EquiNatural Edits

The Equine Eye

2012-02-22T10:44:00.004Z

The equine eye is the largest of any land mammal.

Almost all horses have big, beautiful eyes. Its visual abilities are directly related to the horse's behaviour and the fact that the horse is a flight animal. They never wink, so if your horse has one eye partially or completely closed, it means something is wrong.

The horse’s eyes should be clear, bright, and the lids tight, with the inside of the lid pale pink and moist. Eye injuries and infections are common in horses, with untreated problems becoming very nasty very quickly. If the eye becomes badly infected, the structures of the eye can be eroded until the entire eye collapses. However, with prompt treatment, many eye problems can be brought under control within a few days.

EyeClear

Every winter our pony Cookie used to get sticky eyes. As soon as the temperature dropped significantly to blimmin' cold and the wind started howling from the north/north-east, her eyes would start streaming and gum up. My horses' eye health is an area that I'm very happy to use conventional creams/drops for, as I consider eye problems far too important to take any risk with, no matter how calculated. I swear by Brolene, the human treatment for conjunctivitis, which costs around a fiver from the local pharmacy - if you called the vet you could easily add a zero to that figure for the callout fee plus another £25 for the prescription, so Brolene it is, and it always works a treat.

Cookie, however, had other ideas. She wasn't having any of that mullarky with creams or drops being squidged into her eyes. No way, Jo-se. She most definitely had a very strong opinion about that, and when Cookie had an opinion, you listened - or else!

Thus, we put together our EyeClear for her and trialled it over a winter a few years ago. It's a synergistic blend of Mullein, excellent at clearing out congestion and expelling excess phlegm and mucous, while soothing and toning the mucous membranes and reducing inflammation; and Eyebright, which, as its name suggests, is the most widely recommended herb for eye inflammations and stinging/weeping eyes, with its astringent properties soothing and tightening the membranes surrounding the eyes to reduce fluid secretion and easing catarrh.

Within days Cookie's eyes started to clear up, and thereafter each winter, at first sight of her streaming eyes in the cold weather, we'd add a handful in her feed when she needed it. EyeClear is now one of our popular winter blends.

For more information on EyeClear, visit our webpage www.equinatural.co.uk/EyeClear

UveitisSupport

Last year I had a call from a customer asking me if I could suggest a natural remedy for her horse's Uveitis, also known as Moon Blindness, since it was originally thought that recurrence often appeared with phases of the moon.

Equine Recurrent Uveitis (ERU) is a leading cause of blindness in horses, and can be very painful for the horse. My initial reaction to this client was that I wanted to walk away from this one as, apart from being a very serious condition with potential serious consequences, the condition presents itself very differently in each horse, is difficult to treat and reoccurs easily. I suggested that in this instance the client would be better off taking her vet's advice as, in my opinion, eye problems were too serious and too dangerous, and the equine eye far too delicate, to take any chances.

ERU is an immune-mediated disease. In simplified terms, the blood is fighting the disease and the interior eye, while the eye is fighting the disease and trying to protect itself from being digested by the body's own blood.

Unlike many diseases, it does not have one single cause and for this reason has baffled researchers. However, once I started to really study the condition, I read that while the causes cannot be foreseen or eradicated, its progression can in many cases be slowed or stopped by consistent care.

While the possibilities of suggested causes are many, ranging from trauma to bacterial to viral, what is known is that the chief infectious cause of ERU is leptospirosis, a bacterial organism that enters the system through the mucous membranes, with contamination coming from contacting the urine of the infected animal through water, mud, bedding or food.

Leptospiral bacteria like warm, moist conditions and horses can get it from drinking water that has been infected, or they may pick it up from grass, hay or grain contaminated by the urine of infected animals. Cattle can shed leptospiroses in their urine for over a year and horses may shed for four months.

It therefore goes without saying as to how important it is to maintain your horse’s health at an optimum level, to provide a natural resistance to invasion of these parasites.

After extensive reading and study, I went back to the client saying that there were herbs that could probably make the horse more comfortable during an episode of ERU, as in reduce the discomfort when the iris was in spasm, and help reduce the inflammation. As a result, the client was happy for me to put together a blend based on pain-relief and anti-inflammatory properties, while maintaining a healthy circulation into the eye capillaries and overall strong immunity. Thus, our UveitisSupport was born.

UveitisSupport is a blend of: Bilberry, Eyebright, Rosehips, Echinacea, Dandelion Root, Milk Thistle & Meadowsweet.

For more information and advice on ERU and leptospirosis, see www.equinatural.co.uk/UveitisSupport

CateractAid

Now to last week, and a customer called me to see if we could help with her horse's cateracts. Interestingly we already do a blend for a client's dog's cateracts under our Customers Made To Order range, so I pointed the customer to this blend, suggesting that if she wanted to take it further for her horse, to let me know and I'd add it to our range. The customer said yes, and so CateractAid is now part of our Eye Health range.

Whether horse or human, cataracts are clumps of protein that collect on the lens of an eye and interfere with vision. A cataract develops when the clear lens becomes cloudy.

Researchers don't know what causes these proteins to clump together, although there are several schools of thought that cateracts can develop either due to chemical changes in the lens that happen wth age, and also daily exposure to sunlight can be a factor, so a field relief mask is highly recommended.

Interestingly, obesity /studies in humans have also shown that obesity increases the risk of cataract formation in middle age, the reason being that very high sugar levels (glucose) in the blood adds to the destruction of proteins in the lens. Thus, if your horse is carrying a few extra kilos, is insulin sensitive/resistant, or laminitic-prone, this could put your horse at greater risk of cateracts.

Studies have also shown that low-levels of antioxidants within the body may contribute to early onset of cataracts in the lens, so ensuring an antioxidant-rich diet may help maintain good eye health - leafy, green vegetables and berries contain high levels of beneficial antioxidants for eye health.

CateractAid is a blend of Bilberry, which is rich in flavonoids, known to prevent the degeneration of the lens and the retina; Eyebright, which can help reduce light-sensitivity and has useful antioxidant properties; Ginkgo Biloba, a circulatory stimulant with a strong antioxidant effect; and Rosehips, for their high levels of Vitamin C and their excellent ability to enhance immunity and protect the system.

Another excellent addition to your horse's feed is to add linseed to your horse's diet, as the high levels of EFA's (essential fatty acids) help nourish the eyes.

See our webpage www.equinatural.co.uk/CateractAid for more information.

And finally - A quick word on Carrots . . .
We've all heard the folklore that carrots are good for our eyesight. As it turns out, it could be more than folklore! Research cites more than 30 studies with evidence that carotenoids help prevent what they call the 3-C's: Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease and Cateracts. Carotenoids (including beta-carotene) are the compounds that give carrots their orange colour.

This conclusion is supported by a decade-long Harvard study indicating that if humans get 50 milligrams of carotenoids every other day, this significantly reduces the risk of those 3-C's. The high carotene content is believed to stimulate cell renewal, and it also provides the material for the body to make Vitamin A which is essential for proper vision, especially night vision.

Just bear in mind that it would take seven good-size carrots to provide 50 milligrams of carotenoids. Just as well our equine friends love carrots!

Finally!

2012-02-18T16:27:00.015Z

I really, truly don't know where the time has gone. One minute it's Christmas and hubby's off for 2 weeks, the next it's daughter's half term, hubby's on hols for another week, and I have a vague memory of saying 'I must do a blog catch up', more than a gazillion times.

I know we're now only 2 weeks from March, and I can barely believe it. Somewhere since Christmas and now we've had a bit of a proper winter with snow and hard frosts going down to around -10deg, but that was positively tropical compared to other parts of the UK. One of our organic suppliers had so much snow that it knocked out their telephone, and hence, internet lines, so we couldn't get any deliveries through, and one of our other suppliers couldn't get several root herbs to us as they were frozen solid in the ground overseas.

I'm pleased - and relieved - to say that all deliveries are back to normal, and this last couple of weeks have felt like life is getting back to normal again, so much so that I've actually got a free couple of hours this afternoon to FINALLY GET THE BLOG UPDATED!

So what's happened and what's new since Christmas?

Well, first up we have the news that Cookie went on loan to the most fantastic home. It was terribly sad to see her go after such a lovely long time with her, but daughter simply didn't want to ride - or even visit her - anymore, and Cookie was getting more and more bored and plumptious. So I took the plunge and advertised her on one of the barefoot forums I visit, and got a reply from a petite adult, a lovely lady by the name of Angie, who drove several counties down from Derbyshire to come and see our girl. We were in the middle of the December monsoon and the weather was appalling but Angie managed to guage that Cookie was a gorgeous girl just from a 10-minute plod around our lanes, and the following weekend she came back with her lorry.

Cookie wasn't terribly keen to leave her brothers, but she arrived safely and met her two new pony boyfriends, and to say that her relocation has been a roaring success is an understatement! Her socks are being ridden off, she's lost almost 100kgs, she's going on fun rides, beach rides, you-name-it rides, and she has her very own stable on Angie's very own private yard with her name on from a previous pony that Angie had, also called Cookie (although that Cookie was a boy), but it was as if it was meant to be. Angie emails me regularly and we've become firm friends - I now have a collection of Cookie photos outnumbering all the photos we used to have of her, and I can only say how thrilled I am, for Cookie's sake, that she's found a fantastic new home. Angie and Cookie are already building the foundations of a brilliant partnership, and Angie loves her to bits. Here's to a long and lovely friendship going on there.

Meanwhile, back at home, and thanks to the appalling rain we had in December, we had to move the boys. Their field quite literally turned into a swamp and I started getting seriously depressed with it all - the mud was so deep that I couldn't even carry, let alone wheelbarrow, the boys' haylage to them, and any sign of a solitary blade of grass was a dark, distant memory. So, I went begging around the village, and thank goodness our nearby farm had a spare 3 acres (their hay field) that they've let me borrow. I've got to be out by March so their hay can kickstart growing again, but oh boy did it save my life, and the boys. Kelso had started to let me know in no uncertain terms that he wasn't impressed, as in trashing fences and jumping - yes, jumping, (and he's a 22-year old impeccably-mannered cob who neither trashes fences nor jumps) out of his field into the next one. Murf just stood and cried for 2 weeks, oh, and gaily followed Kelso over the fence into the next field. Eventually I dragged my head out of the sand and realised I had to do something. They've since had nearly 2 months in 3 fabulous, meadow-grass acres with dew ponds and natural shelter, and they're happy and fit as fleas.

As a result, we've made the very sad decision to relocate the boys to a new yard - sad because we love our field, but it's just wayyyyyy too wet. But - they'll get 2 enormous stables in a huge barn with a couple of other horses for company, so I can bring Kelso in during the summer days when the midges drive him nuts, and Murf can come in and keep him company to get him off the grass, then next winter when the weather gets horrid I can bring them in overnight to dry their hooves off and just get them out of the weather. I know it goes against every fibre in my being to stable them, but I've reconciled it with the fact that they're knocking on a bit, and the stables are huge - and I'm having them built without a dividing wall so in essence they'll be in together in two huge stables knocked into one, so almost like a mini-barn for them with plenty of room to mooch around in. Plus they can still stay out 24/7 if the weather/climate permits. And . . . the new field is literally one field away from my back garden so I'll be able to walk it in 30-seconds. And . . . it's all on a sheep-farm and I'll get to cuddle lambs :-)))) !!!

Next bit of news and . . . we've got a new dog! Not intentional, as our 3 Jackie-terrorist-terriers are quite enough already, but this was a bit of a rescue of sorts. Ever since we got the first Jackie, then suddenly another 2 (not my decision, I hasten to add, shovelling all the blame of that move on hubby), my esteemed other half's been saying 'that's it - no more dogs.' I mean, look at them . . . proper terrorists, and this is just 2 of them!

I'd happily have a hundred, but hubby was serious, and when he's serious, he's really serious. So I knew the rules - no more dogs, never never ever, and we were simply going to count down with the ones we had until they were all, um, gone, if you know what I mean, then we'd get another cat. That would be it. No-More-Dogs.

So anyway, back in January I heard about this lovely dog in the village, a lab-cross apparently, only 3-years old, a real softie chap, who was having a bit of rum life. He was living in a flat with a 75-year old gent who'd had a quadruple heart-bypass several years previously and couldn't walk more than 20-yards without becoming short of breath, and was apparently desperate to rehome the dog. Needless to say, this dog hadn't had a walk in almost 2 years and was the size of a small country.

I now hear you ask - WHY????? was this dog living with an elderly gent who could barely walk - in a flat? Well, apparently his daughter got the dog for him - as a companion. I will say no more. It further turns out that this lovely dog had also spent the first 6 months of his life at Battersea Dogs Home, having been taken on as a 'little' puppy by a lady in a London flat, who then 6 months later couldn't cope with the 'big' size he'd become (!), so off to Battersea he went where he was later rehomed to this gent in our village. Needless to say, bit of a crappy start to his life . . .

So I heard about this dog. Then met him, and it was shocking - he looked like you'd imagine the Michelin-Man's dog would look like, but worse - he was chronically obese, with several enormous, bulging tyres around his midriff, and huge fat pads hanging off his neck and rump. He was, however, absolutely gorgeous, with the soppiest nature you could imagine, and desperate for love, attention, affection - all the usual things that a doglet would want but a whole lot more.

I couldn't get him out of my head, and already knew I was on a slippery slope, knowing that I wanted to rescue him from his slothlike existence but knowing that hubby wouldn't have any of it. I couldn't keep away though, and went to visit the owner and offered to take his dog for a walk. He was a bit strong on the lead (understandably), but overjoyed at the prospect of the outside world, and once we got to the fields I let him off the lead and he ran and ran and ran, his tyres wobbling frantically with every stride. Big mistake, that walk. I was smitten - and committed to the cause.

The following morning (Sunday) I chose my moment. A nice lazy morning, bit of a lie-in, cuppa in bed for hubby. I asked him if I could 'run something by him' and you could see his face saying 'oh-oh'. I gave it my best shot. Explained the plight without too many superlatives (I have learnt from experience they don't work with hubby when I want something - best to hit him with more fact, less pleading). His first reaction was raised eyebrows accompanied with 'oh god, not another dog.' 'I know, I know,' I said, agreeing with him, but not pushing it - somehow, I just felt that hubby would see the merit in this case. Apart from that, I reassured him that I'd do all the looking after (I do anyway), I'd do all the walking (I do anyway), plus he was a real sweetheart compared to the Jackie-terrorists (bonus!), and as we had 3 already, another wouldn't make any difference, plus the Jackies would probably outlive him anyway (they live till their 103 don't they?!). Couldn't believe my ears when hubby said, with absolutely NO prompting from me, 'okay then.'

BLIMEY!!!!!!!! You should have seen me go! Cut a long one short, dog was with us by the afternoon! Previous owner was delighted, parting company with the comment 'I won't miss him at all.' Nice. And with that, Yogi (yep, I know, bad name, but he knows it, answers to it, so we're stuck with it) came to live with us. By teatime, daughter and husband were smitten - here's an example - Jackie speak: 'Urrrggghh!!!! Shaddap you little sh**s!!!' Yogi speak: 'helloogorgeeeeeeous, aren't you a lovely boy googoo-gaga-baby-speak'.

Within 1-day, he understood he goes outside for wees (god knows what his previous routine was). Within a week, Big Dog (as he is now also known, cos boy is he Big, especially compared to the Jackies) was sleeping in the bedroom - in a dog-bed I hasten to add - there's no earthly way, despite any pleading on my part, that hubby would allow Big on the bed, in any way, shape or form. Within 2 weeks Big had lost all his blubber, just from regular exercise and a bit of feed management. Within 3 weeks he was coming when called, not buggering off anymore yelling 'freeeeeeeeedommmmm!!!!!!!!', he was staying to heel, he didn't need a lead on, and he didn't chase other dogs or livestock, unlike the Jackies :-(((.

Now, he is so much part of the family that we can't remember what life was like before Big. We've had to change certain regimes in the house though - we no longer own any socks as he loves to carry them off to places far and distant; he insists on taking one of his toys on his walk with him so we're on red-alert and beady-eyed when he decides to spit it out, usually in a secret-hidey place, and yes we've lost lots. And his tail, omigod that tail! It is a Weapon of Mass Destruction. He wags All-Day-Long. He sends the entire shoe and boot rack flying daily; beware the wine glass on the coffee table as he walks past as it will be sent flying all over the carpet; I have lost numerous documents on the laptop while typing in front of the telly as he walks past and his tail wags swipe-like onto the keyboard; and if he comes in off a muddy walk, that tail is faster than any paintbrush in redecorating every wall it comes near.

But oh boy, we love him to pieces. I can't wait for the warmer weather to start riding again as he's going to be my riding dog on a long line until we get into the woods, then me, Big and Murf can have a blast in the trees. He has the most snoggable chops to dive your face into, and we happily give up the sofa to him when he decides he's going to take it over. Hubby has now stopped his daily mantra of 'No More Dogs' - he now says 'No More Jackies', and 'Lots More Big's'. Don't get me wrong - we love our Jackies, but cor blimey they're challenging - they run your life, your home, the world! A law unto themselves, Jackies, fantastic little doglets, but I think we've proved we're better with the tail-wagger types!

I think I'll leave it there for the 'Finally!' update. It's now doglet feed time and they're all seriously demanding dinner, so I shall up and off for now. There are 2 bits of news on the EquiNatural front as in we have a new blend, and (great news) we're about to become an online stockist for Thunderbrook PureEssential feed, but I'll save both of these bits of news for the next blog, which now I'm back in my rhythm, will hopefully not take too long.

I'll end with a photo of Big - this was the other day when we had the snow, and Big found edible frozen treasure by the front door. He trotted it off to the top of the garden and managed to get half the bottle down his neck before hubby managed to wrestle it off him. Puts a whole new meaning to Mini-Milk!

Oh, and for those of you that my remember my plaintiff ramblings re To Rug Or Not To Rug, I have a confession to make . . . I gave in. Badly. But then for those of you that know me, you probably had money on me doing that anyway (altogether, raise eyebrows to the sky . . .).

Happy Christmas!

2011-12-24T07:31:00.000Z

I'm afraid the photo above was a shameful rob from one of the forums I visit, but I thought it was just perfect for this time of year!

Happy Christmas to You All!

As I reflect upon this last year I would like to extend a huge thanks to the support and testimonials from our wonderful customers. Thank you so much for supporting EquiNatural, for your lovely chats about your horses with me, for emailing me with your kind words, for reading our new blog and 'liking' us on our new Facebook page, and all the many other ways we've communicated this year about our beloved horses!

I know I haven't blogged much this December , but busy-ness - and negotiating MUD (!) - have taken over my hours this month! The good - no, the excellent, news is that the nights are now going to get longer - Here Comes Spring!!! (wishful thinking????) - and I will rectify the blogging lapse come the New Year.

And so to the beginning of the festivities - thank you all again, and here's wishing everyone and our much loved horses and ponies continued health and happiness in the new year to come!

It's December - Blend of the Month 'MudClear'

2011-12-05T14:33:00.006Z

Our field is revolting. And so am I. Having a personal, not-so-private revolt against the mud. It-Is-Driving-Me-Nuts.

My poor husband gets the mud-saga every winter as I become, literally, bogged further down in my mud depression. He's heard it so often from me that he no longer hears it. 'Sell 'em all then,' he'll helpfully suggest, meaning the horses, which only causes a loud, wailing 'Nooooooooooooooo!' to emit from me. 'Then stop moaning,' he'll conclude.

There's nothing for it with mud - we have to love to hate it, whilst doing a Roll-On-Spring dance, which usually involves plenty of involuntary slips and slides into said mud.

There's nothing quite like being stuck in your wellies in mud thick as treacle, up to your knees, completely unable to move other than an uncontrollable wobble as into the mud the rest of you goes, so never mind up to your knees; you're now unwillingly wallowing in it up to your armpits, and usually wanting to cry. Then there's the getting-the-welly-stuck but where-you-keep-moving, leaving your welly - and sock - behind, so a once snuggly, warm, dry foot then plunges bare into ice-cold, thick gloopy mud - that's a good one.

Then there's getting your truck stuck in mud up to floor level, when they're meant to plough through any terrain thanks to the 4x4 - at least that's what the salesman said. Yet every time you try and move, you wheelspin a foot further down a sheer slope, where only the local farmer and his tractor can pull you out, but only after you've waded knee high for 100 meters to try and find the farmer, and lost your wellies and sunk up to your armpits in that same mud trapping your truck, then finally you find the farmer and beg sweetly for his truck-removing services, whilst what remains of you being vaguely recognisable resembles, and smells, like a sweaty, exhausted yeti.

And throughout all of this wintry seasonal pleasure, do we ever ask the question: Why??????? Do we keep horses???????

The best - or should I say, worst - mud episode has to be several winters ago. We were on a DIY livery yard not long after me and Murphy moved several counties to marry the husband. Husband-to-be, as he was then, soon realised that hoss-owning wife-to-be spends every spare moment with said hoss, and soon got fed up being a hoss-widower, so that's when we got him on board with hoss-world and cut a long one short, we got him his very first horse. Bromley, a very handsome bay 15hh New Forest, was sold to us as a nice elderly 'safe, bombproof, slow, ideal for a novice'. We didn't know at the time that Bromley was actually stubborn, opinionated and as it turned out, positively lethal. It also didn't take us long to discover that Bromley only did life on his own terms, and the word 'compromise' simply didn't exist in his vocabulary. However, husband-to-be refused to accept any Bromley fault; he was his first horse, and he was smitten.

And so to the Bromley mud story. We didn't realise at the time (but soon figured) that the fabulous 3-acre field we were allocated right-at-the-far-end of the yard track was actually a boggy mud-swamp in winter, and no-one on the yard wanted to have their horses there. As we were new to the yard having just moved there, we didn't know the wintry stories. And so winter hit, and so every evening, because yard rules said you brought your horses in overnight during winter, I had to trog down to the field to bring the boys in.

Except . . . Bromley didn't want to come in. It was our first winter with him, so we were still learning all about Bromley and his interesting characteristics and foibles. All Bromley wanted to do was retire, live out and eat grass. He had absolutely no intention whatsoever of doing anything else with his life. However, Bromley hadn't informed me of his life-plan. So, I'd slog round the field trying to catch him for about 20 minutes, finally getting the headcollar on, thanks only to bribery, then would head towards the field gate with Murf following obligingly behind Bromley, his herd leader, because Murf has always been a herd-leader follower and has no opinion whatsoever unless it's just you and him, then he has plenty.

What I haven't mentioned is that for about 30 meters of the track approach to the field gate, and about 30 meters once inside the gate, was a good 1ft-deep, wallowing, sticky, treacle-like, mud swamp. The field was an old river flood-plain, so flat as a pancake, and situated at the bottom of a long, gentle slope. Once saturated with wintry weather and rain, it turned into a deep, sinking, stinking bog. Utterly impossible to walk through, so you had no choice to walk around it, which only created more mud. Only problem was that there was a fence along the edge of the track, so humans only could teeter along the edge - when you were leading horses, you had no choice but to go right through the middle of the mud.

So there we were, me and Bromley heading for the gate, with Murf following, and so we hit the edge of the mud. Now we're all striding big steps into the gloop, getting deeper and deeper, sloshier and sloshier, stickier and stickier, until finally we reach the gate, where there was another problem - the mud was so deep that you had to lift the gate up to get it over the mud so you could walk through. So with wellies firmly in position and sunk, ready for a gate-heave-ho, I'd clamp Bromley's leadrope between my legs so I could use both hands to lift the gate. Bromley, being a super clever, wily, devillish horse, spotted this as his window of opportunity to leg it back into his field. With, of course, stoopid Murphy following him obligingly at top speed.

So, I'd then have to try and turn in the mud, wellies completely stuck, to try and shift to the edge of the mud so I could get a footgrip and go get that bloody horse again. And so it went on. I'd finally catch Bromley again, we'd all plough back through the mud to the gate, and he'd leg it back into his field. I'd meanwhile, be losing the will to live. Let's not forget this was winter, so we were slogging around in filthy, freezing weather and usually being battered by icy driving rain and biting north-easterly wind chill. Of course I couldn't get anyone from the yard to help me - a) I was the new girl so didn't know anyone well enough to beg, b) no-one wanted that field so why on earth should they slog down there in the foul weather and mud to help me, the new girl, and c) husband-to-be was still at work in his warm, centrally heated office bedecked in shiny suit and leather loafer shoes.

Finally I twigged at the gate to tie Bromley to the fence while I huffed and puffed a heavy 5-bar metal gate a foot in the air to slide across the mud. And this is when my Bromley mud experience happened. With wellies well and truly stuck in place and unable to move other that twizzle around, I got the gate ajar enough to get us through, then leaned over almost horizontally to untie Bromley. Then tried to take a step forward through the mud and through the gate. Couldn't move - I was completely stuck in the mud. Bromley, however, wasn't, and took the opportunity to barge into me and shove past through the gap onto the track, ripping the leadrope out of my hand as I keeled over, flat out and face down horizontally in the mud, with Murf joyously following Bromley on his journey to freedom!

I was entirely engulfed in the mud. I lifted my head out, spitting mud and grit from my mouth and swore violently at their disappearing rumps, as the mud seeped through all my clothes, saturating me through to my underwear. Somehow I pulled myself out of the gloop, and headed off step by step dripping gloop and squelch as I went through the mud track towards the stable block, which was now a blurry twinkling array of stable lights in the distance through my mud-splattered specs in the now diminishing wintry evening light. Some 5 minutes later I arrived frozen and dishevelled at the top of the slope to find my two horses ripping the plastic sheeting off haylage bales that had been stacked neatly on the yard, stuffing their faces, the yard manager none too happy.

I won't bore you with the rest of the story, but to say that was a baaaaaaaaaaad day at the office was an understatement. My evening ended with having to repatch the bales with tape courtesy of frozen fingers. Took me hours. I was soaked to the skin and blue with cold. I've hated mud with a passion ever since. And just in case anyone's interested, husband-to-be, who then became husband the following year, gave Bromley 2 years after 7 attempts on his life by that murderous horse before he threw the towel in on him, with the words 'this is meant to be fun, isn't it?'

Back to mud, and to add insult to injury, there's Mud Fever. Just as I'm gritting everything and barely coping with the mud, my Murphy gets Mud Fever on his white hind hoof. Nasty sore, weeping, split cracks. I've always tried to deny the myth of the White Hoof, but Murf proves me wrong every winter, so I've given in to the myth now.

Thus, two winters ago, and deeply fed up with the mud, and hating seeing my boy sore, I put together our MudClear blend and trialled it on Murf throughout the winter, together with a barrier cream. Essentially, I wanted to get his immune system in as good a condition as I could, so if/when the bacteria hit, he'd be in good shape to fight it alongside treating it with antibactieral and antioxidant herbs with special emphasis on nourishing and supporting his skin and tissue health.

The blend seemed to work - he got Mud Fever, so on went the barrier and in went MudClear - the infection cleared up within a couple of weeks and didn't return, and all with minimal intervention from me. What I mean here is that with my lot living out and wallowing in said mud, their environment isn't exactly conducive to clean and healthy, plus I have to confess I'm not one of the removal-of-scabs club members, for 2 reasons: 1) Murf is a complete baby and a pathetic wimp; you mess with something on him that's going to cause him terror (clipping) or pain (ripping scabs off), and he'll show you a perfect impression of a cow-kick, and usually very well aimed for maximum pain and suffering, bless him, and 2) just my personal opinion but I believe that a scab is nature's plaster/band-aid and pulling them off just doesn't sit right with me.

The following winter of 2010 we put the blend out to the market, and it's now one of our best-selling winter blends. And as I checked this morning, Murf still has no mud fever this winter - so far, cross everything, and boy do we have mud.

Thus, for December, MudClear is our Blend of the Month with 10% off the price, RRP £25.00/kg, December price £22.50/kg. Happy December, and happy Roll-On-Spring dancing!

December's Featured Blend ~ MudClear
For further info, click HERE

Antioxidants - Defenders of Health in Horses

2011-11-29T09:42:00.003Z

This is a bit sciency, but bear with as it all gets normal again, honest. Here goes . . .

The body is made up of atoms/molecules. In the main, those atoms and molecules are good guys, getting on and doing what they're meant to do. But - there are also bad, unstable atoms/molecules, and these are called Free Radicals.

Antioxidants are substances that protect against free radicals.

Imagine an atom or molecule in the body, beavering away and doing its job (the yellow blob in the pic). Electrons circle the nucleus of an atom like planets around the sun (the little red blobs), and at set distances from the nucleus, 'orbits' occur (see the red blobs orbiting?!). An atom/molecule is most stable when the outer orbit contains as many electrons as it can hold, and always an even number.

Now, if the atoms or molecules are missing an electron from the shell and have an odd number, they are highly unstable, and are called 'Radicals' (those scary blue monsters). So, a 'Radical' is a chemical term for an atom or molecule that has an odd number of electrons in its outer shell.

So, back to antioxidants being substances that protect against free radicals.

Think of free radicals as micro cannon-balls. They bounce around in the body hunting for electrons to stabilise themselves, to give themselves that even number. Only thing is, when a free radical robs an electron from another molecule, it turns that donor molecule into another free radical. The result of all this organic thievery and mutilation of molecules is eventual cell damage, including damage to DNA, and cell death.

So what does the 'Antioxidant' do? Well, they're substances that trap, bind and stabilise a free radical to end the chain reaction. However, similar to bees, once they sting, they die. Once an antioxidant has stabilised a free radical, it loses its neutralising capacity. However, even though the used antioxidant now also has an uneven number of electrons, because of the complex way it has bound the free radical, it won’t produce any further damage.

Clever, eh?!

You’ve probably heard that antioxidants help protect against radiation damage, drugs and dangerous chemicals in the environment and in foods. While that’s true, the major call for their services comes from processes that are perfectly normal in the day-to-day function of the body. Just burning energy from food produces free radicals, and the more the body burns, the more free radicals are produced. So requirements for antioxidants increase by simply going through the daily routine of living.

But - just to throw into the mix, the horse’s body also uses these free radicals to deal with the billions of organisms trying to attack its body through the eyes, respiratory tract, digestive tract, urinary tract, reproductive tract, right down to tiny breaks in the skin. Dying cells, or abnormal cells (such as cancer), are also disposed of by free-radical attack. So, while environmental toxins are bad enough, your horse’s body has enough to deal with as it is from routine processes that generate free radicals.

So, back to antioxidants. How do we give them to our horses? If your horse is grazing on lush pasture, his daily requirement of antioxidants is very likely being met. However, in this day and age, lush pasture is either a myth, or unwelcome to our horses in these insulin-resistant and laminitic times.

Dietary antioxidants fall into two general categories:

1) nutrients that are an essential part of your horse’s diet. The section below, Nutrients In The Diet, lists essential nutrients your horse needs in his diet.

2) those naturally present in plants and foods but not an essential part of the diet. This includes natural herbs like milk thistle seed and berries.

Magnificent Milk Thistle

So, to summarise . . .

Antioxidants protect against free radicals, which contribute to tissue breakdown at the cellular level.
Horses on bare pasture as their main diet probably need antioxidant supplementation.
Hard-working horses need more supplementation because the more exercise a horse does, the more food a horse eats, the more he digests, the more free radicals are produced.

Does Your Horse Need Antioxidants?

Every living thing needs antioxidants, but can get most of the antioxidant action needed if levels of the nutrients in the section below are adequate in the diet. It’s important to remember that these vitamins and minerals have other jobs to do too, so they can’t be ignored. A hard-working horse eating at least 10-15kgs/day of a highly supplemented feeding regime is probably meeting at least his minimal requirements for these nutrients, except omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin E, and selenium.

Unless the horse has access to plenty of fresh grass, and is okay on it, supplementing with a minimum of 1,000 IU/day of vitamin E is a good idea. A useful source is the human soft gel caps of E in oil (just add to feed) - I order from www.healthspan.co.uk - not an intentional plug, just the online company I use, reasonably priced with quick delivery.

Most horses can also use at least an additional 1mg/day of selenium. Adding linseed to your horse’s daily diet is also a good idea, and for those of you that know me, you know that I absolutely SWEAR by linseed (www.equinatural.co.uk/linseed).

Horses whose diets are not well supplemented, or those in heavy work, may need their intake boosted over maintenance levels.

Equine Research on Antioxidants

There are some revealing equine antioxidant studies:

Horses with lower levels of antioxidants in their blood show higher markers of oxidative damage after exercise (European Journal of Applied Physiology, December 2005).
Plant antioxidants extracted from beans may have antioxidant activity in equine blood equivalent to vitamin E (Food Chemistry and Toxicology, April 2005).
Horses with obstructive airway disease (heaves or allergic lung disease) have been found to benefit from antioxidant supplementation (Journal of Nutrition, August 2004).
The importance of high-dose vitamin E for hard-working horses is so widely recognised among endurance riders that researchers weren’t able to find any who would allow their horses to do an endurance ride without it as part of an experiment (Journal of Animal Science, February 2004).
Linseed, rich in omega-3 fatty acids and other plant antioxidants, was found to help control skin symptoms of sweet itch, an allergic reaction to the bite of Culicoides midge (Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research, October 2002). Researchers are also looking into the ability of omega-3 fatty acids to help protect against bacterial toxins.

Nutrients in the Diet

Vitamin C

Daily Requirement – none established. The horse can manufacture Vit.C in his body in amounts sufficient to avoid full blown deficiencies, and C is also high in fresh grass.

Deficiency Risk – no risk for horses on fresh grass. Horses in moderate to hard work and not getting fresh grass may benefit from some supplementation.

Toxicity Risk – mild to moderate – can cause diarrhea if dose is too high. Usually a problem at doses of 15g/day or higher.

Vitamin A

Daily Requirement - 15,000 to 30,000 IU/day.

Deficiency Risk - low to nonexistent. Even dried hay has generous amounts of Vit.A. Requirements probably don’t increase with exercise level.

Toxicity Risk - moderate to high. Too much Vit.A causes liver, bone and skin problems.

Vitamin E

Daily Requirement - not well established, ranging from1000 to over 2000 IU/day.

Deficiency Risk - high. Fresh grass is best source but even this might not be enough for a horse being worked very hard.

Toxicity Risk - low to none. No Vit.E toxicity has been observed in horses, even when fed 8000-10,000 IU/day.

Copper

Daily Requirement - 100-150mg/day; might be higher in hard working horses.

Deficiency Risk - moderate to high. Much hay is low in copper and/or high in other minerals that can compete with copper for absorption.

Toxicity Risk - low. Horses are very tolerant of high copper intakes.

Zinc

Daily Requirement - 300-450mg/day, possibly higher in hard working horses.

Deficiency Risk - moderate to high. Similar situation to copper, plus much hay has high iron which depresses zinc absorption.

Toxicity Risk - low, similar to copper.

Manganese

Daily Requirement - similar to zinc.

Deficiency Risk - low, most hay contains plenty of manganese.

Toxicity Risk - low, similar to copper.

Selenium

Daily Requirement - 2-4mg/day, likely higher when intakes of other trace minerals, i.e. copper, are high, or with high sulphur intake in hay or water.

Deficiency Risk - high. Most areas are selenium deficient.

Toxicity Risk - Moderate. Although everyone worries about too much selenium, it doesn’t become toxic until levels of around 20mg/day are reached.

Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids

Daily Requirement - unknown, probably around 15-30g/day.

Deficiency Risk - high. Fresh grass is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, but the curing process essentially destroys them. Except for linseed and linseed oil, all grains, seeds, brans and vegetable oils fed to horses are low in omega-3 fatty acids.

Toxicity Risk Low. No known toxicity, although extremely large amounts (cups of oil, kilos of seed) could produce some digestive upset.

A Rambling - Can Horses Get SAD?

2011-11-17T12:33:00.000Z

Dear old Eeyore, sad as sad can be! But can horses get SAD, as in Seasonal Affected Disorder?

I was asked this question the other day from one of my lovely clients. She sent me an email saying that her poor chap hates winter - hates the rain, the mud and the reduced riding time, and is beginning to look really miserable. Did horses get SAD, she asked, and was there anything I could recommend.

My client is not the first to have asked me if horses can get SAD and I doubt that she'll be the last - my connemara Murphy used to show similar signs as her horse - he too hated the rain and mud, and used to get really cranky and bolshy with me each winter. It took me a few years to figure it out, but I know now how to fix him, so I thought I'd pop my take on it all on a post here.

This time of year seems to be a perfect trigger for a change in general outlook and overall demeanour from some horses, and I now believe that the answer to the problem is a lot simpler than we probably realise, although it's taken me a fair few years to get there. I've also had the benefit of being asked to advise in similar cases, and I've seen remarkably positive responses to sometimes just applying simple tweaks in management.

So, here's my personal take on it, and I reckon it's all centred around allowing our horses to have as natural a season changeover for them as possible - that, and nutrition - the right nutrition. I think we have to remember that they've just had a lovely long, warm summer on yummy grass, chilled-out snoozy days under shady trees, comfy short summer coats, nothing bothering them much. And so finally the weather turns, gets colder/wetter, the nights start to draw in and so their focus is to get their bodies ready for the 'hungry season'; they grow thicker, protective coats, their systems start to self-regulate their temperature, and they now need extra grass to maintain the nutritional levels for the change in the seasons.

But - the human touch kicks in. Their protective, thickening coats suddenly get clipped off and rugs come out so their natural self-regulation is all at kilter because we've interfered; they're then locked up in stables so they're not able to move around as much as they need to keep warm and so their joints stiffen up; to add insult to injury, the grass isn't delivering anymore so out comes the hay (nowhere near as yummy or nutritious as grass), invariably dusty and possibly soaked so even less yummy with most of the nutrition leeched out of it, or they get haylage which can be waaaaay too rich and highly acidic. Worse, us humans also tend to give them a measured forage quantity in their stable overnight and usually by midnight it's all gone - so they're now standing in a box with nothing to eat for several more hours, nothing to keep them warm, so to boot they get ulcerogenic as well.

Hey-ho, we now have a horse not being able to manage his own winter, not able to do what comes naturally to him, not able to eat how he needs to, and his whole life-balance - and worse, healthy gut balance - changes. He gets unsettled, fed up and stressed. He doesn't want to feel like this - it's completely unnatural to him because in nature horses are brilliant at adapting and coping with the seasons and 'weather' - it's in their DNA. Plus, let's not forget that horses don't actually have bad intentions (it's just not in ther nature - they're naturally playful, inquisitive, social, chilled) - they simply react to what's going on around them. So they get miserable, and provided it's genuinely not through some medical clinical diagnosis, it's usually because of something we've done to them within their management and environment, usually very well-meant no doubt, but totally wrong . . .

Now, pulling all this together, this is the BIG picture, and I myself have to hold my hand up and admit that in the past, I was this same owner. However, having since moved over to the 'other side' (!), and the more I started to understand how a horse behaves naturally, and started to apply this ethos to my own horses, the happier and more balanced my horses became - and certainly the safer and less terrifying to ride! I know that most of us are on livery yards of some sort or other, and we have to follow yard-rules, turnout-rules, etc etc., but if we can make small changes within the boundaries that we have to comply with, we can see huge improvements in a very short space of time.

So now to nutrition. I'm a firm believer in the 'optimum-system-health' school, and I absolutely swear by it, with prevention being paramount. A bit like us humans - if I'm healthy, fit, good diet, good balance of desk/exercise/fresh air etc etc., then my immunity's good, my energy's high, and I cruise through most stuff with a common-cold barely touching the surface. However, if I've not done much exercise, been stuck indoors with too much desk, eaten too muh 'beige' food, drunk a glass too many for a few nights, I feel rubbish, nothing get's done, stress builds up and that common-cold's going to land on my chest. Obvious stuff. Same for horses.

So, day in, day out, year after year, alongside their fibrous forage my horses are fed our HerbalHealth and BareEssential, with the odd tweak here and there for as-and-when-required extras. In a nutshell, HerbalHealth takes care of keeping the entire system healthy, all year round, and BareEssential maintains the mineral and vitamin element that they need, in essence the broad-spectrum balancer. That's all they get; no chaff, no mixers, no anything else, and as a result no chemicals, no fillers, no binders, no molasses, no what they're not meant to eat. Only what they're meant to eat. And the HerbalHealth is only made up of those same herbs that horses would browse on themselves if our hedgerows hadn't been stripped of them in the past when intensive farming kicked in all those years ago.

Remember I said that I used to be a member of the 'Pampered-Pony' school, with one very cranky connemara - well, he eats nothing now but his forage, herbs and minerals, doesn't get clipped, doesn't wear a rug, is covered in mud, lives out all year round with a shelter, and is as happy as larry. His misery is a thing of the past, so much so that I doubt he can even remember it himself.

My belief is that if a horse, in domestication, is kept as 'naturally' as is possible within our personal modern-day boundaries, with a system as healthy as we can possibly make it for him, then we will have a balanced, happy, healthy horse. With our HerbalHealth, it's a bit like them taking a big Vitamin pill every day as a preventative - you won't see any specific miraculous or significant changes anywhere, but what you won't see is lethargy, sadness, illness - his system will be in as good nick as it can be, and if everything's working as it should inside, it'll show outside.

Last winter I had a client who went through months with me trying to get to the route of her horse's problem - Conto was completely dejected with his lot, and would stand alone away from his pals, depressed, not eating, very runny tum, just thoroughly miserable, and his owner eventually became desperate with worry.

Conto had great turnout, with ad-lib haylage through the winter, so his environment and regime was 99% there, apart from when he was stabled then he cribbed constantly. I suggested that he might be ulcerogenic so we treated him accordingly wth our UlcerRelief; he seemed to get better then just as quickly went downhill again. We treated him again with UlcerRelief and he seemed to get a bit better, then went downhill yet again. The vet checked him and found nothing; we'd suggested everything from back problems to gut cleansing but still Conto was solitary and dullened, and now dropping weight as he now wasn't eating.

I'd suggested repeatedly to his owner to try him on hay as I was suspicious that the haylage was too acidic for him - my Murphy can't touch haylage without some serious gut balancing - but she said she couldn't do that because her yard only provided haylage and he had to share the field he was in. We'd looked at every angle, and still Conto was miserable - I was at a loss as to what else to suggest, convinced that it was the haylage, but now had nowhere further to go. I suggested her only option was the vet again, and this time to consider blood tests and check enzyme levels etc.

After a month or so of not hearing from this client, I then got a joyous email from her! She'd finally plucked up the courage to ask the farmer if she could put Conto in a separate area, and she would buy him his own hay - just to see if it would make a difference.

Well whaddya know, that was the answer! The haylage was just too acidic for Conto, and he simply couldn't eat it, so no proper fibrous nutrition was getting into him. Within a matter of a couple of weeks on hay, the change in him was remarkable, and as I'm sure you can imagine, his owner was overjoyed! To conclude, such a simple change was all that was needed here - Conto just needed the right fibre.

After being reminded of Conto, I sent his owner a quick email, asking after him and how he was doing. I got a lovely email back:

'Golly, just had to back read to what I have been saying about Conto over the months. Had forgotten a lot of the phases we've had - emails appear to be a useful blogging tool.

So - how is he now? Seems okay actually. Not overly energetic. Still cribs like crazy and I am investigating various Ulcer treatments.

He now lives separate from the others and haylage in part of a field that has a shelter. So he's still out 24/7 - yay. I have 3 levels of electric tape - not because he breaks out, but i don't want those naughty little minis / goats / sheep getting in and eating his hay! I made a giant haynet inside the shelter and i can put a few bales of hay in at a time - he has NO haylage at all now. what a difference to his bloating! Unfortunately, Conto is taking the concept of adlib to heart and will easily eat 3 bales of hay a week - despite having a field of grass surrounding him.

When I first asked the farmer if I could keep Conto in this field for winter he said "you'll never get weight on that horse with hay" ... I really must bring that up next time he sees Conto - he's looking great! I must poo-pick nearly a whole wheelbarrow a day! When the hay ran low last week his poo quantity dropped by more than half and it was much harder (and greener) in quality. I shamefully admit I am becoming quite fascinated by the stuff - so much you can tell about their digestion just by looking at it! (So true)

One other thing - I did spoil him this winter by buying one of those weird CoolHeat rugs. works a treat - same rug can be used no matter how cold it gets as it is lifted off the body slightly so piloerection can take place and they can regulate their own temp. So happy i finally managed to get this rug. (Carrumbas - me and my rugging dilemma - must look at this rug!)

Okay - that was way too long a reply to your polite query. Never expect a short email from me!'

What a great reply! Go Conto! To conclude, if you think your horse is suffering from SAD, take a step back and look at every aspect of his regime. I love my clients . . . :-)))

Tea Time!

2011-11-12T18:52:00.002Z

We're having weird weather here in Somerset. Mid November and we're still in the mid-teens with the last couple of lovely days sitting at 15/16-degrees, with glorious sunshine and blue sky. I was out shovelling poo in a t-shirt, and I was still too warm, and Tesco delivery man turned up in a t-shirt too.

Earlier in the week though, we had rain, rain and more rain, so we also have good-old sloshy mud to go with the lovely sunshine. Hence, we have mud-monster pones, and Kelso is now muddier than I think I've ever seen him - we're now in that lovely window of time for him where the fly-rug's gone, and he's obviously very happy being a dirty - and nekkid - old chap.

Kelso

Murf

Cookie, looking a lot better than the reality!

I'm often asked what I feed our horses, and although their feed gets tweaked throughout the year depending on what's going on with the seasons, and of course their own individual needs as and when required, their regular base feed works around our HerbalHealth and BareEssential, the latter being our broad-spectrum mineral blend with emphasis on hoof health.

So, breaking it down, their feedbowl currently contains:
~ bilberry leaf (peripheral circulation), brewers yeast (vit.b), burdock (blood and tissue cleanser), calendula (skin health) - soon to be winding down then picked up again come spring, chamomile (digestive aid and calmative), clivers (overall system cleanser), copper (supplement as our grazing is deficient), dandelion leaf and root (kidney and liver tonic), hawthorn (cardio-tonic), linseed (joint/skin health), magnesium oxide (hoof strength), meadowsweet (joint flexibility), milk thistle (liver cleanser), mint (digestive aid and yummy!), nettle (highly nutritious detoxer), rosehips (vit.c/immune booster), seaweed (only a trace, for the fantastic vit/min element), and finally yea-sacc (gut health).
~ added extras for November: echinacea purpurea (immunity booster)
~ Cookie extras: eyebright (eye/sinus cleanser) and mullein (respiratory) as she's just starting to get sticky eyes so we're keeping it under control with these two.

And finally, this week I started adding extra forage (haylage, as Kelso can't do hay because of his respiratory system) as the grass is pretty much done now.

Another day done, and so to bed. Got a lovely long ride out in the morning and it's Kelso's turn - judging by the mud on him, that groom's going to be fun!

Lady Giselle Update - November 2011

2011-11-10T16:37:00.003Z

Following on from our last month's post on Lady Giselle (click here to catch up), I've today received this month's update from Kellie at Shy Lowen on the lovely lady, and it's great news!

10th November 2011
"Early in October Lady was hopping on three legs because the pain from her swollen left hock had become too much for her to bear weight on it. She started to lose muscle from her hind quarters and became very lopsided. She had a pressure bandage applied in an effort to reduce the build up of fluid. We worked out that a gentle pressure bandage could be made with a leg off a pair of size 8 lycra support leggings. Lady then began her new career as a fashion icon :-)

Thankfully, after three weeks, Lady began to walk properly again. She began to go for short walks in hand to get some nibbles from the late Autumn grass. She has gone from strength to strength again now and is being turned out for a few hours each day with her friend Annie. Each day her walking is getting easier and today she managed to have her front hooves trimmed - she hasn't been able to do this because she couldn't bear to lift a foot for trimming.

She still loves her Lymphrelief herbs which she has in her evening meal and we're sure that this has played a huge part in giving Lady a chance to keep fighting. However, her wonderful spirit can only do so much and the help she's had from the herbs is immeasurable.

Remember that our Vet gave her little chance of survival only 3 months ago.

Thank you again so much for your help. We really are delighted with your support, as is Lady :o)

Thanks again,
Kellie"

It's been such a pleasure for me being involved with Lady Giselle, albeit on the periphery of her care. Shy Lowen Sanctuary is based in Liverpool - I'm in Somerset, so probably a good 8-hour drive away, hence I haven't had a chance to meet either Lady or Kellie personally. However, I've become very attached to her in the last 3 months - how could you not - just look at the gorgeous girl in the photo above - and so much so that last month we volunteered to adopt Lady when/if she's back to full health and only if she's able to manage the journey down to us.

We've no further news on this as yet, and in all likelihood won't have for quite a while, but we're happy to wait as long as it takes. However, I know a certain little lady who will be over the moon at having a ladyfriend in the paddock - our Cookie! She absolutely adores other mares and forms a strong bond with them, and is probably feeling a bit outnumbered by her two bigger, older brothers!

To catch up on Lady's full story, click on the Sponsoring Shy Lowen menu option on the left-hand of our website www.equinatural.co.uk.

Finally, to close this Great-News blog entry, I also got this Status Update from Shy Lowen today on my personal Facebook page:

"Shy Lowen Horse & Pony Sanctuary

Happy Birthday to me - I'm 12 years old today. I've saved over 100 horses and ponies in that time. I've had lots of help from all ages of humans and I think I've helped lots of them too. My belief in Monty Roberts words ''Violence Is Never The Answer'' has proven to be based in truth in every second of my 12 years. I am a place where nobody is judged and everybody will find peace. I hope the current financial climate doesn't stop me reaching my teen years - please help me if you can."

Happy Birthday Shy Lowen!
May you find the support to continue your fantastic work

for many, many more years!

From all of us at EquiNatural.

Find Shy Lowen on Facebook here :
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shy-Lowen-Horse-Pony-Sanctuary/105853832819403

And Then There Were Four . . .

2011-11-08T14:28:00.013Z

Chickens, that is - not horses!

Last week our neighbour from the nearby farm, who knew we'd lost Mrs B a couple of weeks ago, asked us if we'd like a cockerel. They apparently had far too many from a previous brood and were looking to offload some for free. They'd clocked several of them on the head and popped them in the pot (delicious apparently, as I clasped my hand over my mouth in horror at the thought - there's no way I could do that to something I'd raised, but I'm a complete woose at this farming lark), but were trying to rehome a few a well.

I was a bit taken aback - we've never had a cockerel, but I'm a sucker for someone saying 'would you like . . .' of the furry or fluffy kind, so I said 'lovely, yes please!,' ignoring the thought at the back of my mind that they cock-a-doodle-doo very loudly in the middle of the night and a) our chicken-run is right behind the house, and b) husband might possibly not be terribly pleased.

So that evening I walked up to the farm, as arranged, with cardboard box under my arm, to collect our cockerel. They had a selection of cross-breeds and special breeds, and all of them very handsome chaps, ranging from 20 weeks to 6 months old. My choice, however, was more based on which one we could actually catch (they're slippery little suckers!), but I didn't care as they were all so lovely.

We finally managed to grab one, a Yokohama x Polish (apparently), who was a most handsome chap with a white base covered in striking gold, silver and red plumage. After a bit of a chase with much air-grabbing and feathers flying, we finally squeezed him into my box with plenty of protesting on his part, and off I trotted the 100yards back home. Our 3 girls had all gone to bed by then so I quietly slipped him into the hen-house and the job was done.

Well. The following morning, at 4am exactly, the neighbourhood was ripped apart by the most deafening COCK-A-DOODLE DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! He then did another, and another, for what felt like forever - it was ear-splitting! It looked like the middle of the night, felt like the middle of the night, was the middle of the night. Considering I was slightly nervous about husband's reaction (he does not appreciate being woken in the night), I actually was more p***ed off than he was. He went back to sleep. I didn't.

And so I clockwatched until 7.30am when finally it was light enough to let the chooks out. Armed with clips to keep my eyes open and scissors to clip his wings, deep down I was thinking I'd made a dreadful mistake and wishing I was brave enough to 'dispatch' this new arrival and pop him in the pot for tea.

Anyway, having seen how tricky he was to catch the previous night, I thought I'd be really cunning and open the hen-house just a couple of inches so I could put my hand in and grab him firmly so I could clip his wings. He, however, had other plans. Seeing a chink of light, this almost-full-grown cockerel saw his escape route and squeezed himself out of this tiny gap like lightning, and out into the chicken-run (which is no small size). There then ensued a 5-minute chase as he cunningly side-stepped my futile lunges, accompanied with my somewhat waning hope that I could corner him.

Not a hope. Slippery Sucker ran obligingly to the corner, stuck his head through the chicken-run netting, and almost saying 'See Ya!', squeezed through the net and legged it into the open garden. Now, we have a generous quarter of an acre, of which half is woodland, and the words 'not a chance' went through my head.

I thought the best thing to do would be to go back indoors, have a coffee and think about life while giving him a chance to chill for a moment. After about 10 mins I went back out with a bowl of corn as forlorn bribery, and found him at the back under the trees. I tried to get close but he wasn't having any of it - he stayed a permanent 30 feet from me, headed down to where my car was parked, flapped his wings and flew off like a pheasant, back in the direction of his previous home.

Bugger. One cockerel gone home. One human standing there feeling a bit of a twit. So, that was our cockerel experience. Fair do's, we won't be doing that again, I thought - too bloody noisy. With that I went back indoors and back to bed to catch up on my missed 3 hours sleep, planning my story if/when farmer came and knocked on the door to inform me that cockerel had, like ET, flown home, and try to offer me another one. When husband came home that night, we both agreed that cockerel's weren't for us - too flipping noisy and we like our sleep too much.

However, the following morning, after an lovely undisturbed night's sleep, at precisely 8.30am, there was a knock on the door. Oh-oh. Sure enough, there she was, smiling in a far-too-cheery way, with a cardboard box in her arms. Oh-nooooo. Groaning inwardly, I tried to hold a fixed smile on my face as I opened the door.

'I think I know why you're here!' I said brightly, and launched into a quick recap of how cockerel slipped out, escaped, flew away, oh-dear-let's-hope-he's-alright. Breathless, said it all far too quickly, feeling very guilty.

'Oh, don't worry,' she said, just as brightly and still smiling. My heart sunk as her box seemed to grow before my eyes. 'We knew that one was a bit feisty and a bit of a flier (a bit??!), and sure enough he came home this morning - bit dishevelled and wet'. More guilt - it'd poured with rain the night before. So he'd been out all night. God, report me to welfare now.

'So I've brought you another one, much quieter chap, bit of a loner. Here you go,' and she handed me the box. Fixed smile remained rigid.

'Well, thank you,' my concrete smile said, trying to look really grateful. With that, off she went.

Buggerrrrrrrrrrrrrr! With images of insomnia swimming before me, and still in my fluffy dressing gown, I collected scissors, shoved on wellies, and headed off heavy-hearted to the chicken run wondering how on earth I was going to explain this to husband.

Remembering how slithery his predecessor could be, I put my hand in the box and got a firm grip on new cockerel's neck, scissors at the ready in case I had to clip quick. Strange - there was noo wriggling, no fighting - was he still with us, I wondered, hating myself that perhaps he wasn't.

I opened up the box with my other hand and there before me was the most beautiful boy - completely different from the other one, this time pure snow-white, with a sprinkling of appaloosa-type blue spots on his chest, shimmering long grey and petrol-blue/green tail feathers, and the most striking deep-red velveteen comb with two miniature devil-like horns either side. Farmer had said he was another Yokohama cross but I couldn't remember what the cross was. Either way tho, he was lovely, and very calm in my arms. I clipped his wings easily with no flapping or angst, then popped him down in the run to get a good look.

I had to admit he was a bit handome. He seemed so chilled, with no panicky, frantic behaviour, no running back and forth crowing 'where am I, where am I!' He just mosied up to the girls and joined them for breakfast. All 3 girls also seemed to accept him with no pecking order (no pun intended), apart from a bit of bossiness from Mrs Newbie at bedtime that night when he put himself to bed before the others and she hustled him out of the hen-house with much clucking, as if to say 'ladies first, young man.'

Husband came home and didn't seem too bothered - surprisingly. To be honest, it was more me that was bothered, which felt very unnatural for me as not only am I a besotted animal lover (even spiders, rats and snakes) but I'm also not normally bothered if I get woken in the night. Handsome and mellow as he was, I went to bed dreading 4am.

Cuck-a-duddle-durrrrrrr Cuck-a-duddle-durrrrrrr. At 4am sharp, this tiny cuck-a-duddle sort of woke me up, then I went straight back to sleep. At 6.30am he cuck-a-duddled again. Perfect timing as we should have got up half an hour previously. And so began another very chilled day with our new cockerel, and another, and another.

Last night, Mrs Newbie didn't hustle him out of bed. No flappy feathers and no harrumphs. He put himself to bed, the other 3 followed, all watched by me from a distance, crossing everything, then I quickly closed their house up. Has to be said I'm a bit smitten - his character is really gentle, so chilled with such a quiet cuck-a-duddle, that I've fallen for him bigtime and forgive the early awakening - I'm a girl, so allowed to be fickle! Fortunately, husband thinks he's lovely too, so much so that he took about 100 photos of him on Sunday.

So, I think it's fair to say that our chicken run is back to a family of four. We're now wondering when we're going to get chicks, and are very excited about it, wondering what they'll look like - if they're halfway as handsome as he is, we'll be very lucky!

Here he is - meet Cocky the Cockerel, striking a pose . . .

and having a cuddle with Mrs Newbie who now seems to like him!

It's November - Blend of the Month 'BreathePlus'

2011-11-02T15:09:00.008Z

I've always said that for me, the two coldest months of the year are November and February. Maybe November feels as cold as it does because I always freeze my peripherals off on the Bonfire Night 'do' and the memory sticks with me. February is always utterly freezing because of the biting north-easterlies.

However, we seem to have a bit of weather madness going on. It's mild. So mild that we're due 15-degrees today, albeit with rain. So mild that this morning Kelso dripped with sweat despite the fact that all we did was a slow walk for a couple of miles.

Factor in that our pals in the US are under 2ft of snow, while the leaves are still on the trees, and there's absolute proof that it's all gone mad out there!

Apart from all this weird weather tho, and the fact that I'm sure we'll be sub-zero within a week, November is also traditionally the time that winter respiratory conditions start to show. I have to say that in all my years of horsemanship, I've been so, so lucky to have had healthy horses - none of them, in 30-plus years, have ever had any respiratory issues at all. Then Kelso came into our life and put a stop to that with immediate effect!

We'd known Kelso for many years previously as he was in the care of our former horse-trainer, Sarah. He was - and still is - a lovely, gentle gentleman, and when we were in the market for a new safe ride for husband, we contacted Sarah and asked if there was a chance Kelso was available. As luck would have it, he was! He'd been on loan to a teenager who was having to hand him back as she was about to start 6th form college and major studying for her A-levels. She was finishing off her summer holidays with him, then the big man was going back, so our call came at just the right time for Sarah. The deal was done, and we went to pick up the old fella from the teen's livery yard.

As soon as we got Kelso home, I knew he wasn't right. His breathing was laboured and his nostrils were flared, all accompanied by a dry, hacking cough. This wasn't summer pasture allergies, I was sure. His cough got worse and I called Sarah to ask if this was typical Kelso - she suggested shoving a pot of honey down his throat and giving him a good blast to clear him out! Only problem was that Kelso was now barely able to put one foot in front of the other without collapsing. Needless to say, I didn't try the honey method and called the vet.

Turned out that Kelso had a secondary chest infection. In September??? Well, there we go. Not having been there at the time, I could only assume that he'd had ongoing untreated SPAOD which had then set on his chest. Result? One very poorly chap.

So we started the conventional medication route of bute, antibiotics and ventapulmin. Three weeks later, Kelso was not one tiny bit improved, and by now his eyes were dull and he was sorely fed up with how he was feeling. The vet came out again and re-prescribed the same meds. Total spend so far - over £400.00. Result? One now seriously unwell chap, and one now seriously depleted bank balance . . .

After another week of the chemical meds I'd had enough. Kelso was on his last legs, literally, and couldn't even walk out of his stable to his field to get some fresh air, so his respiratory system was further compromised by all the stable allergens around him, which at the best of times were not ideal for him. He wa now on a medicated shavings bed, and steamed hay wasn't helping. I was now S-e-r-i-o-u-s-l-y Worried.

And so I went back to the drawing board, drawing on all my old herbal 'stuff' in my head and hitting Google for hours on end. I knew that the herbs elecampane, horehound and yarrow were all renowned for asthmatic symptoms so gradually I began to build a blend of herbs for Kelso. I dumped the chemicals and started shovelling the herbal blend I'd put together into our chap, crossing everything that could be crossed.

Well, blow me down. Within 24 hours his cough had started to subside and was sounding more lubricated instead of the painful, dry hack that produced nothing - the expectorant effect was working. Within 48 hours his nostril flare had subsided. Within 3 days his wheezing was barely audible. Within a week, you could barely tell he'd been ill. Kelso's response to the herbs had been nothing short of miraculous.

A friend heard about Kelso, and asked if I could make a batch up for her. Then another friend asked. Then friends of friends. Pretty soon I was doling out my bag of herbs to all and sundry, and people were saying that I should market this stuff! To cut a long one short, the idea stuck and I started studying proper. And so EquiNatural was born, back in December 2007.

That bag of herbs became our blend BreathePlus, and is our best-selling winter blend, selling worldwide with clients in Europe, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and USA. Who'd have thought that little me could have rustled up a little business like this - Kelso has a lot to answer for! Since those early days he has told me in no uncertain terms that he rather likes these herbal fixes by presenting me with his entire medical history, and has been responsible for several of our blends now! To say that EquiNatural owes itself to Kelso would be absolutely true, and I've certainly never been happier in my work.

So, in keeping with our monthly theme, BreathePlus is our Blend of the Month for November with 10% off the price. Happy November, and happy breathing!

November's Featured Blend ~ BreathePlus
For further info, click HERE

Lovely Linseed - Seed v. Oil

2011-10-31T13:36:00.011Z

I was asked by a client yesterday on the difference in the benefits of feeding linseed (the ground seed) compared to the oil.

I love linseed, or flax seed - whatever you call it, I swear by it for both humans and horses. It's great for joint suppleness, skin health, digestion, and a great source of fibre, vitamins and minerals. I personally take flax oil every day to keep my joints supple and to keep my omega-levels balanced, and I also sprinkle the ground seed on my cereal, in yogurt, on puds and in sauces.

Our 3 horses also get a very generous mugful in their daily feed of herbs and minerals, again for supple joint and coat health - Kelso gets an extra scoop as he has arthritic hocks, but with linseed added to his feed, you wouldn't know it. It has a lovely nutty taste and is very palatable to horses and humans alike.

I also remember back in the late 60's/70's boiling the life out of linseed to make it edible for the horses - a real pallava and an endless, sticky mess! Thank goodness that today with our modern technology, we now get the 'micronised' version of the seed - a simple, clean cooking process that uses infrared rays to cook cereals and pulses which are then passed through a roller mill to create flakes. which are then ground.

So, what's the difference when you feed linseed compared to the oil?

In a nutshell, linseed is a whole food - linseed oil is not, which means that there are a host of additional benefits in linseed compared to the oil.

Linseed and the oil are a concentrated source of omega-3 fatty acids, specifically alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), the building block for all omega-3’s.

While the oil contains more ALA than the grain (1-tbsp linseed grain contains 2.35 grams while 1-tbsp oil contains 7.25 grams, plus the omega-3s are present in the oil component of the seeds), the grain is a whole food and therefore contains a host of other nutrients that are not included in its extracted oil.

For example, linseed is a rich source of dietary fibre (apx. 26%), and an excellent source of minerals and vitamins such as manganese, copper, magnesium, folate and vit. B6. In addition, they contain lignan phytonutrients, which have been found to have hormone-balancing and cardiovascular benefits. While some linseed oils have lignans added back to them, the resulting product is still different from its natural, whole-food form.

Think of linseed and linseed oil as unique products in their own right and not as one being a substitute for the other. Linseed will provide an array of different nutritional benefits into the diet, with the oil more as a dietary supplement to boost omega-3 intake.

A bit more about Omega's, EFS's & The Connection to Inflammatory Response
(confession - the following text is cribbed from an email I received from a client a couple of years ago which I kept as it's extremely useful - however, I've adjusted it slightly.)

There are differing schools of thought regarding feeding oil to horses - oil is generally known to provide energy to the horse without creating any fizziness, and feeding it usually results in a horse with a healthy shine - look in any horse or human magazine and you will see a wide promotion of products containing omega-3 fatty acids.

However, there is another view that considers feeding any liquid oil a waste of time and money - that horses actually absorb oil fed in a solid, crushed, ground form much better than any liquid which is considered poorly absorbed and instantly passed out. My Murphy has this very reaction when fed oil - does nothing for him and it goes straight through him, which considering he's a mucky boy at the best of time, is not pleasant!

However, the advantages of feeding oily fat as an energy source are accepted almost universally, and studies are exploring how certain fats can further benefit horses.

Here's a guide to what's what in the terms of fat:

Essential fatty acids
These are so called because the body needs them for good health, but cannot manufacture them itself, so must therefore be sourced from the horse's diet. Fatty acids make up cell membranes and are therefore involved in all processes in the body to some degree. This means that changing the fatty acid profile of the diet can impact on a lot of systems in the body.

Research has focussed its attention on two essential fatty acid groups; omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids. The body needs both omega-3s and omega-6s as both have very different but important functions - omega-3s SUPPRESS inflammation whereas omega-6s are PRO-inflammatory.

To function correctly the two must be in correct balance - it is possible to have too little or too much of either group in a diet. It is the ratio of the two together (n6:n3 ratio) that is important, with the ideal ratio being low omega-6 to high omega-3.

Balanced fatty acids
This is where the problem lies in the modern diets of both horses and humans. Modern living has thrown our n6:n3 ratio out of balance. The majority of horses diets are likely to have too many omega-6s and not enough omega-3s.

The horse is a grazer and although its natural diet of grass may be low in oil (2-3%), the fat content in the grass is rich in omega-3s.

The quantity of grass that a horse would consume in a day, if left unrestricted, would add up to quite a high daily intake of omega-3s.

This means that horses that are on a forage only diet will be receiving a healthy balance of n6:n3 in their diet.

High omega-6 fatty acids
Cereals are high in omega-6 fatty acids. Many horses require extra concentrate feeding due to the level of work they are doing or to the fact that they are a poor doer, or both.

As soon as we start feeding our horses cereals or feeds containing cereals, we start to skew that important n6:n3 ratio the wrong way and the horses diet becomes high in omega-6s.

Although research in horses is limited, research in humans links a high omega-6 diet to problems ranging from depression to arthritis. If the body has too few omega-3s then it will use omega-6s to replace them, which can affect how the body functions.

Inflammatory response
A diet high in omega-6 fatty acids can lead to inappropriate inflammatory responses in the body due to the fact that they are pro-inflammatory and without the balancing effect of the omega-3s' inflammation suppressing properties.

Inappropriate inflammatory responses in horses can be seen in arthritis, allergic reactions, laminitis and exercised-induced pulmonary haemorrhage (EIPH) in high performance horses.

The n6:n3 ratio is not to blame for any of these diseases as there are many other immunological factors at work, but studies have shown that supplementation with omega-3 to horses on a high omega-6 (grain based) diet elicits a reduction in inflammatory response in cells, showing that it could help modify the inflammatory response seen in these diseases.

Omega-3 fatty acids are found in the highest concentration in linseed/flax oils.

Remember that hay and pasture forages are low in total fat content, with most of the fat made up of omega-3 fatty acids. In contrast, cereal grains such as oats and corn offer primarily omega-6 fatty acids. If your horse is on a forage only diet (supplemented with a general vitamin/mineral balancer) then in all likelihood you do not need to add any omega-3 supplementation. If you wanted to add oil to this high forage diet for conditioning purposes, make sure there are no issues with arthritis, allergies or laminitis.

If your horse's diet contains cereals, then there is no point in using an oil that is high in omega-6 as you will just skew the balance towards omega-6 fatty acids even more, so in these instances, the use of linseed oil is probably best.

Feeding oil
The level of oil that most horses receive in their concentrate feed (generally a glug from the bottle) will have very little impact on the entire diet. You really need to feed at higher levels for conditioning or performance effects (100 -500ml) for the oil to have a significant impact on the diet.

These higher levels of oil should be introduced to the horse's diet gradually over 2-3 weeks as it takes the horse's body some time to adjust to utilising oil effectively, so don't expect immediate effects.

Extra vitamin E will have to be supplemented when used at these levels; the general rule of thumb is an extra 100 IU of vitamin E per 100ml of oil fed.

At these higher levels it becomes more important to ensure that the fatty acid profile of the entire diet is balanced. Speak to a nutritionist if in doubt.

Processed oils
Be aware that supermarket-bought, human-grade oils are processed to improve their shelf life, and are completely devoid of any essential fatty acids which would be beneficial to your horse. They will still work as an energy source, but will not be as digestible and are unlikely to supply any omega 3 or 6 fatty acids to you or your horse.

From the human point of view, we should stick to virgin or extra virgin olive oils, ditch the margarine and use butter instead - just as well as that's exactly what I do!

A Letter From Your Horse

2011-10-27T09:01:00.001+01:00

Following on from yesterday's post, I then remembered I've had this stuck away in my 'funny' files, which sort of keeps the thread going . . .

A Letter From Your Horse

When you are tense, let me teach you to relax.
When you are short tempered, let me teach you to be patient.
When you are short sighted, let me teach you to see.
When you are quick to react, let me teach you to be patient.
When you are angry, let me teach you to be serene.
When you are self absorbed, let me teach you to think of greater things.
When you are arrogant, let me teach you humility.
When you are lonely, let me be your companion.
When you are tired, let me carry the load.
When you need to learn, let me teach you.
After all, I am your horse.

And now, the REAL DEAL . . . .

When you are tense, let me teach you that there are lions in them thar woods and we need to leave NOW!
When you are short tempered, let me teach you to slog around the paddock for an hour before I let you catch me.
When you are short sighted, let me teach you to figure out where, exactly, in the 40 acres I am hiding.
When you are quick to react, let me teach you that us herbivores kick much faster and harder than you omnivores.
When you are angry, let me teach you how well I can stand on my hind feet because I don't feel like cantering on my right lead today.
When you are worried, let me entertain you with my mystery lameness.
When you feel superior, let me teach you that you are the maid service.
When you are self absorbed, let me teach you to PAY ATTENTION!
When you are arrogant, let me teach you what half-a-ton of "YAHOO LET'S GO!" can do when suitably inspired.
When you are lonely, lets do lunch. And a snack. Also, breakfast, snack, dinner, snack – and snack again.
When you are tired, let me remind you about the 600 hay bales that needs to be stacked.
And just when you’re feeling financially secure, let me teach you the meaning of "Veterinary Services".
You want to learn? Hang around, bud. I'll learn ya.

Sincerely,
Your Horse
x

A Rambling - Mess with Mother Nature at our Peril!

2011-10-25T18:39:00.000+01:00

I've recently been browsing through other sites and blogs and have come across lots of differing ideas on what natural horse care is all about. So it's got me thinking. First off, a question - what is 'natural horse care'? Well, in my book, it's about keeping horses as naturally in domestication as we can by providing a lifestyle, as near as we can, to what nature intended – a natural diet, environment and above all, plenty of movement.

In my past, I’ve been lucky to work on lovely yards. I’ve also worked on some pretty ropey ones, specifically a horrid little riding school where the poor ponies were kept in all day in tiny, cramped, filthy stalls up to their knees in shite, with no water and a handful of hay chucked at them, and worked so hard that they were dripping with sweat then chucked back in their shitty boxes with no room to roll the sweat off.

Then there was the trekking centre who kept their ponies tied up in all weathers from 7am to 7pm with no access to food or water, never picked out hooves, reshod every 10 weeks when hooves were split and overgrown with shoes literally hanging off, and where the saddles were so badly fitting that they all had scarred backs.

My worst experience, however – the one that truly wins the Worst Yard Award, was a very smart, very lucrative, very up-to-the-minute racing yard. I worked there for only a short while – emphasis on ‘short’ – simply because I couldn’t bear to stay. To say it was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life would be a painful understatement, and I can't watch racing now without being reminded of that place.

I’m sure, or at least I hope and pray, that there are racing yards out there which are lovely, and do their best to understand the creature that is a horse, and consider their needs. However, the yard I worked on, which shall remain nameless, didn’t, and I was completely unprepared for what I was to witness. Needless to say, I didn’t last long as I spent too much time crying in my car on the way home. By walking away, I felt the most wrenching guilt at leaving those poor, poor horses behind.

Having cared for horses pretty much all my life, I thought I’d seen it, done it, knew it. I’d learnt my equine trade with a long-standing professional family back in the 1970’s, who, for all their traditional BHS structure, believed in the importance of the core principals of allowing a horse to be a horse. I was lucky to have benefitted from their training and insight, although on occasion it’s made me question the way I see other horsemanship skills since, and there have been many occasions when I haven’t liked what I’ve seen.

However, nothing prepared me for this racing yard. The fillies and colts were all beautifully bred and fantastically valuable, yet they resembled nothing close to the creature they were bred to be. For 23-hours of every day they were locked in a cage, a barred stable, and their one hour of freedom was spent being hard-ridden flat-out on the gallops, followed by an aggressive pressure-spray hose-down were you could see them clenching every muscle in resistance. They then endured 30-minutes drying off, walking monotously in circles on a horse-walker – yet another cage, then back in their stables for another 23 hours. They were fed an unnatural high-grain feed, tons of it, three times a day, of which most was left, and given one small slice of rich, acidic haylage as the only forage to browse on.

Most horses on the yard were under the age of 3, yet they all had chronic gut problems with projectile diarrhoea, most were ulcerogenic, and there was no opportunity to touch either human or other horse apart from the quick saddle up and the torturous hosing. The majority had extreme stable vices, and several of the horses were positively dangerous, driven to such boredom and frustration no doubt, that to venture into their stables to change rugs or similar meant taking your life, literally, in your hands.

This luxurious yard promoted their facility as having hundreds of acres of ‘prime grazing land’, with professional photos in their brochure and website of stunning thoroughbreds having a lovely time in beautifully manicured paddocks. They stated that their ‘horses were turned out as much as possible’, that ‘great emphasis was placed on paddock care’, that having hundreds of acres ‘enabled them to rotate the horses frequently’, and ‘turn them out into their natural environment as much as possible’. The reality? Those poor creatures never saw a blade of grass.

I repeatedly drew attention to the gut issues but was ignored, being told that ‘they’re always like it’. I repeatedly questioned the lack of turnout, and was told that ‘they don’t like going out’. Madness! Needless to say, the lavish setup and fancy promotional material was there only to attract the rich client owners to part with their cash and board their new 4-legged purchases to the world of racing, but the reality was very, very different. Not a single consideration for the horses' natural needs was remotely part of the agenda.

The whole experience for me was heart-wrenching, and I had to walk away, leaving those desperate creatures to their continued fate. Never have I witnessed a more extreme example as to the how the worst of our very un-natural, humanised, domestication practices affected horses.

Surely it makes sense that the more we understand how a horse behaves naturally, and provide him with his natural needs, the happier and more balanced our horse will be, and the more harmonious our relationship will be with our horse.

It’s not rocket science – in fact, it’s really simple. All a horse needs us humans to recognise is that they need:

Safety - the horse is a prey animal with a flight instinct.
Routine - the horse is a creature of habit.
The great outdoors - horses are herbivores, and naturally browse and graze on fibrous forage.
Ground level feeding – their respiratory tract must clear and empty so they must feed from the ground.
Small, regular feeding – horses are trickle feeders with a small fore-gut no larger than a rugby ball.
Constant movement – movement stimulates circulation and keeps the whole system fit and healthy. On average, a wild horse will cover 15-20 miles per day.
Company – horses are herd animals, very social and playful.
Leadership – being herd animals, they need to follow a confident leader.

Murphy today - my wild mud-monster boy

Wild versus Domesticated

In the domesticated world, horses can have their very nature and balance compromised because of the way we keep them. I know for most of us that being on livery yards usually means rules! However, if we can understand how horses behave naturally, and do everything we can within those rules, or in our fields, to replicate their natural environment as best we can, this will go a long way to better balance their natural requirements - and well-being. Do this, and we’ll ultimately prevent all sorts of problems and illnesses.

Some examples of Wild versus Domesticated:

Grazing
~ Natural – horses are designed to graze on an un-varied diet of fibrous, low-energy forages for 12 to 20 hours per day. This leads to 55,000 chewing movements. Chewing produces saliva - the more they chew, the more saliva is generated and mixed in with their food, which helps buffer the stomach against acids, and helps prevent ulcers and gut problems.
~ Domestic – yard rules can mean daytime turnout only, and sometimes no turnout in winter if the weather’s bad (I know – I’ve been on a yard like this). Otherwise, apart from their processed feeds, and an average of 2-3-hrs eating hay, means approximately 7,000 to 10,000 chewing movements.

Food Sourced
~ Natural – ground level.
~ Domestic – haynets tied at face level, and buckets sometimes hooked on walls, preventing natural clearance of the respiratory tract leading to a potentially compromised respiratory system.

Food Volume
~ Natural – unlimited trickle grazing throughout the day up to 20-hours.
~ Domestic – restricted 2 or 3 meals a day and a measured quantity of forage at specific times only, where sometimes a horse will stand for several hours overnight without anything to eat.

Movement
~ Natural – 15-20 miles during a 24-hr period.
~ Domestic -1-2 hours most days.

Rest
~ Natural – 20-30% of their time (4-6 hours per day).
~ Domestic - sometimes 23 hours stabled, and not always able to lie down.

Socialising
~ Natural – 100%! A natural part of the wild horse’s way of life.
~ Domestic - sometimes only with humans, with many horses in solitary paddocks and stables.

Young Horses
~ Natural – living together with other horses in a herd, developing friendships and learning behavioural rules, horse language and social skills.
~ Domestic - sometimes alone or with one other horse, rarely in a herd with senior members to learn from, and often in a socially inadequate living environment. Education provided by humans, who don’t act like a horse.

Protection
~ Natural – waterproof coat with the ability to regulate body temperature, strong legs, good natural immunity.
~ Domestic - lower immunity caused by human intervention, susceptible to illness due to stable environment, low quality forage, coat clipped off and rugged.

Grooming
~ Natural – mutual grooming and rolling.
~ Domestic – human intervention, usually tied up, mane pulling urgghhh!!! The opportunity to roll sometimes not possible.

Control
~ Natural – herding by driving forwards from behind, expressive looks and ears pinned back.
~ Domestic – head collar, ropes, bits, whips, twitches, sedation etc etc - oops, did I forget yelling and beating?

Hoofcare
~ Natural – hooves naturally trim due to varying surfaces, with a natural heel first landing allowing frog stimulation which allows healthy blood flow through the hoof and back up the leg.
~ Domestic – shod, which prevents a healthy circulation (up to 50% less perfusion) and thus significantly reduced peripheral proprioception (the ability to feel the hoof) which leads to stumbling/tripping/slipping; a toe-first landing due to the shoe raising the hoof off the ground so no ability to land on the heel, ultimately leading to contraction/shrivelling of the frog and heel, hoof/tendon/joint/muscular-skeletal problems; and let's not forget the sole cut into with a knife, nails going through soft laminae.

What Can Happen When We Don’t Get It Right?
By not understanding and applying a horse's natural needs to the domesticated horse, we run the risk of physical and psychological problems. Stereotypical behaviours such as weaving, cribbing, wind sucking, kicking doors and even self-mutilation (biting themselves) are the result of boredom, frustration and stress - everything and more that I saw at the racing yard. This is not natural behaviour for a horse, but it's the only way they can deal with the stress. A horse doesn’t have bad intentions – he simply reacts.

The reason the horse continues to perform one of these stereotypical behaviours is because the action releases the natural hormone 'endorphin', which makes the horse feel better - how we feel after a good session at the gym. Only problem is that endorphin works as a tranquilizer and sedative, and is addictive.

Now here's the scary part . . . So what do us humans do? Instead of recognising that our horse is going slowly mad due to the way we’re keeping them, and not the way they need to be kept, we think the horse is misbehaving, and . . . we punish them all the more! We put in place barriers to prevent our horses performing these stereotypical behaviours, such as cribbing collars, weave bars etc. Remember - a horse does not have bad intentions – he simply reacts - what we’ve just done is create more stress for our horse – not only have we failed to resolve the original problem, but we’ve now also removed the horse’s coping mechanism, so he's going to react all the more!

We’re also setting ourselves up for dominance and training issues – if we’re not clear, calm, confident, friendly and consistent in dealing and communicating with our horse, these inconsistencies and lack of guidance on our part will result in bolshy, strong, bossy - dangerous behaviour - we will never win when half-a-ton of horse wants to put us in our place - and so we punish him even more. And if our horse is spending too long stabled with no stimulus, then suddenly gets exposed to a totally different environment, is it any wonder he can become insecure, spooky and nappy?

All our horses want is to be put outside, with company, and allowed to be a horse for some of the time. It's miraculous to witness the change in a horse when he's allowed to be one.

Isn’t it all food for thought? The long and the short is that we have to stop keeping our horses in a humanised way that suits us, and start considering the environment as a whole that we give them.

By responding to our horses needs, we can prevent frustration, boredom and stress. By taking care to provide the natural needs of the horse as much as we possibly can, we give the horse the best chance of staying psychologically healthy, fit, happy and cheerful.

And if we have a healthy, fit, happy and cheerful horse, we're spending a whole lot less on vets bills, training tools, expensive gadgets - and supplements!

The Wonder of Rosehips – An Essential Herb to Have On Hand

2011-10-23T08:37:00.002+01:00

When you think of Vitamin C, think Rosehips! Rich in many nutrients, they also contain 60 times the amount of Vitamin C than found in oranges and lemons - fantastic to ward off respiratory conditions!

Rosehips have gained an honoured place as a healthy equine supplement to help maintain good health, strong hooves, supple joints, gut health, boost immunity and prevent respiratory disorders and infections. What a fantastically useful and diverse little hip!

Just as us humans reach for the Vitamin C, especially at this time of year as we’re coming into winter, so my 3 horses each get a heaped spoonful in their feed every day.

A Little Bit of History

The botanical genus, Rosa, is derived from the Greek, roden, meaning red, and the Latin, ruber, also meaning ruby or red, as apparently, the roses of the ancient Mediterranean region were deep crimson, giving birth to the legend that the flowers sprang from the blood of Adonis.

In reality, rosehips are not fruits, but receptacles or containers that enclose the actual fruits of the rose plant. The actual rose fruit is known as seeds or achenes.

Roses have a long tradition of medicinal use. The species of rose particularly valued for its hips, Rosa canina or dog rose, was so-named by the Romans because of the belief that it could cure the bite of a rabid dog, although the Vikings’ idea that the hips helped them to stay healthy is probably a little closer to the truth, as the rosehips’ high content of Vitamin C would most likely have helped to ward off scurvy and promote their stamina for their seafaring and pillaging.

Rosa Canina

In the first century AD, the Romans recorded 32 different disorders that responded well to rose preparations. An oriental species was mentioned in Chinese medical literature around AD 470, and the Chinese still use rosehips for chronic diarrhoea with stomach weakness.

In the Middle Ages, rosehips were also thought to be sacred. This is corroborated from the fact that the rosary of the Catholics was made from rosehips, hence the name. Used to count the prayers as they were also being said, even today the beads of the rosary resemble rosehips.

In Ayurvedic medicine, roses have long been considered cooling to the body and a tonic for the mind, and Native Americans used rosehips to treat muscle cramps. In 1652, our very own esteemed British herbalist Nicholas Culpeper, prescribed them for ‘consumptive persons’, for ‘tickling rheums’, to ‘break the stone’ (kidneys) and to help digestion. Rosehips remained listed in the official British Pharmacopœia well into the 1930s, and were considered an overall cooling tonic, an astringent, a great help for sore throats and a source of the essential Vitamin C.

We now know how absolutely essential Vitamin C is to the maintenance of good health and the prevention of many diseases. With a reported 60% more Vitamin C than citrus fruits, rosehips contain one of the highest measures of Vitamin C (about 1700-2000mgs per 100g in the dried product) than is known in other herbs.

It was for this reason that rosehips were harvested nationwide in England during the Second World War as citrus products became scarce, and school children were given Rosehip Syrup to help compensate for any lack of Vitamins in their rationed diets. This illuminated the importance of rosehips as a superior source of Vitamin C and so began its worldwide popularity. I can still remember mum giving me Rosehip Syrup in the 1960’s, and I loved it!

Rosehips contain many vitamins and other beneficial supplements, including lycopene, essential fatty acids, beta-carotene, bioflavonoids, pectin, sugar, resin, wax, malates, citrates and other salts, tannin, malic and citrus acids, magnesium, calcium, iron, manganese, sulfur, phosphorus, potassium, selenium, zinc and Vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, C, D, E and K.

Rosehips are also a rich source of fatty and volatile oils, tannins and antioxidant compounds polyphenols and flavanoids, especially noted for their anti-inflammatory properties.

Beneficial Uses for Our Horses

Respiratory Rosehips extraordinary source of Vitamin C make them beneficial for the prevention and treatment of respiratory conditions and infection, and can help prevent ailments before they happen by feeding on a daily basis. As I mentioned earlier, I give my 3 a heaped spoonful every day in their feed. At the first sign of any respiratory symptoms, mucus or coughing, add 10-15g of the fine-cut rosehips daily in feed to help reduce symptoms and reboost immunity. Rosehips feature in all 4 of our respiratory blends: BreathePlus, CoughSoother, EquiExpectorant and EquiCatarrh. For more information on our Respiratory blends, click HERE.

Joint Health Vitamin C is necessary for every cell in our bodies and without it, we would not be able to sustain life. One of its main functions is to assist in the formation of collagen, with is an essential protein component of healthy soft joint tissue. Without healthy joint tissue, bone meets bone and the joint degenerates extremely painfully, which then leads to muscular-skeletal deformation. One of the most recognised symptoms is arthritis which can be crippling for horses. Many studies have been conducted to investigate the beneficial effects of rosehips for arthritis and it is fast becoming one of the most popular natural nutritional supplements for overall joint health. Rosehips feature in 3 of our Joint Health & Mobility blends: EquiMove, EquiArthritic and JointRestore. For more information on our Joint Health & Mobility blends, click HERE.

Hoof Health By adding rosehips to the diet, they help to strengthen body tissues and build and maintain a healthy vascular system, particularly peripheral, and are also said to heal and prevent damage to fragile capillaries. Their anti-inflammatory properties also help with low-grade laminae inflammation, especially useful during the spring grass flush, which makes them an indispensable preventative of onset laminitis. Rosehips feature in all 3 of our Hoof Health blends: LamiProne & LamiRelief. For more information on our Hoof Health blends, click HERE.

General Health & Immunity Current research indicates that the high content of Vitamin C in rosehips can be helpful in enhancing immunity, which will assist in healing and preventing disease, and warding off infectious invaders. Feeding rosehips could prevent many types of infectious ailments before they happen by using a prophylactic dosage on a daily basis. Rosehips feature in all 3 of our general health blends: HerbalHealth, SeniorPlus and ImmuneBoost. For more information on our General Health & Well-Being blends, click HERE.

Cleanser/Purifier Rosehips are considered to be an effective system cleanser and purifier. They have a diuretic effect and are beneficial in relieving excessive fluids from the urinary bladder which help in getting rid of the waste and toxic substances in the body through the kidneys. Rosehips feature in both our LiverTonic & BloodTonic blends. For more information on our Immunity blends, click HERE.

Digestion Rosehips are also effective in combating infections in the digestive system and restoring the normal friendly bacteria in the gut. For more information on our Digestive Health blends, click HERE.

Feeding Guidelines

Rosehips feature in many of our blends, in a carefully balanced dose alongside the other herbs in the blends. However, if you want to feed rosehips independently, aim for 10g (pony) to 15g (horse) daily. Whole rosehips are excellent to feed as a treat as well - keep a pocketful handy, and they're also a really useful treat in clicker training. You can also make a liquid infusion by pouring a half-pint of boiling water over the daily dose of rosehips, cool, then add the whole mix to feed.

For the Humans! Rosehip Syrup Recipe

~ Help keep colds at bay and boost your immunity with Rosehip Syrup. Drink like a cordial or serve drizzled over ice-cream or puds.

1kg rosehips, washed and chopped
1kg caster sugar
You will also need a jelly bag (or a clean cotton cloth and a big sieve)

Put two litres of water in a large pan and bring to the boil. Throw in the chopped rosehips, bring back to the boil, then remove from the heat, cover and leave to infuse for half an hour, stirring from time to time.
Strain the mixture through a jelly bag. (Alternatively, line a colander with a couple of layers of muslin and place over a large bowl. Tip in the rosehip mixture, and leave suspended over the bowl.)
Set the strained juice aside and transfer the rosehip pulp back to the saucepan, along with another litre of boiling water. Bring to the boil, remove from the heat, infuse for another half an hour and strain as before. Discard the pulp and combine the two lots of strained juice in a clean pan. Bring to the boil, and boil until the volume has decreased by half. Remove from the heat.
Add the sugar and stir until dissolved. Return to the stove, bring to the boil and boil hard for five minutes. Pour into warmed, sterilised jars or bottles and seal.

Top tip - use small bottles as it only keeps for a week or so once opened. You can also freeze the syrup in ice-cube trays or bags in your freezer and use as required.

Rosehip Apple Jelly

~ Spread on bread, crackers or cake - yummy!

4lbs apples (any old apples)
2lbs ripe rosehips
Sugar

Peel apples, and place in pan with chopped rosehips with just enough water to cover, plus 1 pint extra. Simmer slowly until cooked.
Strain through jelly-bag overnight.
Measure juice, allowing 1lb sugar per pint.
Mix sugar and juice in pan and boil until setting point is reached.
Pot into warm jars.

To Rug Or Not To Rug - My VERY DIFFICULT Question!

2011-10-19T08:43:00.000+01:00

Now this is more like it – no, not the photo - I just put that in to suit the chapter, but I love the pic! No, what we've got now is proper October weather! Bright, chilly days and down to around 5-degrees at night. And today, when I took Kelso out on his daily trog, the gloves went on for the first time – have to say the heating went on at home for the first time as well.

All the horses are nicely fluffy now, Kelso especially – he’s a hairy old fella at the best of times, but come winter his coat’s like a bear, really thick and coarse.

Kelso is our allergy chap, so spring and summer riding is always tricky for him because of the allergens in the air, the flies and of course, the dreaded midges because of his sweetitch. But – come the cooler weather and Kelso comes into his own! When the temperature drops, he steps out like the proud chap that he is! And out come the clippers so he can strut his stuff in comfort.

But - for those of you that know me, you’ll know I’m going through a real dilemma this year of trying to rug less and let the horses be even more ‘natural’ this winter than I normally keep them. I’ve always been one of those to rug at any opportunity, but when Cookie came into our lives some 6/7 years ago and told us in no uncertain terms that she wasn’t having any of that rugging mullarky, despite my best efforts (!), I’ve changed my way of thinking somewhat – I’ve still persisted with the winter rugging but the horses have told me year after year that they survive perfectly well, in fact usually prefer, not to be rugged.

Let’s have one of our philosophical moments here, and ask the question – apart from those competitive folk amongst us, of course, or livery yards with winter rules, or those horses who absolutely need to be rugged (i.e. elderly/unwell), why do we rug our horses?   I’ve seriously questioned this subject this year, and I know, if I’m really, really honest with myself, it’s because I’m transferring my human feelings onto them, thinking that ‘my poor babies’ will be cold/wet/miserable if I don’t. Athropomorphism, they call it. (The attribution of human motivation, characteristics, or behavior to inanimate objects, animals, or natural phenomena. Heck of a word, doesn’t roll off the tongue well . . .)

However, I also recall how many times I’ve dropped everything to run desperately through torrential weather to drag my ‘poor babies’ out of the weather, getting soaked through to my underwear and beyond, only for them to shuffle right back where I dragged them in from, bums to the weather, heads down and that hypnotic glaze on their faces. Not to mention the ‘look’ I get when I’m attempting the dragging . . .

The truth is that rugging my horses is making me feel better, and not necessarily my horses.

Research is in my blood, and having researched this rugging mullarky to the point of losing sleep (seriously - the first lash of rain on the window at night and I'm up with the wailing stick), there is no doubt that Mother Nature has given horses the ability to regulate their own body temperature. Mother Nature has also given horses a natural oil in their coats to give them protection against rain. So why do we spend a fortune on a wardrobe-full of rugs of different thickness, colours, styles (holds her hand up with the Guilty sign), and do everything in our power to upset the balance of Mother Nature. How does the saying go - "only a fool would try to meddle with nature"? Something like that, anyway.

I remember Murf’s first winter with me – I hadn’t had him long and this was still in the day when I stabled, shod, bitted - and let's not forget the relentless winter mornings mucking out stable after stable . . . Anyway, I bought him 3 very smart winter rugs, of differing tog levels, and colours, all to match his gorgeous colouring, naturally! That winter we got a major cold-snap with daytime temperatures below freezing and dropping to around minus-10 overnight. On went his thickest duvet rug. The following morning when I took the rug off, he was so hot and sweaty that he was actually steaming. Looking back, it was pure luck that he didn’t catch some awful viral disease - I’d seriously compromised his health.

We rug because we think our horses will get cold. The reality is that no matter how cold the weather gets, provided our horses are healthy and we’ve let the winter coat grow naturally, if you feel at the base of the ear, or plunge your fingers into the thick coat, and you’ll feel nothing but snugly warm.

All a horse needs is shelter (not a stable – they can’t move around in a stable, and movement keeps the circulation going, and hence warmth) so they can get out of the extreme elements if they choose – emphasis on the word extreme.

It’s us and our human thoughts which make keeping horses seem expensive, so it's no wonder that owning horses has the reputation for being a very expensive vocation. However, if we keep our horses as naturally as we are able, many of those costs will go out the window.

So, what do our horses need in order to thrive as we go into winter?

Plenty of ad lib hay/haylage – they must always be able to browse and forage on food.
Water, of course.
Shelter to get out of the extreme weather - if they choose.
Movement is KEY. Movement plays a huge role in a naturally healthy horse, especially in the winter months when they need extra movement to produce body heat and keep their muscles loose.

So, here I am, weather-obsessed me, and I am really, really going to try and not rug. Kelso’s not going to get clipped this year – we just need a few less degrees in the temperature before the midge-risk is gone so I can take his fly-rug off and let him be properly Naked & Natural! I'm sure it will be a fantastic relief for him.

As for exercise, we’ll just keep to a healthy, active walk and the odd trot – I’ve always believed walking is highly underrated – fantastic for muscle-tone, circulation, and overall health.

We can’t go near Cookie with the clippers so this year she might actually get her wish and not have a rug. And as for Murf, being a complete wimp, he's pathalogically terrified of clippers and has sported enough zig-zag neck designs in the past before me and the clippers have leapt for safety. So, Murf can be a hairy boy this winter too.

Will I last? Oh golly, who knows – cos I know what I’m like. I may have to give myself an ‘opt-out’ clause which will say something along the lines of:
- if we get persistent, torrential, lashing gales, then I can rug.
- if we get persistent freezing temperatures, then I can rug.
- if they look sad/miserable/cold/sad/fed-up/miserable/fed-up/cold/miserable/sad, then I can rug.
- if I can't bear it any more, then I can rug.

In the meantime, here’s to sitting on my hands – not rugging makes such perfect sense to me, and our 3 are fit as fleas – now to see how long I last. Just don't know if I could cope with this though . . . !

Sunday Pics

2011-10-16T18:56:00.000+01:00

Kelso doing what he does best - facial hedgerow stuffing

Sooni finds a new favourite sunbathing place

Cookie and her windswept look

And finally, a sad one . . .

RIP Mrs B, best girl ever, who made it to a ripe old 15 years old

The Beautiful Blas

2011-10-13T16:43:00.000+01:00

Meet Blas, pronouned Blazzzzz. Official name Dryblas, Polish Anglo-Arab Thoroughbred. The english translation of Dryblas means 'strapping fellow', a term of endearment for someone with fabulous long legs - and boy does Blas have fabulous long legs!

An eventer from Poland, Blas was imported to the UK around 7 years ago with 2 other similar horses, for an eventer in the North of England. She kept one and sold the other two on, Blas being one of these.

Cut a long story short, Blas went to a lady near Sherwood Forest, who then lost her job and could no longer afford the livery cost for him. With the yard manager threatening to sell Blas on her behalf and keeping the money to cover her livery fees, we heard about Blas and bought him on spec for hubby - we'd recently moved his previous horse on and needed to fill the gap.

Husband came to horses late in life - basically when he met me! However, armed with a fearless nerve, he ventured into horseworld with gusto, and despite a questionable seat, became my favourite hacking companion, and boy did we have fun! Husband was also the type that didn't appreciate that TB's usually came with baggage, and only wanted a horse with 'pretty', 'sleek' and 'brown' in the description. Considering hubby's lack of riding experience, a Steady-Eddie would have been a better choice as opposed to a strapping, beautifully-bred TB eventer!

However, we were assured by Blas's previous owner that he was an absolute gent, and a very safe ride. He was also very sexy looking, so fit hubby's tick-list to a T, and we did something I've never done before - we bought Blas on spec, without meeting him.

Blas arrived on a freezing February night, having stood for almost 12 hours in a European Horse Transporter who'd got very, very lost. At almost midnight, this enormous articulated lorry inched its way down our very quiet, narrow country lane where our yard was in the heart of the Wiltshire countryside. With no light other than a torch, this dark silhouette of a big horse stepped off the lorry. Shivering our socks off, we could barely see this new horse that we'd bought, but we knew just from his outline that we'd bought something very special! We led him into his dark stable, fumbled a stable rug on him, and went home, barely able to wait until morning.

WOW!!! We couldn't believe our eyes the next morning. We had bought a STUNNER!!! And considering Blas didn't know us, or where he was, and no doubt was exhausted from his journey and a night in a strange stable with no other horse company, he was polite and sweet, and greeted us in a most courteous manner. Husband was absolutely over the moon - he couldn't believe this stunning horse was his!!!

And so began our relationship with this amazing horse. He was everything - and more - that he was described to us. Aged 14 at the time, 15.3hh of stunning bay, beautifully bred TB, with the longest legs you'd ever seen. His personality was absolutely charming, such a gentleman, impeccable manners, and a joy to ride - husband used to say it was a 'privilege' to fall off him . . . !

Blas also had a turn of speed that quite literally took your breath away, and being that we had fantastic riding on our doorstep right over the Wiltshire Downs, we had the most amazing rides with some serious fast blasts - hubby would grade the speeds on the yeehah's and mostly they were Mach-3! Blas was awesome, and just loved his hacking. But - the story was about to get even more amazing.

It was about the time when Who Do You Think You Are was a new and exciting programme on tv, and hubby had got interested in doing mine and his family trees. With his new found hobby, hubby decided to see if he could trace Blas's background. Blas's passport was Polish, and completely indecipherable, but we managed to make out the name of a Polish stud. Hubby starting surfing the web.

It didn't take too long to find out that Blas had been raised on a very smart stud and had sired two beautiful boys, one of whom, Egzemus, is still competing to this day. We found out that at around 8 years old Blas was gelded, and apparently had a reasonably successful eventing career. Wit his sire and dam's name, hubby got to work to trace Blas's pedigree further back.

Bit of a rubbish pic but here's Egzemus, Blas's son,
an abolute twin of him, and still competing at a high level in Poland

He finally found Blas's Pedigree Record here: http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/dryblas2. Click on it and all will be revealed. To say we were knocked off our seats was an understatement - at least it explained that turn of speed!

Man'O'War, Blas's Great Great Great Great Grand-Daddy

Blas's dam is Drynda, whose sire is Saroyan, who was sired by Antequarian, whose sire was Relic. Now it starts getting fun - Relic was sired by War Relic, a famous racehorse, whose sire was . . . wait for it, the renowned Man'O'War! Yep, Man'O'War, the main man who sired both War Admiral, one of the greatest racehorses in history, and who also sired Hard Tack, daddy of Sea Biscuit, the legendary racehorse, and hero of the event known as The Match of the Century, where on November 1st 1938, War Admiral and Sea Biscuit raced for a major purse, which Sea Biscuit won and thus was named Horse Of The Year

Omigod - our beautiful Blas had all this amazing pedigree - a direct line whose Great Grand-Daddy x 5 was the invincible Man'O'War, whose Great Grand-Uncle x 4 was War Admiral, and whose Great Grand-Uncle (a couple of times removed) x 3 was Sea Biscuit! Phew . . . no wonder this horse was fast as lightning! And here we were, just a regular, ordinary family in Wiltshire, with a couple of lovely steady native cobby types, plus this amazing horse that we'd not only picked up for peanuts, but had all this stunning pedigree and legendary breeding flowing through him! To say the least, we were blown away by it all.

Sea Biscuit leading War Admiral in the Race of the Century, 1938

We had four amazing years with Blas, and they really were wonderful. However, gradually over time, husband started to lose his confidence - nothing that Blas had done wrong at all, and hubby would be the first to admit that - but he'd taken a couple of nasty falls, not much fun at high speed. Anyway, a couple of thumps too many and gradually hubby started to slow down his riding.

It just so happened at the time that a pal of ours, Ellen, serious dressage lady, was looking for an emergency ride as her own horse was having problems. We offered her Blas, keen for him to have some fun as he was starting to become a bit of a pasture ornament. Ellen was thrilled, showed him, loved him, took him on loan and competed very successfully with him. It was lovely for us to see Blas doing all the clever tricky-flicky dressage-y stuff that we knew he could do with his eyes shut - he looked so posh and clever, and we were puffed up with pride at our beautiful boy!

Blas came back home to us after a few months as Ellen's daughter had then outgrown her pony and they'd decided to invest in a super-good, younger horse for them both to ride and compete. Blas slotted back in with us as if he'd never been away, but after a few months we wondered whether we should consider putting him out on loan proper, as although he was now 17, he certainly didn't look or act it, and he still had so much left in him.

That's when we found Christine and her daughter Helen - Helen is the rider of Blas in the picture at the top of this post. Christine was the first person to respond to our ad, and instantly sounded perfect. She was looking for a seriously nice, talented horse for her daughter, then 14, to move on to, who could take her to the next level. They visited us, we visited them, Helen took Blas out for a blast, and the deal was done. We were all delighted on both sides; we promised to keep in touch with each other, and we particularly couldn't wait to see Blas in action with Helen at future events.

And so around 2 yeas ago we waved goodbye to Blas, knowing that he was going to a fantastic loan home. We missed him dreadfully, but knew that we'd done right by him. He still had so much in him, and with Helen he'd get to have a fantastic time back on the show-road. We kept in regular touch, hearing updates on Helen and Blas's great progress. They sent us regular pictures and updates, and Helen's dad was also a show photographer so we'd eagerly await the photo's on his website of Helen and Blas doing great things. The two of them had a fantastic relationship and really started to go places together - we were so pleased, and knew we'd done the right thing.

After about a year, we all decided that it would be best for Blas if Christine and Helen bought him. They were delighted to do so, and we were equally as thrilled that Blas's future was secure. The deal was done again, and we finally said goodbye to Blas proper.

As these things happen, life moved on and it was only a month or so ago, when I was tidying up an old laptop, that I found Christine's email address. We hadn't heard from each other in a while so I dropped her a quick line, hoping all was well with everyone and asking after the gorgeous boy.

Just this morning I got a reply, and it was not great news. Apparently Blas went lame around February/March time this year. He was working at Novice level in dressage and he and Helen had just qualified for the Dengie Dressage Area Finals. As Christine says:

"Well, safe to say we ran up a rather large bill with the vets. We decided we must know what the problem was and whether it was safe for Blas to continue competing. He had x-rays, scans and nerve blocking, for all of which he behaved impeccably. The results of the tests confirmed that he had an enlarged suspensory ligament on his right rear, which was always the foot that turned out slightly. It seems very probable that Blas will have sustained injury to this area as a result of his eventing career. The prognosis was that Blas must not compete dressage or jump ever again and that at best, if he came sound again, he could only hack.

The vets suggested all manner of treatments including injections and box rest which we did not think would suit Blas at all. So we turned him out at grass and he came sound all by himself. Helen brought Blas back into light hacking work and with some special joint supplements, he was as sound and as straight as he had ever been."

Phew! After the shock of hearing he'd damaged his suspensory ligament, and being of veteran age, my heart was initially in my mouth as I read her email. To hear that he'd come sound, albeit with a 'no more competing' prognosis, my relief was immense. I'd had a moment there when I thought I was going to read 'so we've had to make the difficult decision . . .' Thank god there was no mention of PTS. I started wondering whether I could offer to take Blas back as a sort of reverse loan, and give him a nice retirement with the occasional plod out, back with his old herd. I read on.

"I tried to contact you many times around April/May time - I wanted to let you know the latest on Blas but couldn't reach you."

We'd moved by this time so that might explain it, plus I'd changed my mobile number.

"We had a really big think about what to do next - Helen was so keen to keep competing and move up. So we decided to advertise Blas for loan to a happy hacking home only and the second person to contact us was Sarah, the manager of a livery yard and she has three other horses who are ex-racehorses. Two of them are veterans, no longer ridden, the oldest is 26 years old and she has owned him for 12 years. I can't tell you how impressed we were with Sarah, we just knew she was the right person for Blas and he liked her right from the word go. We had a huge response to our advert, over 20 enquiries. Sarah's loan of him is permanent, and she says it's a forever home. She loves him so much though, that she has asked if she can buy him after Christmas and we have agreed to this.

He is totally spoilt in his new home, has been there since June and Sarah only hacks him around the surrounding countryside. She does not compete at all, but has an indoor school for when the winter weather is really bad, so she can keep him fit. We have been up to see him in the summer holidays and we are very reassured that he is happy and in the best place.

I know you will understand when I say that I completely trusted Blas when Helen went out hacking on him. They loved to go off for a good gallop and I knew he would bring her back safe and sound. We have tried one other horse who sadly wasn't suitable, but with the help of Helen's new instructor we hope to find something soon, that has done a bit of competing. Helen also hopes to be able to compete British Eventing next year."

So, Blas and Helen's days are over, but Blas has a new home, and by the sound of it, a lovely one where he's much loved. I'm so sad for Helen that Blas couldn't see her right through to the next level, but I'm sure that without doubt Helen had an amazing journey with him. It's also so sad for Blas that it was injury that ended his competition days. However, how great to hear that he came sound, and that he's still able to go out on trail rides and enjoy the scenery, something he always loved. My only sadness is that Christine couldn't reach me earlier this year - I would have given my right arm for the chance to have Blas back. But, I'm a great believer in what is meant to be will be, and Blas sounds like he's doing just fine.

Christine ended her email to me saying that we must stay in touch, which I absolutely will. She also attached a photo of Blas, taken just yesterday from his new home. Here he is below - Blas and his new friend - Blas is the one on the right - but don't they look like twins!

Here's to the beautiful Blas, now rising 20, and the most wonderful horse that we have ever known. We were so lucky, and it was a real joy, to have had him in our lives. Here's wishing him many, many more happy days in his semi-retirement.

Warning - Acorns!!!

2011-10-09T21:07:00.000+01:00

Around early August I started noticing how early the berries seemed to be coming through on the trees and bushes, especially the holly and hawthorn. Sign of a harsh winter, so the saying goes.

What really surprised me, though, was seeing our beautiful oak trees suddenly laden with gazillions of acorns so early. We have 8 huge ancient oaks around our field, and knowing that they can be extremely toxic to horses, and that Murf and Cookie love to eat them (typical!), by mid-September we were fencing the field perimeter off around the oaks. Just as well we did - the fence was barely up before the acorns were falling.

However, Cookie (who is completely immune to electric fence) soon told me she wasn't having any of that, and on two mornings this last week, I found all 3 horses stuffing their faces on acorns thanks to Cookie trashing the fence.

Then yesterday I heard the most awful news. A friend of a friend lost her beloved mare, Jewel, to acorn poisoning. To say she is devastated is an understatement. Jewel was her life and love, and she spent every waking moment with her girl, posting many videos on forums of the fun they had together. A week ago they were riding out together - just 5 days later Jewel was gone, PTS, after sudden kidney failure and internal haemorrhaging, and the most appalling pain to witness.

I've always known that acorns are toxic, and always fenced oaks off each year, but I've never been close to the death of a horse due to acorns. Hearing this desperately sad news has now made me absolutely paranoid - I can't imagine witnessing one of my beloved horses suffering such an agonising poisoning which I would be utterly powerless to fix.

I'm sure there are many of us out there who aren't aware just how dangerous this squirrel food can be, and the problem is that they're really palatable to horses. And not just the acorns - having heard similar stories this week, oak leaves can be just as dangerous, and there was Murf taking a stroll across his field a week or so ago with an oak twig and leaves hanging out of his mouth - yikes . . .

So, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease - if you've got oaks, fence'em off. I couldn't bear to hear of another horse and owner going through what Jewel and her mum have gone through this week.

So what can we do? Well, my top herbal tip for any horses in a field with oaks in would be to add 10-20g (10g for pony size, going up to 20g for horses) of milk-thistle seed to feeds to keep the liver healthy - it's said that there is no pharmaceutical equivalent for its beneficial effects on the liver, helping to clear the system of toxins and providing valuable antioxidant support.

The liver has the job of dealing with toxins - it plays an extremely important role in the metabolism of nutrients, and it is the horse’s main line of defence when it comes to detoxifying his food. If a horse is grazing there is always the risk that he will ingest substances that require detoxifying by the liver. Keeping the liver in optimum health will help maintain the optimum physiological balance in the event of a potential toxic imbalance, god forbid.

Home-Made Thrush Recipe

2011-10-07T21:09:00.000+01:00

This little chap (or chappess) it ain't. Equine Thrush, that is. All my 3 have suddenly got it. I'm normally scrupulous about hoofcare - always picking out, then brushing clean with the wire brush, et voila - lovely tootsies.

This week though, I've been all over the place with work etc etc., you know the story. An exceptional busy one. Have hardly ridden, let alone attended to hooves. There were a couple of days when they didn't get done . . okay, 3 . . . so 3 mornings ago I rectified that. And was horrified by what I found.

All were affected. After that hot weather last week we've had rain, cloudy, muggy, howling winds, more rain, and boy has it showed. Murf seems to have a small hole eaten away on the side of his frog on his LF, size of a 5p piece - absolutely unheard of - he's never had a bad attack before. Kelso's fronts are deep-rooted with black and really honky. Cookie's fronts are overall black in the collatarol groove area.

Milton is my thrush fixer of choice. Decanted into an old kitchen spray bottle, it seems to do the trick for me, although I'd happily use ACV or diluted tea-tree oil if need be. Anyway, I set to and cleaned all hooves out completely, spraying liberally and holding hooves up for the Milton to sloosh about for a bit. Same again yesterday too.

Miracle of miracles (cos I really thought this was going to be a deep-rooted, long term thing) - this morning all hooves presented virtually clear! Bear in mind that my lot all live out and we've got squelchy bits, so all the more remarkable.

Milton is about the only 'chemical' solution I'll recommend. I know it's not terribly 'natural' though, so to keep the side up, here's a lovely old recipe that I found years ago using essential oils for equine hoof thrush.

Thrush Recipe

Ingredients
10 drops chamomile oil
15 drops thyme oil
5 drops melissa oil

Method
Dilute all 3 oils in 100ml vegetable oil. Treat using either hot compresses in each hoof or paint over affected areas.

Stable Disinfectant Recipe

If your horse has a stable, it is useful to wash the floor with the following essential oil mix as well:

Ingredients
10ml Chamomile Oil
5ml Thyme Oil
2ml Lemongrass Oil

Method
Add to 4-litres water, then use 1/2-litre to 4-litres water. Scrub!

Lady Giselle Update

2011-10-06T13:21:00.000+01:00

Meet Lady Giselle, a beautiful 15yr-old 17hh Irish Draft type, who is a resident at the Shy Lowen Horse & Pony Sanctuary. EquiNatural sponsors Lady Giselle and provides the herbal supplementation for her.

A quick intro on Shy Lowen itself - the sanctuary is situated between 3 council estates near Liverpool, and has been in operation since November 1999, becoming a registered charity in February 2008. The sanctuary rescues, rehabilitates and re-homes (where possible) any equine in need, operating sponsorship and adoption schemes, and provides a safe haven for all those that are not re-homeable. The team follow the kindest and most compassionate training and rehabilitation methods possible, many of which have been pioneered by Monty Roberts, who, along with Kelly Marks of Intelligent Horsemanship, is a patron of the Sanctuary.

We first heard about Lady Giselle at Shy Lowen after receiving a desperate email plea in August this year from one of the Sanctuary's volunteers, Kellie, who is pictured with Lady in the photo above. Her email read:

"One of the sanctuary's stars is a white Irish Draught horse called Lady Giselle. Lady came to us at the beginning of winter last year having sustained injury to both hind legs after getting caught in a barbed wire fence. She quickly proved herself to be a sweet gentle giant with the heart of a lion, fighting relentlessly against repeated bouts of crippling lymphangitis brought on as a result of her injuries.

By July this year, she had made a sufficient recovery for us to think that her future was bright. However, on Saturday 6 August we received a phone call in the early hours of the morning stating that a group of men were hard-riding a white horse, two at a time, on the premises. Our founder rushed to the scene and sadly discovered that Lady was the unfortunate horse in question.

The police are dealing with the matter and have identified the individuals in question, although there is doubt whether any criminal charges can be brought. In the meantime, our lovely gentle girl is suffering greatly. She was immediately lame in both hind legs, although that has now eased to some extent; however she now had a further severe attack of lymphangitis. Our vets have done what they can for her in the form of maximum dose painkillers and anti-inflammatories, and we are treating her legs with water therapy and massage as well as reiki healing, but there is a real concern that she just might not have the ability to come back from this awful setback.

We have been advised that a course of LymphRelief would be perfect for Lady and might give her a real chance of fighting off the effects of this act of abuse, but bearing in mind that we sometimes struggle even to meet our feed and vets bills, we simply cannot afford to buy it, despite wishing we could. Lady NEVER complains despite being in pain on and off for most of the time we have known her, and it is heartbreaking to think of her fighting so hard and being so close to recovery only to have it taken away from her by drunken intruders.

I would like to request your help with this please. I wonder if you would consider being kind enough to provide us with the product to help Lady?

ANY HELP at all would be so very much appreciated please. We love our beautiful Lady and we want to give her back the chance of a full recovery which the intruders took away. Please please please would you be prepared to help our special girl in this way?"

Well, how on earth could we say No? Cut a long story short, we made a call to the Sanctuary and by the end of the day we had our LymphRelief blend in the post and are continuing to provide whatever supplementation Lady needs.

I asked Kellie to keep us updated on Lady's progress, and bless her (as she's so busy at the centre with every second of her time taken up), she's done just that. Here was the update at the beginning of September:

1st September 2011
“Lady is doing really well at the moment, we've seen a definite improvement since supplementing her with EquiNatural’s LymphRelief and we are hopeful that she will continue to improve. She's mobile again - the swelling hasn't entirely disappeared but that's to be expected, it has certainly decreased though. She's turned out on the advice of the vet to encourage her to move around, as box rest was thought to be a bad idea in case she lay down more often than she would whilst turned out.

All in all, whilst we know she's not out of danger we are now a lot more hopeful than we were a couple of weeks ago! “

And so to today, and this is the email I received from Kellie this morning. Lady's had a setback but is still fighting!

5th October 2011
“Lady had a good month until she experienced a bit of a down-turn last Thursday with her lymphangitis causing some nasty swelling on her left hock joint again, this is where her lymph vessels were severed by the fence wire which caused her initial injury.

We've continued to treat her with your herbal blend and hot/cold water therapy throughout. Our vet, Mhairi Mackay, came to see her and has prescribed further antibiotics and another short course of steroids as she suspects the swelling has been caused by bacteria in the lying fluid.

The good news is that her previously very swollen lower leg down her cannon and her fetlock is showing definite signs of improvement with very minimal swelling, and the vet agreed that this means, as we had hoped, that some of the previously damaged lymph vessels are managing to re-route, which would indicate that her overall circulation is improving. Her right leg which had also suffered a bad attack of lymphangitis following the break-in when she was ridden has now returned to normal.

Lady herself remains bright, is eating well, loves the herbs and is eager to fight her illness. She remains as inspirational as ever. “

We're keeping everything crossed for Lady and I think of her every day. For more info, you can catch up with Shy Lowen and Lady's story on our website (www.equinatural.co.uk).

OMIGOD It's Raining!!!

2011-10-04T10:01:00.000+01:00

I know I'm obsessed with the weather.

Can't help myself. I'm one of those who wake in the middle of night as the lashing rain and winds are howling around the house, and start flailing myself with the Guilty Stick with worry about how 'my poor babies' are stuck out in it. I'm also one of the those who wishes she could be brave and let the horses stay 'au-naturelle' without rugs, but no matter how much I sit on my hands to try and stop myself, if the weather's going to be either torrential or freezing, I have to pop rugs on.

The lovely lady in the next field to me has a gorgeous 15-yr old New Forest called Jake, similar in age to Murf, and they all get on very well over the fence. Jake has never had a rug on in his life, and like our lot is barefoot and bitless. All my lot are natives too - Kelso, albeit a very posh ex show-cob, is a cob; Murf came off the Connemaras, and Cookie is as native moorland as can be, although it's debatable which moor.

A couple of weeks ago when we were having the colder weather and rain, I was telling neighbour how I was really going to try hard this year and keep rugs off for as long as possible. Then, the weather forecast said 'torrential' and I couldn't help myself - on went the rain-sheets. When neighbour saw me a day or so later, she said she'd chuckled to herself at my weak self - wasn't even super-cold, and they would have been fine, but I just couldn't help myself!

So now we've had this heatwave, a wonderful Indian Summer end to September. I fall apart as it's too hot for me, and our paddock goes crispy as per photo above - the green bit where they're eating is the new strip I've given them that morning. The forecast yesterday was that this weather was going to continue until Thursday when everything would be back to normal.

But - yet again - they've GOT IT WRONG!!!! Except this time I'm happy about it! Outside it's drizzling, it's cold-er (about 18-degrees), and I'm back in my jeans and fleece top. Normality. I know where I am again. Life is perfect.

Now I can start moaning about how it's too wet to ride . . .

PS. Just seen the headlines on todays papers at our local shop - apparently it's now all doom and gloom for October; hurricanes, torrential stuff and freezing temperatures thrown in just for fun tra-la!

It's October - so that means Echinacea!

2011-10-03T22:00:00.000+01:00

What is it about the new school term - the kids go back to school mid-September, shiny new uniforms and uber-coolness as they start their higher year so much more grown up, and by 1st October they're bunged up, full of cold, and sneezing all over the house.

Beginning October and I get out the Echinacea for the family - 15 drops in two fingers of water, daily for 2 weeks. Doesn't taste that great but boy do I swear by it. It won't stop me getting whatever lurgy's going round, but it means I'll live and work through it. Essential when you're self-employed, with dogs, cats, chooks and horses - oh, and humans too.

Beginning October and I do the same for the horses. While I was poo-picking today in a boiling 27-degrees, sweltering in my shorts and flip-flops, my mind was wandering to just four weeks away - I always reckon on freezing weather by the time we get to Bonfire Night - by then I know I'll be in gloves, warm layers, thick winter yardie coat, a hot flask of coffee and heated insoles - I don't do frozen fingers or toes well . . .

Just four weeks away - it's a madness considering this weird hot spell we're having right now! However, the weather report said this morning that by Thursday all will be well, with typical October weather back again. So back to a lovely log-fire in the evening, casseroles and soups - not salad, vest-tops and all the windows thrown open.

Thus, the horses need their immunities charged in readiness for the winter weather and temperatures which are just four weeks away! By the weekend we'll be back to 12/15-degrees (apparently), winter coats are already well on the way, oak trees are fenced off, haylage is ordered, daughter is sneezing, my immunity is being boosted, and the horses are all getting a handful of echinacea in their daily herbal supplement feedbowl for the next four weeks.

Tickety-boo, life is back on course. Just four weeks away - I love the change of seasons! Must get those heated insoles on order . . .

Exceptional Echinacea

For further info, click HERE

October's Featured Blend ~ ImmuneBoost
For further info, click HERE

The Wols Are Up!

2011-10-01T07:10:00.000+01:00

'The Wols are up,' said husband the other evening, around 7.30pm.

End of September and we're still adjusting to the earlier evenings now - sunset's around 7pm with proper dark set in by 7.30pm.

'Uh?' I replied, making that crinkly-nosed what-are-you-talking-about face.
'The Wols are up,' said husband again.
'What?' Slightly exasperated.
'The WOLS are up!'
'Nah - haven't a clue what you're on about'.
'You obviously didn't read your Winnie-The-Pooh then.' Smugly delivered.

Aha - the Wols. Aka the Owls. Yes, we have owls, every night, two or three of them calling to each other in our garden, and despite the fact that they wake us up constantly through the night with their woohoo's and screeches, I love to hear them, even if I'm half-asleep.

Just wish we could see them but it really is dark out there! Here in the heart of the Somerset countryside there's very little light pollution, which is lovely, but you don't get to see much when you want to! We love our garden - about 1/4 acre, sloping upwards to a field at the back with horses (not ours), with overgrown tiers, rambling and wild with brambles and nettles, hawthorn and clivers. The chooks (aka The Girls) take up one of the tiers, and the future veg plot is intended (I say intended - we've still got to dig it . . . ) on another.

At the back are trees and woodland surrounding a deep, shady dell, once an old quarry (where apparently the stone dug from it built a cottage in the village). A source of great fun for the cats to play Ninja off the trees, and daughter to make camps with the dogs, all having a great time hunting for frogs and the like.

This is where the Wols hang out, intermittently flying past our bedroom window to woohoo at us during the night. We'll get to see them one-day - we're determined - but this is me posting at 5am as I've barely slept as it's been soooooooo hot, and the Wols have plainly had a good night's hunting as they've kept me awake all night. I spy a snoozy hammock session in the sun later on . . . lovely . . .

29-Degrees????

2011-09-30T17:54:00.000+01:00

Phew. Yesterday was hot but today was even hotter.

Murphy (above) is so sweet and tolerant of the heat, although definitely happier in the shade. Poor old Kelso is seriously grumpy. He was just starting to come into his own again with the cooler weather of late - he suffers dreadfully in the summer with the heat/flies/midges/SPAOD/sweet-itch/head-shaking/you name it - and for the last month or so with lower temperaures and rain, he was starting to feel not only perkier, but rideable again too, Hurrah!

Now we have this tropical weather set in and he's not happy at all, herding poor Cookie round like a sergeant drilling his troops, then standing dejectedly under the shade of a tree, flicking his tail furiously over his fly rug. I thought I'd finished making the home-made fly-spray for this year, but with the forecast saying that October is going to be 'one of the hottest on record' (sorry Kelso!), I may have to think again.

To top it all, their winter coats are already well on the way, which with last weeks temperatures was appropriate - this week, mother nature's definitely got it wrong!

Our MudClear seems to be the blend of the day with the most orders coming through for it. Despite this wonderful spell of Indian Summer we're experiencing, our trails still have some very squishy sections, and if you accidently wander close to our Dew Pond in the field, you'll lose your boot - if you look closely at Murf's front hooves above, you'll also see him nicely sunk in a boggy patch!

So here we are basking in almost 30-degrees with 80% humidity, and there's still mud out there. And with some mud, not all, comes Mud Fever from the bacteria Dermatophilus congolensis and Staphylococcus spp. Murf as above is the only one of my three who gets it, and yes, that's him stood in, er, mud. Bless his cottons . . . So that'll be me checking him over with the Sudocreme on hand (absolutely swear by it).

It's far too hot to risk riding Kelso in this heat as he gets so stressed and head-shaky, so if we have a nice early, cool morning tomorrow I might plod him round the lanes then, to keep him moving and his hooves stimulated and self-trimming.

Fly-Spray Recipe

Ingredients:
Make up 50ml Oil from any of the following - don't use more than 20ml of each (I tend to do 20ml citronella then 10ml of any of the others) :
Citronella Oil / Eucalyptus / Lemon / Sandalwood / Peppermint / Tea Tree / Lavender

250ml malt vinegar

250ml Lavender Floral Water

250ml Witch Hazel or Witch Hazel Floral Water
500ml cold strong Peppermint Tea
Squirt of washing-up liquid (helps to mix the oils and water)

Method:
Pour all the above ingredients into an empty 2 litre fizzy drinks bottle or similar. Top up to 2 litres with water, and shake well before use. Decant into an old spray bottle and away you go!

Off to the pub tonight with hubby to sit outside and enjoy this fabulous weather while we still can - enjoy the sunshine!

SPAOD - Summer Pasture-Associated Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

2011-09-29T17:10:00.000+01:00

SPAOD. I've had more calls this week about SPAOD than you could shake a stick at. And apart from our laminitic-prone clients who make up the majority, the mysterious SPAOD without doubt takes second place.

It's a condition that is still relatively unheard of by it's very long and virtually unpronounceable name (try saying it with a Rich Tea biscuit in your mouth!) - but boy is it making its presence felt in the equine community.

If your horse is coughing, wheezing, has runny eyes, showing heave lines when breathing - all these could be symptoms of SPAOD - and this last week the increase in temperatures hasn't helped at all as heat and humidity contribute to the hyper-reactions. Our horses may be fine when the weather is nice and cool, but as soon as the heat and humidity go up, affected pastured horses have respiratory attacks. Horses can experience problems throughout the entire summer or seasonally, for example, just in early spring, mid-summer, or late summer, depending on what allergens they are sensitive to.

Meet Kelso, our lovely elderly gentleman . . .

Kelso's middle name is 'Allergy'. If it can be wheezed at, Kelso will wheeze at it. He has COPD (or RAO as 'they' like to call it now), and very serious sweet itch. Two summers ago he decided to wheeze and heave his way through spring and into the hot weather as well, so we put together a milder blend of herbs than our BreathePlus (which Kelso also trialled for us for winter respiratory conditions) and gave it to him. Within a week all signs of wheezing, coughing and heaving had gone.

We named the blend CoughSoother and it's been a firm favourite ever since. The herbs have such a positive effect that they don't need to be fed continuously, just as and when required when the allergens are at their worst. Last week with the cooler weather Kelso didn't need any assistance - this week he's been shouting for them!

I absolutely swear by Mullein herb - it works miraculously, soothing the airway and loosening the cough - you can almost hear the wheezing slowing down. And you just have to breath in the aroma from the Liquorice (not that you get any choice when blending - you get a lungful whether you like it or not . . .) to know that it's going to coat the airways with its protective lubrication and soothe away the irritation. Plantain is a superior expectorant, and helps lessen the cough reflex, Marshmallow a wonderful soother and expectorant too, and the Ginkgo herb adds in a twist of anti-allergenic and potent anti-inflammatory actions, helping to reduce the production of histamine and reduce bronchial restriction and wheezing.

On Tuesday I took Kelso round what we call our Quarry Ride which is a lovely 3-mile trail around a major quarry with lots of 'ups' and 'downs', which on Murphy, my energetic connemara, means a series of serious out-of-control yeehah's on the ups, and me desperately trying to keep him sane and slow on the downs. Well, Kelso, with the magic of herbs, gave me not one but two, albeit small, but perfectly formed, canters on the last two 'ups'! No heaving or puffing, he was positively jogging with joy - I don't know who was more surprised - me or him.

Go Kelso!

Welcome!

2011-09-27T13:45:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the EquiNatural blog! A place for ramblings, thoughts, updates and any exciting news we might hear to keep our 4-leggers healthy and happy.

See you again once I've figured out how to use this!