Flax Bedding
I've decided to use only flax bedding in our stalls for a few different reasons.. The major reason being the low dust content, guaranteed! If you've ever worked in a barn with wood shavings, or wood pellets; you know what a dusty environment it can be while mucking stalls, and even sweeping. It's not something you notice on a daily basis unless you are in it all the time, but that dust builds up. I have to clean my glasses at least twice throughout the day when working in a barn with wood type bedding, even the higher grade shavings that are "dust screened" eventually end up being dusty. It's the nature of the material it's made with, as it breaks down, it gets dusty. Flax bedding on the other hand does not break down in the same manner, and because it is more likely to absorb wet and humidity, it is proven to reduce dust materials in the air. Good for our horses, and nice for my glasses!
Another reason why I've decided to use flax bedding is because of it's highly compostable nature. It is a neutral pH all natural material that won't affect soil content, and doesn't take years to break down the way wood materials do. That means my manure pile is actually my fertilizer pile! In this way I can spread manure once a year on the fields without having to worry about affecting the soil pH levels, ground water pH and it's a safe fertilizer for next years pasture.
And as if they couldn't get any more green friendly, they also come packaged in recycled paper; ready to be recycled again! Flax bedding, for the win.
Brooks High Performance Grains
Anyone with a thoroughbred knows the battles I've been through trying to keep weight on a horse in work, especially a horse who lives outside year round. I struggled for years trying to find the right high fat, high fibre, good protein, low sugar, not processed grain to keep weight on my thoroughbreds... and Brooks feed has been my answer! They have different rations for different types of energy, but my favourite two are Phase 5 and Omega Fibre Plus. Both have low sugar indexes, with the OFP having the lowest of any feed; and both provide safe cool fats for energy, and lots of fibre! Just the way mother nature intended. I use the Phase 5 for my "active" working horses, and the Omega Fibre Plus as my OTTB fix. The Omega Fibre Plus has no added grains; it's a pure mix of beet pulp, rice bran, flax seed and other high fibre sources of all natural forage. It's a bit more pricey than your average bag of feed, but since you don't need to add anything else to it, it's actually cheaper in the long run!
It's also a great option for the overweight, sugar intolerant and diabetic prone horses and ponies out there. Just a little nibble to add some supplements or medications too. And you don't have to worry about them foundering or getting ill. Our QH cross came to us pretty overweight, but he still gets beet pulp with a bit of Phase 5 every morning for vitamins. And he's maintained a great size.
Diatomaceous Earth
In my many evenings of research, I came across the use of DE to fight parasites and to lower negative ion levels in the digestive tract. I read about many other horse owners using it with great success with their horses, and even on themselves! Having some health issues myself, I tried it out on me and my family first. Then on to my horses. I still use an over the counter dewormer for all of my horses twice a year, but I also have them on a 30 day regiment of DE once a day every 60 days inbetween. They each get 1 cup per day in their grain. Best to feed it with wet feed, as it's quite dry and kind of gross tasting. Though I've never had an issue with getting the boys to eat it.
So far the herd's fecal counts have been zero, and even my vet is surprised! I picked up a 50lb bag for about $45 plus shipping, and it is going to last me the rest of this year for sure. It's a great product, just make sure you order the "food grade" type.
It also works wonders for skin parasites and lice. You use it as a bathing sand over the infected areas, and the DE kills the parasites. Scrub it on once a day, brush it off and repeat. And if you can, get a good warm bath in once a week.
Garlic Powder
My wonderful farrier gave me this idea, as she does it with all of her horses. And I love the results! Feeding garlic powder in their grain helps to repel insects! It also strengthens their immune system and helps fight off intestinal parasites. You will have to add it slowly, as they do not enjoy the taste too much to start. But gradually increasing up to a table spoon a day helps keep those nasty bugs away. I do this for myself too, increasing how much raw garlic you eat helps to naturally ward off biting insects!
Gravel for Strong Feet
We add gravel tracks to our paddocks to naturally increase the strength of our horses hooves. Make sure you use different grades, and start with small pack gravel if your horse isn't used to anything but soft ground. Horses' feet are meant to be on all types of terrain; but we often tend to baby their hooves, which inevitably ends up causing more damage than good. We baby their feet and "protect" them from hard surfaces; but this takes away their natural ability to grow hard feet to suit the hard terrain. Which means they end up with butter feet! By increasing the amount of hard ground and different terrains they walk on every day in their paddocks, we increase the strength and hardness of their hooves. No more stone bruising, no more feet wearing away from concrete surfaces. Hello shiny new tap hooves!
Mud Fever Preventatives and Cures
Having a couple rescue horses made of tissue paper, and a poor client who sent her horse out to a buggy mess; I've dealt with way too much mud fever in the past year. From little scabbies on heels, to full blown black scabs up to the knees; it's pretty disheartening to see how fast it can spread, and how painful it is for the horses.
Now I've been told a million different ways to handle mud fever; from picking the dry scabs off and letting it bleed, to soaking, to sand paper... And even the use of bleach on the scabs! It shocks me that common sense is often the first thing to go when dealing with another beings injuries. First and foremost, if you wouldn't do it to your own open wounds, you shouldn't be doing it to your horse. So bleach, picking scabs, and sand paper are OUT OF THE QUESTION. These all cause unnecessary pain, that's it. Another common action is to clip all of the fur off of the legs in a preventative way, but this is exposing the legs to more harm than good. They have hair/fur there for a reason, to protect themselves. The only time you should think about clipping is if there is too much feather in the way to properly treat an infection. Otherwise, trimming is ok, but do not expose the skin if it's not infected. You are leaving it vulnerable to more bad, then you are doing good.
The cure? Wash everything from the knee down with warm water and betadine scrub. Suds up those legs and let that soak for 10 minutes. Rinse. Dry as best as you can. And apply an anti-fungal/anti-bacterial cream mixed with a corticosteroid and baby bum cream. You can pick all of these up from a drug store. I use "Hydrosone" for the corticosteroid, and plain zinc oxide; for the anti-fungal and anti-bacterial you can use hibitane with a bit of tee tree oil. Apply liberally over every scab, and work it into the skin/fur. Don't pick the scabs, most should "melt" off after the second or third day of washing without any bleeding! Do this every day for a full week. If your horse continues to have new scabs growing after a week, they need antibiotics in their system too. Get a vet out to prescribe a weeks worth of sulfa, and continue the treatment above during the anti-biotics treatment.
THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF THIS IS CONSISTENCY! EVERYDAY, SAME WASH, SAME MEDICATIONS/CREAMS, DRY DRY DRY!
No need to clip! No need to pick! No bleeding! No pain! And best of all, no scarring!
The preventative? Keeping their legs as dry as you can. This can be a nightmare for outdoor boarders depending on where you keep your horses. A wet free environment isn't always available, but the ability to dry off after getting wet is essential. Horses are not meant to stand in mud all the time, it's bad for their legs and even worse for their feet! If you have a really muddy paddock in the spring and fall, it's time to invest in some gravel. Gravel is good for their legs, and even better for their feet!
Thrush Preventatives and Cures
This is another topic I've heard of people using bleach for. And another serious no no. Just because their hooves are "hard" and seem to be "dead" tissue, they aren't. There are still nerves in there, and there are still places where bleach can kill live tissue. So again, NO BLEACH.
Thrush is an anaerobic bacteria; which means it loves places that oxygen can't get to. So in a hoof with all kinds of nooks and crannies, we are likely going to find thrush. Another big issue that contributes to thrush is manure and ammonia. Even horses that only go out when it's dry, and have fluffed lovely stalls get thrush, and it's because of their own manure and urine. People often pick their horses feet after coming inside, but I think it should be the other way around if not both. A horse gets more dangerous bacteria in their feet from their own stalls, then they do from outside. So the best preventative is pasture and stall maintenance to reduce the amount of manure they step in every day, and how much residual ammonia is around to seep up into their frogs. If you have a horse inside, pick their feet every morning before they go outside, and make sure you have a nice clean pasture for them to go to. If your horse lives outside, you better be cleaning that paddock as often as possible!
It may seem counterintuitive, but I see more cases of severe thrush in stall boarded horses than I do in horses who live outside 24/7. Now that said, mud is a big no no too. Again, horses are not meant to live in mud. Walk through it occasionally, yes, not live in it. Gravel!
Another good preventative is to soak your horses feet weekly/biweekly in apple cider vinegar. SOAK. Either get your horse to stand in a small tub of it for 10 mins on each foot, or get some cotton balls and duct tape them into their soles and have a grazing party for 10 mins. That all natural medicine needs to get up into the cracks and crannies to do it's job. The unreachable places are usually where the thrush has it's home.
Now you find yourself dealing with some already stinky feet; cure? If it's really terrible, I would suggest a one time treatment with "White Lightening". You can get it from your farrier, or local horse feed/tack store. Make sure you use it liberally, and up into any cracks. From there, you need to be more vigilant at picking your horses feet. And start treating with apple cider vinegar mixed with tee tree oil every day (sometimes twice a day in the beginning) to overcome the thrush entirely.
is the most important part to pick, as it leads up into the horses soft hoof structures and blood supply. Not somewhere we want flesh eating bacteria to go for a free buffet.
(Image from "http://www.horsewellness-store.com/the_horses_hoof.jpg")
I hope these are interesting to you, and I encourage you to research into how you can add some natural horse keeping secrets into your horses life. They'll love you for it.
Keep on keepin' on!
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