Maiden voyage of the naked hoof!

was the title of an email from a client this morning.......  and with their permission here is the body:-

I rode him for the first time in 12 weeks due to his virus and he did not put a hoof out of line. We went on a short loop which took us along the road and round the corner of a field - not a ride I would have even considered in his 'sugar days' as the field and hedge would have been far too spooky especially after 12 weeks off!


Yesterday we went down the road and back up a stubble field (all walk) again Mr relaxed.


This morning we did another short ride and had a little trot along the grass.


And yes I am still grinning like a lunatic!

This very dedicated owner, who is a real example to us all, has struggled for years (14 to be precise) with a horse that had to have shoes and pads in front and was extremely unpredictable to handle.

When deshod he had pretty bad nail bind - but one of the major turning points for this lovely gelding was reducing the sugar/starch in his diet.

I am so happy for them both.  It took 14 years, but the horse has found his feet and the owner has rediscovered the horse she thought she had.  I hope they enjoy the rest of the time they have.

Big hugs :-)

Deadly white powder, often cut with other substances

Some will swear it is ok in moderation, many can eat a fair bit and be absolutely fine, for others even a small amount is not so good.

Yes folks, today's post is about sugar :-)

The chemical formula for almost all sugars is CnH2nOn (n is between 3 and 7).  The last time I checked this holds true for organic sugar too..........  and yes organic sugar has the same number of calories and the same potential to rot your teeth and in excess upset the balance of your horse's hind gut.

As you know, horses have evolved to eat lots of low sugar, high fibre forage.  They are so good at it that they can survive in areas too harsh for cows and sheep.  Yes, get that, horses are tougher than cows or sheep.

In future posts I may get into more of the biology of why too much sugar is bad for our horses, but for now can I urge you to read the small print of what you are feeding your treasured friends.

As an example; - a feed shop near me is selling grass seed advertised as 'Suitable for low sugar pony paddocks.'  Well I read the label, it is over 70% Rye grass (seed) and when I checked out the varieties of Rye included (yes I am a geek), they average over 18% sugar in the growing season.  Now bearing in mind we are aiming for less than 10% - how the ? is that low sugar?  It certainly isn't suitable for horses or ponies.

Ditto various products marketed as safe for laminitics or 'low sugar'.  Don't read the marketing guff on the side of the bag (in the UK) look for the white label that should be stitched on (it often falls off).  This will detail how much sugar is in the bag, as well as listing the ingredients. And don't be fooled; many molasses free products aren't, instead they contain a modified form of molasses which has had a tiny bit of the sugar taken out.  But it is still sweet and sugary!

Some will argue that a bit of sugar never did any harm.  Well the owners of the horses with behavioural problems; that on a low sugar diet have transformed into paragons of good behaviour, but when slipped the odd carrot or bit of grass and turn into 'monsters' will argue otherwise :-)  Guys you know who you are! :-)

And let's not forget the LGL's sound on well soaked hay, but footy when not.

Managing your microbes (or how to decrease horse farting..........)

Sorry guys but I promised a client I would post tonight about farts (and how to reduce them - in horses that is.)

One of the coincidental (or not) things I have noticed is that a horse with LGL or worse is usually a bit gassy (or may have been gassy in the immediate past). A horse with a happy tummy tends to have less gas - so fewer farts and just maybe, less incidence of LGL.

This is not a precise or even any kind of science. Just one of the things to watch out for when managing your horse for optimum health. Certainly since Grace has been on her mega low sugar and very high fibre diet she doesn't fart at all. Whereas client horses with high starch diets have a habit of dropping wet ones at the most inopportune moments, certainly I regularly sport a unique and unsaleable brand of hair gel. Maybe it is their way of getting their own back for me messing with their toes.

Anyway, enough of the locker room humour and onto the techy stuff.

Techy stuff

The equine Cecum is pretty big; 28-36 litres (7.4 - 9.5 US gallons) (6.2 - 7.9 UK gallons) and it is home to billions of microbes.

These microbes are reliant on their horse for protection as well as for nutrition. The horse’s diet provides the microbes in the cecum with an energy resource unusable by the horse. In turn, the end products of the microbes’ metabolism provide the horse with an energy resource.

Horses rely on the microbes in the cecum, to aid in digestion and to make nutrients available that would otherwise be unavailable through enzymatic digestion alone.

It has been observed that disruptions to the delicate balance of cecal microflora can have systemic effects on horses, including changes in fecal and blood pH levels, diarrhea, weight loss and lameness due to laminitis.

One common source of microbial imbalance occurs when a horse ingests a large amount of cereal grains or grass that is too rich in carbohydrates or starch. Such a carbohydrate overload is common in pasture-fed horses during the spring and summer when grass grows very rapidly. It is also common when horses are fed large amounts of cereal grains.

When the cecum is overloaded with sugars/starches certain bacteria such as Lactobacillus and Streptococcus bovis over grow, resulting in an increase in lactic acid production and an overall change in bacterial populations as pH levels decrease. (Rowe)

The exact mechanism of laminitis is still not fully understood.  Fortunately for us, we don't really need to know, we just need to keep the microbes happy so the that unhappy chain of events that lead to founder never get started.  (Also read this blog entry.)

So - keep the farts to the minimum, feed your horse the diet he was designed for.  Low sugar/starch and high in fibre please :-)

Important note
If your horse is lacking in energy - before you whack extra carbs into his diet, consider reducing them instead.  Sugar overload is exhausting.  The bacteria in the cecum are disturbed, digestion goes haywire and the horse actually gets deprived of nutrients rather than getting extra.  You may find your horse sleeping more, or standing around with head hanging; maybe with a slightly hungover expression.  If you get any of these, cut the sugar as a first option, give it a few days and then reevaluate.

If your horse is losing weight then add safe energy - always fibre first.  If they can't chew another blade then add a low sugar/starch food source such as linseed (flax seed in the US).

Fibre digestion keeps a horse warm too, so you won't need as many (or maybe any) rugs.