This year seems to have been a particularly bad year for strangles outbreaks in our area.  Quite unfortunately it has hit a couple barns with force, causing them to shut down operations until the disease has cleared.

From a nutritionist point of view, there are a few things you can do to help stop the spread of the disease, and secondly, to decrease the severity and therefore the down time of your horse, should the contract strangles.

First you need to be aware.  Be aware that the problem exists in your area, and that it spreads very quickly.  There are somethings you can do to prevent the spread (washing, disinfecting, not sharing tack etc.), and there are many thing that will be out of your control that can cause the spread.  If you are at a boarding barn you never know where other boarders have been, where their vehicles have been, or if someone has trailerd to a show and come into contact with an infected horse.  All of these things can happen to accidentally cause the spread, and all you can do is be prepared.

Watch your horse carefully for signs of nasal discharge, take their temperature, and take special notice in any changes in energy levels. 

Feed a vitamin mineral mixture that is high in B and C vitamins.  These boost the immune system which is beneficial if they do contract strangles.

Most of all, contact a veterinarian at the first sight of anything resembling strangles.  The sooner that strangles are caught and treated, the less severe the case, and the sooner you can get back to a normal routine.

Post strangles, it is always a good idea to give you horse a couple days worth of probiotics (enzymes and bacteria in the digestive system that are often killed off as a result of treatment). Again, this will get the digestive system back to normal as quickly as possible, and allow your horse to return to it’s usual eating habbits.

This was just a breif over view of my thoughts on strangles.  Please, be a responsible horse owner and do your part in preventing the spread of strangles.  Wishing everyone a happy healthy fall 2009!

Again, I have aquired a new favourite in the newest addition to the “One of a Kind Cowgirl” Collection

“Passion in Pink” is an absolutely stunning peice that can be dressed up - tons of bling, or dressed down - bring out a beautiful tone!

(click on pictures to purchase)

This peice has 5 different turquoise stones (burgandy, white, chocolate, dark chocolate and PINK), swarovski crystals, pyrite, picasso jasper, burgandy and white fresh water pearls.  

The greatest feature of this peice…the new clasp!!!  I found this absolutely fitting rhinestone buckle sytle magnetic clasp.  Now I”m not usually one to go with magnetic as they can open.  However, this has a fold over bar style, and there is NO chance this baby is letting go.  It really does put the final touch on the peice.

To top it off…a 1 3/4″ silver bling removable concho.

First Come, First served…and they are “One of a Kind Cowgirl”!

OK, so as a nutritionist, I get pretty frustrated (as do many horse owners I’m sure) with BAD hay that you spent GOOD money on.  I hear it almost every day. 

“I thought the hay was good, but it turned out that half of the bales were mouldy inside/it was too course/to rich/not rich enough/dusty” and the list goes on!

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was somewhere you could go to fine reputable hay producers across the province of Ontario?  Now you can www.ontariohorsehay.com.  It has just started up, so at the moment there are no hay producers advertising.  As well, the first crop of hay hasn’t even been harvested in most areas! 

So, I”m spreading the word.  You can post “hay wanted” ads and “hay for sale” ads.  We encourage our producers to have hay sample analysis done, and that too will be attached to their hay profile.  Any questions about reading a hay analysis can then be directed to the resident nutritionist….moi.

So I welcome you to check out www.ontariohorsehay.com, and hopefully once the word gets out, we have a list of producers to feed the horses of Ontario!

I recently wrote this article for a breif equine edition in the paper.  I thought I would include it in my blog…although it a little long.

Current Research in Metabolic Syndrome

After recently attending a research conference in Kentucky, it has becoming apparent that one of the fastest growing ailments in our equine friends is Metabolic Syndrome.   Although there are still many unknown factors involved in these conditions, the one thing that is certain is they begin with an over weight body condition.

Although most horse owners understand what a body condition score is and where their horse should be on that scale, achieving a health score is not as easy as knowing it.  So, the first goal to preventing and decreasing the severity of Metabolic Syndrome is having your horse in a healthy body condition.  Table and descriptions on measuring your horses score can be found online.  One of the best I have found is on the OMAFRA website. 

How does Obesity Contribute to Metabolic Syndrome?

Originally it was recommended that you put your horse on a low starch diet to prevent or decrease severity of these conditions.   In doing this, owners were decreasing the amount of glucose (from starch) circulating in the blood stream.  Increased levels of starch contribute to laminitis, quite often a tell-tale sign that your horse has the onset of MS or CD.

In a healthy horse, when a starchy diet is consumed, there is an increased level of glucose in the blood.  This triggers the release of insulin from the pancreas, which triggers glucose uptake by the skeletal muscle and fat cells.  Once in the cells, the glucose will be used during exercise, growth, or stored as glycogen or fat.

In an animal with metabolic syndrome, the increased level of glucose in the blood triggers the insulin release from the pancreas, however the receptors for glucose uptake become insensitive to the insulin, resulting in increased levels of glucose circulating in the blood.

In an animal affected by Metabolic syndrome, it appears as thought certain adipose (fat) cells convert the inactive form of cortisol to the active form or cortisol.  Cortisol acts in shutting down insulin receptors on uptake cells, and the message never reaches the cell to uptake glucose.  This results in increased levels of insulin remaining in the blood, circulating throughout the body.

 It is believed that this excess of glucose left circulating in the blood can be the root cause of obesity associated laminitis.  It is the result of changed circulation to the laminae, the interconnected layers of tissue that insure the integrity of the hoof.

How to Best Prevent Metabolic Syndrome

Overweight horses actually respond to weight reduction as a means of increasing insulin sensitivity (cells responding to insulin in the blood triggering the uptake of glucose).  So, your best method of action in decreasing risk is to have your horse in an optimal, not maximal, body condition.  Horses become overweight because they consume more calories than they are using in exercise.  In this circumstance, good quality grass pasture or hay and a complet fortified vitamin and mineral supplement may be all they require.  It is best to consult your equine nutritionist to develop a feeding program specific for your horse and their activity level to ensure optimal performance and maintain body condition.

Horses diagnosed with metabolic syndrome  should not have grain, or rations made with molasses.  As well, their exposure to pasture should be limited.  A balancer pellet can be given to these horses to provide essential vitamins and minerals, while leaving out the starch component of the diet.   If the horse is in need of additional energy, use non-starch alternatives such as rice bran or soy oil.

Above all, in overweight horses, exercise is the most important factor in reducing fat depositions.  Exercise can range from longeing, hand walking, round pen work, riding and driving.  Not only does this increase over all health, it has also been shown that an increase in activity increases insulin sensitivity.

The main goal is to reduce chances of Metabolic Syndrome risk and the best way to achieve that is to keep a close eye on body condition, feed for activity level and metabolic rate, and have an organized exercise schedule.  If in doubt, consult your nutritionist for an experienced opinion.

With the change in season comes the undeniable need for a change in your equine feeding program. 

The spring brings with it an eagerness of horse people alike to hit the trails, hit the show ring or just get some ground work done.  All of these activities involve a change in the energy required by your horse.

One of the most important things you need to do in order to determine if nutrient changes need to be made, is to “Body Condition Score” your horse.  Body condition tables can be found through a quick search on the internet or by going to http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/livestock/horses/facts/98-101.htm.

Should your horse be over weight or under weight according to the body condition score chart, you need to access your feeding program.  Similarly, if your horse is in perfect condition at the start of the season, and you are increasing the work load, you will also need to increase the calories consumed. 

Increasing and decreasing calories should be discussed at lenght with your nutritionist.  Individual horses need individual programs to ensure weight loss, gain, and energy fluctuations are done safely and parallel the new needs of your horse.

Evaluating your work load will also be very helpful in determining what changes need to be made to your program.  In some owners opinions, working for 1/2 an hour a day would be considered “working them hard”.  However to a nutritionist, working them hard would involve elevating their heart rate significantly for an extended period of time.  For example, standardbreds in training jog 3-5 miles per day.  When they are racing they go as hard as they can go several times in preparation for a race (over a period of a few hours), and again during the race.  This would be considered “hard work”.

Making sure both the owner and the nutritionist are talking about the same energy requirement will be very important in evaluating your horses needs.

Lastly (well, not really lastly, but this will be the last point I touch on in this blog) management factors play a large role in the nutritional requirement changes of your horse.  Now that the pasture is getting lush and green, the number of hours your horse spends grazing are very important.  In certain circumstances they may need to be restricted, but for the most part, they are attaining calories that would previously have been consumed in their hay or grain based diets.

Balancing for pasture is important in keeping your horse in the desired condition for your level or work.

Looking for a nutritionist that can make sense of it all for you?  Try www.balancequine.com.  A qualified professional is available to assist you in asking the right questions and formulating the proper diet for your horses needs.

Happy Trails!

After a slightly extended siesta from the horse and human blog, it’s time to get back at it.  The spring has brought with it a new energy in all things horsey and I”m excited to discuss them all!

Lots has been going on over the last couple of months, many of my favourite cowgirl bling and accessory sites have brought in new inventory (www.thecowpokestore.com is rockin’ and their prices are just what we need on a low budget, with high expectations!)

The show world is picking  back up, lots of foals being born, and….unfortunately with fresh pasture on the way….a few nutritional issues have reared their silly head.  So, I’ve been busy on that front as well.

Not too much to get into today, but keep watching over the next couple weeks for all of the spring goodies!

Happy Trails

I recently had a reader inquire about the importance and use of an equine nutrition course.  I believe she was wondering what one might gain from taking an equine nutrition course.

It never hurts to further your equine education, and you never know when it might come in handy.  If you are very interested in equines and very motivated to learn about their nutrition to potentially become a consultant, then I say go for it.  As an equine nutritionist, I have found the most fulfilling job and it suits me to a tee.  At first I had wanted to be a vet, but when I started taking nutrition courses, and later specialized in equine nutrition, I realized I could heal horses through nutrition - rather than being called out at 3am to deliver a foal.

Taking an equine nutrition course will give you an overview of what they think you need to know.  It will touch on the importance of many factors in the feed industry, ingredients, nutrient levels etc.  All very basic, but necessary things.

Again, if you are interested in consulting, you need to understand the fundamentals of digestion, how certain ingredients affect the animal at a cellular level (because you’d be suprised how many owners out there will quiz you on your hard core knowledge just to determine if you know you stuff or not).  For this, you need to take a metabolism course (not necessicarily horse specific).  Also, investing in something like the Equine Nutrition Journal - full of scientific research and trial results, can keep you updated.

On top of that, the hands on experience is the most important.  Actual work in the field, and job shadowing those who have been successful at consulting is key. 

So, to answer the original question, I guess it depends on how dedicated you are to health and healing of equines.  If you just want to make sure you are doing the right thing for your horses, a nutrition course would be great.  If you are thinking about an amazing career in the equine nutrition field, find something a little more in depth.

Good Luck!!! 

Any questions or comments can be directed to balancequine@live.com or feel free to visit balancequine.com

I was recently met with a situation where a high end stable was changing their feed supplier and a few of the boarders were concerned about this change.  The main reason being - the pellet size.

They were convinced that they had lost a horse due to it being fed a small sized pellet.  It had impacted, coliced and died.  The new feed supplier only made their pellets in a 1/4″ size, which was much smaller than the chunk they were feeding as a “preventative”.

So, what logic does their theory have behind it?  Very little infact.

First, we need to ask ourselves - if a small pellet causes horses to impact and colic, why would any feed company make small pellets?  In actual fact, all companies that make horse feed produce it in a small pellet as well as any other size pellets.

Secondly, lets do a little experiment.  If we take the exact same volume of chunks and small pellets, soak them in the exact same amount of water at the exact same temperature, they both expand to the exact same amount of product in the end.  So, if this experiment was to take place in the horses digestive system, both sizes of pellets would have the exact same result.  Neither more likely to impact a horse than the next.

So, why are pellets and chunks both made?

The main concern would be with horses that gobble their food.  If a horse eats as quickly and as much as possible, it poses a risk for choking.  The larger size chunk was made to promote chewing and prevent aggressive eaters from gobbling their food.

However, many small pellet manufacturers have taken this into consideration, and made changes to the small pellet to help prevent choking.  Spraying a coating of oil on the outside of the pellet (100% vegetable oil that is) can aid in the movement of the pellet down the throat and therefore prevent choking.

So really, the size of pellet is dependant on your horses preferance and your preferance.  Under proper management conditions - fed with lots of free choice water, neither should be more “dangerous” to feed than the next.  If you are concerned about comparing pellet quality, the feed manufacturer should have an ingredient list readily available for you to look at.

If you have any more indept questions on this topic, feel free to contact me at balancequine@live.com

As the Farmers Almanac predicted, we have indeed had a cold and long winter with lots of snow.  Long stretches of sub zero temperatures - making it quite hard to get up and venture out to the barn in the early hours - have been plenty, and there still isn’t a quick end in sight.

After the wet cool summer when a lot of crops were left on the field and a lot of hay came in as a poor harvest, there are a number of things you need to watch for regarding your horses health.

This is a topic that I often dive into more deeply, but this blog has touched on a the basics of the issue.  If you have more questions, or would like more information, don’t hesitate to visit www.balancequine.com. Your source for eqine nutritional information and advice.  Can’t find what you are looking for?  Just email balancequine@live.com

Many horses that went into the winter with lots of fat stores are now starting to show signs of losing a bit of weight and condition.  Anyone who went into the winter a little underconditioned to begin with, is now starting to show some wear and tear.  Luckily, these issues are easily remedied if they are caught and treated early. 

Just like humans, when the weather gets colder, horses need more calories to maintain their body heat.  If they are working in the winter, they will require even more calories to maintain body heat and energy to work.  Checking their condition by running you hand along a line perpendicular to their ribs is the easiest indicatior of their weight changes.

If you can feel ribs when you press along this line, your horse is likely in the perfect condition.  If you can easily feel ribs without pushing along this line, your horse may be starting to need a few extra calories.  If you can see ribs, you need to increase his calorise as soon as possible.  It’s important to actually feel rather than look at the ribs.  A thick winter coat can be quite deceiving.

As the commodities seem to be consistently going up (or when the come down it’s rarely reflected on the feed bill) an economic way to increase their calories is key.  For the most part switching to a similar feed with a higher fat content is all that is needed.  This is most often cheaper and more effective than increasing the feeding rate of a lower fat content feed. 

Many people prefer a high fat high fibre feed with the fat being somewhere around 5-8%.  Check at your local feed mill and see how many different kinds of high fat high fibre they carry.  Nine times out of ten they have a home brand (not a Name brand) that is $4-5 cheaper than the leading promoted feeds.  These home brand feeds are not usually poorer in quality, you just don’t have to pay for the name.

Again, this is a topic that I often dive into more deeply, but this blog has touched on a the basics of the issue.  If you have more questions, or would like more information, don’t hesitate to visit www.balancequine.com. Your source for eqine nutritional information and advice.  Can’t find what you are looking for?  Just email balancequine@live.com