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Welcome to "More Horse Matters"

It occured to me that every day is something new with the horses and while it used to be that I kept a journal to remember it all, it seemed a better idea to share it with those who are out there struggling to get it right as well.

Here in the NW, it has begun to rain quite hard, or at least it did for the last 48 hours. As I look out my window, it has begun to look sunny and cool and I know that my "girls" (my 15 year old morgan mare Chanty and 18 year old morgan-arab mare Sally, featured on the site) are thrilled to be out of their stall and running in their paddocks, able to stretch their legs. I won't be able to see them today, but I know they are smiling.

Yesterday, I began feeding my girls a feed from Triple Crown called Low Starch. I'd known about the feed for almost 2 years but until recently, it was not availble in our local feed stores and driving 30 miles to buy feed did not seem fiscally responsible (it cost too much!). In the past I would feed a combo of beet pulp and rice bran with multi vitamins, plus their hay. At our stables, the hay comes from multiple fields and so it varies in its carbohydrate content, bale to bale. I could have all of them analyzed and feed the lowest carb hay, but again, it is an added cost and not very practical. Sally began gaining too much weight with all the extra hay she was getting (to stay warm on the cold nights), and was showing signs of early laminitis-sore feet, fat pads more prominent over eyes, lethargic and more outbreak of skin fungus on mane and legs.

Why is all of this important? Because both of my horses have had acute laminitis and Sally has foundered (rotation of coffin bone) at least 3 times, the last one was 2005, winter time, when I finally learned that it was diet that triggered it. She was on high levels of grain, eating alfalfa, all because I was riding her constantly and I thought she needed it. She is the reason that I went looking into natural hoof care after seeing Pete Ramey. It's a long story and I'll share it with you throughout my entries here, but suffice to say that this time of year is critical when it comes to feeding and managing your laminitic horses.

Hormones in the horse's body are changing in order to adapt to the colder weather and as an adaptation to the change in the natural diet of a horse which can be quite sparse in the winter months. Morgans as a breed (as well as ponies and other breeds) are designed to tolerate very harsh conditions and live off of very little vegetation. We fill them up with lots of excess calories thinking they need to have rich grasses and grains. I had to learn the hard way. At the time, there was not a lot of information-even the vet did not suspect it was a dietary issue and said it was okay to continue feeding grain, maybe just a little less.

Fast forward to today and numerous bags of beet pulp and rice bran later-Sally has not foundered and has grown out her separations and rotated coffin bone (turns out that the bone is not permanently deformed as I so naively believed, but is just moved out of place by the swelling and subsequent laminar wedge that develops). I have now been trimming her myself for almost 3 years. She is my "project" and has educated me about horse behavior, anatomy, physiology, hoof care, not to mention being the most loving, patient, sweet tempered animal I've had (other than my beloved, Belle, lab golden retriever mix, now passed away). I will keep a close eye on Sally and Chanty as I change their diet slowly, but hope springs eternal that I will finally be able to give them the nutrition they need, keep their weight at a healthy level and not put them at risk for further laminitis episodes. I'll keep you in touch...

Sal's Gal