the rind or wash your melons before cutting them.

24/10/2018

Learn the foods you should not feed a horse, including some that would seem to be a part of a horse's regular diet.

04/10/2018

Here are some top-notch horse facilities that feature a regular stream of events, and some places where you can climb in the saddle yourself.

29/09/2018

NUTRITIONAL ARTICLES
CRUDE CELL MATERIAL SUPPLIES ENERGY FOR THE LONG TERM.
Published: 2013-02-11 Cavalor
Only twenty hours after a substantial dose of hay the meal has been completely transformed into fuel. Crude cell material is also the indisputable pacemaker of the intestines.

A horse gobbles up its food, but its intestines are not up to this. In its evolution the horse changed from a leaf eating forest inhabitant to a grass eating steppe animal. Its digestive system has adapted to the eating of small portions of mostly difficult to digest grass. It already starts in the relatively small stomach, where the food arrives at first. Next is a proportionally ‘normal' small intestine. The latter one takes care of the digestion of the materials that are most easy to digest. After the small intestine the more voluminous large intestine starts, in which bacteria digest and transform crude cell material from the roughage into important substances the horse's body needs, such as volatile fatty acids for energy.
Starch and sugars rapidly supply, jerky and brief, energy the horse can draw on. Opposed to this, the energy from crude cell material becomes only gradually available. With hay this starts for example four to five hours after the meal. So long as the crude cell material is still being digested in the large intestine, the energy continues to become available. When a horse eats a portion of hay of ten kilos the digestion and processing will take about twenty hours, which means almost round the clock. If we give this ration all in one time we will fully burden the digestive tract and the efficiency of the transformation in nutritive materials will decrease. If the horse is given smaller portion several time a day, the burden will be less and the efficiency higher.

Volatile fatty acids
Millions of bacteria in the large intestine of the horse make sure that the crude cell material is transformed into volatile fatty acids such as acetic acid, butyric acid and proprionic acid. These volatile fatty acids in the bloodstream serve as an energy source for organs, muscles and nerves. Especially for horses that need a lot of endurance such as in endurance competitions, military, trekking and marathon, the slowly decomposing energy of the volatile fatty acids will be a welcome supplement in the total energy management. Fatty acids also have a favorable influence on the quality of the intestinal flora (all living micro organisms in the intestine that take care of the digestion and the transformation of the food). Moreover, the volatile fatty acids influence the water resorption and combat diarrhoea. Furthermore they prevent the formation of the detrimental Salmonella and Clostridia bacteria and they provide for a better hygiene in the digestive tract. From the nitrogen in the food rests the bacteria form proteins of high biological value and water soluble B-vitamins. These vitamins are important in the metabolism. All in all, volatile fatty acids are indeed very useful.

Transit speed
Dormant intestines have to be woken up and keep it going for an optimal digestion. The propulsion of the mass of food being digest and the speed with which it is done is called the transit speed. If the transit speed is not geared to the digestion, the ‘factory' will not run well. The digestion of concentrate (proteins, carbohydrates and fats) mainly takes place in the small intestine.
Crude cell material present in roughage is barely broken down in the stomach and the small intestine. It is immediately sent to the large intestine where it is being digested bit by bit. The crude cell material starts off the locomotion of the total digestion. Crude cell material is indispensable for the transit speed. If the large intestine has nothing to do, there is a chance that the passage stimulant lacks and that digestion will stop whilst there is still food in the intestine. This food will then start to rot. Colic, muscle and hoof constriction can be the result. Dat voedsel gaat rotten. This means that roughage keeps the ‘factory' going and consequently prevents all of these problems. It is a good ‘filling' of the blind gut and large intestine as well. The latter two are rather flexible with horses and when not sufficiently filled the chance on colic (intestine twisted or entangled) with a bad outcome exists.

Variable quality
Actually, we should always have the roughage, i.e. the hay, analyzed. The quality of roughage may vary widely. The digestibility of the cellulose present can differ, but also, next to other quality criteria such as protein level and nutritive value, the percentage of crude cell material per kilo of roughage may vary. For horses, in contrast to cows, the crude protein level should not be too high and the amount of crude cell material play a far more important role (see table). Another substance, lignin, determines the decomposability of the roughage; feed with a lot of lignin is badly digestible, like straw for example.
In the large intestine the bacteria are accustomed to a certain digestibility and amount of crude cell material that has to be processed. If the composition changes suddenly, the micro organisms will have to adapt first to the new situation. Besides, this is also valid for humans. Those suddenly switching over from standard European food to Asian food will almost always be confronted with intestinal troubles. Until the moment that the micro organisms in the large intestine have adapted, the chance exists that the activities in the intestines are upset. Again the known nasty results will be inflammations, diarrhoea, lactic acid, hoof constriction and colic.

Correct quantity

In any case, crude cell material is an important part in daily nutrition. It is advisable to be aware of the quality of the roughage and when changing over to another quality to do this gradually. Of course, this goes for roughage too. A good supplier is able to present an analysis of the crude protein and crude cell material level, the VEP-value and the calcium and phosphor level. For that matter hay, straw and alfalfa are not the only sources of crude cell material: grass and foliage (both to a certain degree), oats pellets, flax chaff, soy pods and beet pulp also contain crude cell material. With all of these ingredients in the right proportions the battery of the horse will never be flat. Almost round the clock the horse has fuel at its disposition on which it can draw immediately, energy that is becoming constantly available.

Obligatory nibbling

The horse eats up its concentrate in a quarter of an hour and then has nothing left to nibble on. This is gnawing (figuratively): the animal bores himself to death. For horses it is completely natural to continually nibble and psychically they are really geared to this. A horse that has nothing to do will resign itself to this and become apathetic to a certain extent or will invent some ‘stable naughtiness'. By giving sufficient roughage spread throughout the day, the horse has something to do and the digestion keeps going on in a natural way. For instance, because of lack of roughage in their ration stomach ulcers are very common in sports horses. Another advantage of spreading the feeds is the improvement of the quality of digestion: more output from the same bale of hay. A horse may eat roughage that is not rich in protein without restriction when it turns out normal labour. For horses doing nothing the ‘figure' plays an important role. They should be given roughage as regular as the others, but portions should be smaller.

Quality of the hay

Coarse stemmed hay with a low crude protein level and a high percentage of crude cell material is most fit for horses. The calcium-phosphor ratio (percentage of calcium divided by the percentage of phosphor) should not be higher than 3 or lower than 1. And even better: not higher than 2 and not lower than 1,4 (source CVB august 1995).

% crude cell material % crude protein VEP-value Ratio g/kg Ca/P Quality
With 100% dry matter 30 12 674 6,2 Ca/2,7 P Low protein
28 14,5 700 8,5 Ca/3,4 P Average protein
26 16,5 740 5,1 Ca/3,9 P High protein
With 83% dry matter and 17% liquid 23 10 560 Moderate protein
23 12 581 Average protein
21 13,7 614 High protein

27/09/2018

Hay Selection for Horses
November 8, 2010 By Kentucky Equine Research Staff
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Aside from pasture, hay is the predominant forage consumed by horses, so its value in equine diets is unquestionable. During certain times of year, hay may be the only forage available to horses and therefore the selection of well-preserved hay harvested at the appropriate stage of maturity is critical.

Hay can be classified into three general types: legume, grass, and mixed. Mixed hay is usually defined as a blend of grass and legume plants, though some hay producers and horse owners may define it as a combination of several grasses. Like most horse owners, Kathleen Crandell, Ph.D., has opened hundreds of bales of hay during her lifetime of owning and caring for horses. While most horse owners are mindful of the hay they offer their horses, Crandell is perhaps more vigilant than most. As a nutritionist with Kentucky Equine Research (KER), she understands the importance of good-quality hay.

Legume Hay

When evaluating legume hays, Crandell first establishes the type of hay. Although the most popular legume used among horse owners is alfalfa, other legumes such as red or crimson clover, lespedeza, birdsfoot trefoil, and peanut hay are often fed, and these provide horses with high-quality nutrients.

Evaluating hay requires a thorough visual appraisal. Because the outside of a bale can be misleading, especially if it was situated on the edge of a stack with exposure to the sun or other elements, appraisal necessitates breaking open several bales. Small bales can be opened easily, but the same cannot be said for larger round bales. Pure legumes are rarely roundbaled, but if faced with tightly wound round bales that cannot be opened, an instrument designed to remove core samples from the inside of hay bales, called a hay probe, can be used. Probes are used to collect hay samples for chemical analysis and nutrient determination. Hay collected in the probe should be assessed just as carefully as that in entire bales.

Crandell next evaluates the color of the hay. “It might be bright green, brownish-green, or pale green, or it might not be green at all; perhaps it is yellow. Color is not the end-all, be-all in determining hay quality, but it can be a clue to how it was made. If it is bright green, then I know the hay was likely cut at an appropriate time, that it was probably not rained on after cutting, and that it dried quickly and was baled in a timely manner. When baled under optimal conditions, the most nutrients are preserved.”

It is not unusual to run into bales that have both green and brown plant material, according to Crandell. If the leaves are brown, the hay is likely to have less nutritional value, as leaves deliver the most nutrients. If, on the other hand, the occasional stem is brown but the leaves are green and well-anchored to the stem, then the hay is probably still nutritious.

“Yellow, brown, or otherwise faded hay indicates that it was made at a mature stage, laid in the field longer to dry, or possibly rained on after being cut in the field, all of which would indicate lost nutrients through leaching by the sun or rain,” said Crandell.

Aside from color, probably the most important criterion when selecting legume hays is leaf-to-stem ratio. A profusion of leaves and few stems indicates that the hay was made at the desired maturity and that few leaves came loose during baling. The opposite is often true with legumes, and these hays sometimes have an abundance of stems and few leaves. This usually means that the leaves came off during baling or when the hay was lying in the field.

“I also look at stem coarseness, as this tells me the stage of maturity of the plants when they were harvested. The stem contains few nutrients and a great deal of indigestible fiber. Aside from marginal nutrition, if the stems are too mature, horses do not particularly like to eat them,” added Crandell.

The presence of mold, unusual growths on leaves, insects, and suspicious plants is noted. With alfalfa, Crandell recommends a thorough scan of multiple bales for blister beetles. Because these lethal insects often swarm, it is possible for only a few bales to be infected.

“I might shake a couple of handfuls to see how much dust flies off. Almost all hay has some dust, but if a large cloud erupts, it’s probably best to pass but imperatively so if you have a horse with a respiratory ailment aggravated by dust. I almost always try to smell the hay to see if it is fresh, stale, or moldy. If the hay was baled wet, it might have a distinct smell that results from caramelization of proteins,” remarked Crandell.

Other Legumes

While alfalfa is the most well-known legume hay, clover hays are appropriate for horses, even if they are not as popular with horse owners as alfalfa. One reason horse owners often avoid clover is its propensity for mold. Getting clover to dry quickly in the field is challenging for growers, and premature baling of damp hay is the primary reason clover hay is sometimes moldy.

From a nutritional standpoint, clovers and alfalfa are very similar: higher in calcium and protein, and more calorie-dense than grass hays. Red clover is the most common clover hay because it grows taller than white clover and thus provides more yield per acre. Crimson clover is another tall-growing type but tends to be higher in indigestible fiber than red clover. Palatability is usually not an issue, however, as horses are inclined to love the taste of clover and eat it well.

Certain horse owners associate clover with excessive salivation. They mistakenly believe that it is the clover plant that causes horses to slobber, but the causative agent is actually a mycotoxin produced by a fungus that grows on clover. Known as slaframine poisoning, excessive salivation is not life-threatening.

Grass Hays

Popular grass hays can be divided into two basic groups, cool-season and warm-season. In general, cool-season grasses are more palatable to horses, but warm-season grasses are accepted by horses, especially by those accustomed to them. The most common cool-season grasses in the United States are timothy, orchardgrass, ryegrass, fescue, redtop, reed canary grass, and occasionally bluegrass in the East; and wheatgrass, blue grama, bluestem, and meadow in the Midwest and West. Warm-season grasses include Bermuda grass (referred to as coastal), bromegrass, and most recently teff.

A special category of grasses are cereal hays. These hays are made from leaves, stems, and grains of oat, barley, and wheat plants. A good quality cereal hay is harvested when the grain is immature (soft dough stage) and the leaves and stems are still green, and therefore higher in digestible nutrients. If the cereal hay is harvested after the grain is removed, it is no longer considered hay but straw. Oat hay is the most common cereal hay fed in the United States, and if harvested at the right time, it is quite palatable to horses.

For some horse owners, the gold standard among grass hays is timothy due largely to its extreme palatability. Though Crandell agrees that timothy is appetizing to most horses, she also believes “the most palatable hay to a horse is the type he is accustomed to.” Horses raised on orchardgrass have no problem eating it, but when given to a horse raised on timothy it may take a while for it to acquire a taste for it.

Fescue has gained much attention over the last couple decades for its sometimes detrimental effects on pregnant mares when it is infected with an endophyte fungus. As a pasture grass, horses seem to consume more of it in the fall after a frost has hit and the sugar content has risen. As hay, it would be harvested in the spring and summer so palatability might not be an issue for certain horses

Crandell uses the same process of evaluating grass hays as she does for legumes. To determine the type of grass, seed heads are the most telling, though blade characteristics are also useful. “Fescue blades roll up lengthwise when dried, while orchardgrass blades dry open, so it is very easy to distinguish these two plants. Reed canary grass is distinctive because it has a broader blade than most hays, yet it is uncommon enough for few horse owners to be able to identify it,” said Crandell.

Distinguishing hay types is important, if only from the standpoint of purchasing the appropriate hay. “Many orchardgrass hays are sold as timothy because the average horse owner does not know the difference in the seed heads. On the east coast of the United States, I would say a mix of grasses in a hay is more common than any pure single-species hay like you find on the opposite coast,” remarked Crandell. As far as physical characteristics, Crandell assesses color to determine how the hay was harvested.

The color is somewhat dependent on the type of hay. Timothy hay is usually lighter in color than orchardgrass unless the orchardgrass is harvested at a very mature stage. An overall brownish tinge could mean the hay was baled too wet and went through a caramelizing stage. Warm-season hays are typically not as attractive as the cool-season types, as they are often more golden in color. Cereal hays should be light green in color; a yellow, straw-like color would indicate that the hay was harvested too late and will be of lower nutritional value.

She then estimates plant maturity. “Maturity is judged by the number and age of the seed heads, ratio of leaves and stalks, color, and texture. I grab a handful or two to get an idea of the hay’s texture. Early-maturity hays are softer to the touch than late-maturity ones.” As with legumes, Crandell checks for dust and unusual odor indicative of mold.

Mixed Hays

The term mixed hay can be an ambiguous one, which makes clarification essential. Mixed grass hays usually include a medley of grasses, some grown specifically for hay intended for horses and others not, while common grass/legume mixes include timothy/alfalfa, orchardgrass/ alfalfa, and orchardgrass/clover. “I have seen lovely bales of the classic timothy/alfalfa mix. Specifically, the orchardgrass/red clover mix is especially useful for picky eaters. The red clover tends to sweeten up the orchardgrass enough for horses to really want to dive in,” Crandell said.

Mixing grasses with a legume has two notable benefits. The first involves improvement of the land. Legumes add nitrogen to the soil, so growing legumes with grasses can cut down on fertilizer needs and growing costs. The other advantage involves palatability, as adding a legume to a grass can increase sweetness and consumption. Introduction of a legume also improves the quality by increasing energy, protein, and calcium.

Some horse owners prefer grass/legume mixes over pure legume because a mixture more or less averages the content of certain key nutrients to make it appropriate for different classes of horses. A practical advantage occurs as well: when grasses and legumes are grown together it is more difficult for horses to pick out the tasty portions, as they could if fed a flake of legume and a flake of grass.

Understanding the ins and outs of hay selection is an important aspect of horse ownership. The true test of hay quality rests with the horses, though, and if they offer up their approval by consuming it readily, selection was a success.

Micro-Max is a low-intake concentrated source of vitamins and minerals for mature horses. Micro-Max is ideal for horses that maintain body weight on diets composed entirely of forage or forage and small amounts of concentrate. Learn more.

incredible gut booster for horses!
27/09/2018

incredible gut booster for horses!

5 strain blend of bacterial probiotic. Resistant to stomach acid, bile, enzymatic degradation. Reaches targeted destination.

27/09/2018

There are over 350 breeds of ponies and horses in the world today which fall into four major groups. 1. Light Horses - Horses with small bones and thin legs which weigh less than 1300 pounds. Some examples are: Thoroughbreds, Quarter Horses, Morgans, Arabians, Saddlebreds and Tennessee Walkers.

no next button!
27/09/2018

no next button!

Horses are majestic animals but even you may be shocked by these 45 random, amazing and bizarre facts. Learn more about man’s “original” best friend courtesy of DoubleDTrailers.com.

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