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Shoes mask weaknesses, barefoot highlights strengths

Saturday 12 November 2011

To protect your barefoot horse take up a new career - turn sleuth......

Almost daily I come across confusion and mayhem.  Partly caused by miscommunication, partly by misleading information from forums and quite a bit from ear mites.

There is one thing we can all do to help ourselves. 

Read the packaging - And if the information is not there or is incomplete then don't buy.

This especially applies to wormers and feeds.

and below two case studies from just yesterday which underscore the need



No brand names mentioned, but one company makes a tapeworm only wormer.  Active ingredient 1mg/1kg body weight.  In combination with another wormer (for an all in one) the dose is 2.5mg/1kg body weight.  The active ingredient may cause a problem for some horses with particular health problems. The manufacturer has stated doses on the packet, but the vet, advising on which wormers to use seems unaware of the different drug amounts.

Regarding feeds - a respiratory aid is more or less a solid block of molasses.  Owner of lami pony advised it is safe to feed to laminitics,

I rest my case.

3 comments:

jenj said...

So true! Or how about the feed we have in the US labeled "Safe-n-Sound" with an NSC value of 20-30%!?!?

lytha said...

Some culture shock for me: labels do not need to be precise, even on food items, in Germany. I asked to see the ingredients in a meat marinade (there is even a sign at the meat counter that says, "Ask us for ingredients!"). It said "Spices."

Seriously!

On horse items I see no list of ingredients, and I told the seller "I would not buy a product if I do not know what is in it. You might mention this to the manufacturer."

I have still not found a low-starch feed and I've searched all the main brands here. They have tonts of "No-Oats" types because oats are bad in Germany I guess. Funny thing they use to replace the oats: corn.

It is impossible to buy beet pulp without added sugar in my state, and I've not taken up rinsing yet.

I hope the laws change so that we can become informed what we're buying and putting in our bodies and our horses'.

(I have bought that tapeworm-only wormer too, but in general vets are reluctant to give me wormer.)

Rachel said...

Having used what appears to be the wormer you've mentioned, I had, within 48 hours, a footy horse which has now since abscessed. Coincidence..?

This wormer was insisted upon by my vet despite my worries concerning the levels of praziquantel within it. It's so difficult to do the right thing, it seems, and I'm still struggling to get the balance right between listening to the 'professionals' and my horse/instincts - we've only been barefoot since July. I'd be very interested to read more about your experiences of wormers.

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