Sad Truth: Horses have problems because their humans that do not listen...to their horse and to their professionals. I am glad FiFi recovered. Great video.
So excellent. My mustang is an easy keeper, a little heavy. No feet problems, barefoot. On some short winter grass, low carb low sugar orchard/ timothy hay plus vitamins, calif trace mineral supplement. No grains. In the US here Vets in my area say limit hay to about 18-22 lbs a day. But you say give unlimited hay 24/7 ? Am i understanding that right. In the process of makin 10 ft wide track around part of my property to test BUT it does have some grass 😮 leave it in winter? Dig it up? Thank u soo much for much needed info. Janice
Hi thanks. Yes, it's about balancing calories in/calories out - far too many horses have far too many calories going in, in the form simple carbs from the grass and the bagged feeds, relying on the enzymes in the small intestine to do the majority of the work. What horses need is to limit the excess calories going in and they want to get their energy from the fibre which is digested in the hind gut. The way to do this is constant movement and constant 24/7 hay, yes. But with no grass because this will continue to cause more problems. So we often go for n 8ft wide track on the travelling sections, which acts more like a squeeze moving them along, and then wider sections usually at the corners for chilling out and rolling etc. Hay placed in various areas around the track. If you keep to a narrower track then the grass will be trashed very quickly, and then take all the poo and put it under the fence line to stop them leaning through. Rule of thumb, have at least 2-3x more hay stations to the number of horses.The biggest mistakes owners make with tracks is making them too wide all the way around, not enough feeding stations (feeding in one or two areas is no good), not enough hay out 24/7 and the wrong type of hay. It has to be mixed, orchard/timothy and even teff mix would be good. Then a salt mineral block. No need for any extras. Do this for 6 months to give them time to adjust and you should start to see they need no extras (eg supplements). Strip back for at least 6 months before adding anything back in. That's it in a nutshell :)
I have a question: My fella has a widend white line from past laminitis (laminitis caused from jumping him too high, he didnt have a dietary issue). And while hes happy and painless now, his white line in the front is still wider than it is in the back, where he never had an issue. He's not bruised or anything, and our hoof trimmer said that he does not have acute laminitis anymore, but his whiteline will never get to where is used to be? Youre telling me that it potentiall could,, tho. We opted for glued shoes on the front now to see, if his hooves grow better this way, as hes being ridden more and has quite flat feet. Hes also feely on the front when stepping on hard surfaces.
His stretched white line at the front and not at the back almost definitely means that his hooves are not being trimmed correctly - eg the heels are still too high. If you join the Phoenix group and post up photos we can help you in there. Link in the description :)
Outstanding video, extremely valuable information, thank you so much !
Thank you 🙏
Sad Truth: Horses have problems because their humans that do not listen...to their horse and to their professionals. I am glad FiFi recovered. Great video.
Humans are definitely not listening - they are guessing! 👍
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
So excellent. My mustang is an easy keeper, a little heavy. No feet problems, barefoot. On some short winter grass, low carb low sugar orchard/ timothy hay plus vitamins, calif trace mineral supplement. No grains. In the US here Vets in my area say limit hay to about 18-22 lbs a day. But you say give unlimited hay 24/7 ? Am i understanding that right. In the process of makin 10 ft wide track around part of my property to test BUT it does have some grass 😮 leave it in winter? Dig it up?
Thank u soo much for much needed info.
Janice
Hi thanks. Yes, it's about balancing calories in/calories out - far too many horses have far too many calories going in, in the form simple carbs from the grass and the bagged feeds, relying on the enzymes in the small intestine to do the majority of the work. What horses need is to limit the excess calories going in and they want to get their energy from the fibre which is digested in the hind gut. The way to do this is constant movement and constant 24/7 hay, yes. But with no grass because this will continue to cause more problems. So we often go for n 8ft wide track on the travelling sections, which acts more like a squeeze moving them along, and then wider sections usually at the corners for chilling out and rolling etc. Hay placed in various areas around the track. If you keep to a narrower track then the grass will be trashed very quickly, and then take all the poo and put it under the fence line to stop them leaning through. Rule of thumb, have at least 2-3x more hay stations to the number of horses.The biggest mistakes owners make with tracks is making them too wide all the way around, not enough feeding stations (feeding in one or two areas is no good), not enough hay out 24/7 and the wrong type of hay. It has to be mixed, orchard/timothy and even teff mix would be good. Then a salt mineral block. No need for any extras. Do this for 6 months to give them time to adjust and you should start to see they need no extras (eg supplements). Strip back for at least 6 months before adding anything back in. That's it in a nutshell :)
I have a question: My fella has a widend white line from past laminitis (laminitis caused from jumping him too high, he didnt have a dietary issue). And while hes happy and painless now, his white line in the front is still wider than it is in the back, where he never had an issue. He's not bruised or anything, and our hoof trimmer said that he does not have acute laminitis anymore, but his whiteline will never get to where is used to be? Youre telling me that it potentiall could,, tho. We opted for glued shoes on the front now to see, if his hooves grow better this way, as hes being ridden more and has quite flat feet. Hes also feely on the front when stepping on hard surfaces.
His stretched white line at the front and not at the back almost definitely means that his hooves are not being trimmed correctly - eg the heels are still too high. If you join the Phoenix group and post up photos we can help you in there. Link in the description :)