Magnesium for Horses

Magnesium--it's more than just a symbol on the periodic table.  It's a major mineral that you and your horse both need!  Up until a few years ago (when I took equine nutrition courses), I had no idea of how important it was in the horse's diet.  According to Dr. Eleanor Kellon, VMD, "Magnesium is involved in so many aspects of the structure and function of the body that it's virtually impossible to think of anything that doesn't involve magnesium." 

The National Research Council (NRC) recommends 0.015 grams of magnesium per kg of your horse's bodyweight (per day).  While magnesium is found in forages and many commercial feeds your horse may be consuming, it may not be enough.  The only sure-fire way to know how much of the mineral your horse is getting is by testing your pasture or hay and closely examining your feed labels. 

Common signs of a magnesium deficiency are:

• irritability
• hypersensitivity
• muscular symptoms (twitching/ spasms)
• stilted gait
• reluctance or inability to canter
• difficulty controlling hind end when turning

However, these are also symptoms of exessive calcium, so you will want to make sure you're not feeding too much calcium instead (i.e.--alfalfa).  The optimum Calcium to Magnesium ratio is 2:1.   

Equine nutritionists and vets may also prescribe supplemental magnesium for extremely anxious or  spooky horses and also for horses with insulin resistance or laminitis.   Studies have shown observable benefits of feeding magnesium for horses with these conditions.

When I learned to balance my horse's diets, I found that they all needed more magnesium (along with several other minerals).  I have one horse in particular that I've noticed a considerable difference in since balancing her diet.  She's always been on the irritable side (or what I always called 'marish'), had extremely sensitive skin, and has been continuously sore in the back--all symptoms that go along with magnesium deficiency.  Since being on a balanced diet however, these symptoms have improved noticeably.

So where does one get magnesium?  It's a common ingredient in many supplements, but to solely increase magnesium and not other minerals, you will want to feed magnesium oxide or a supplement like Quiessence. I get my magnesium oxide from Horsetech, but I hear that some feed mills carry it as well. 

Ta-ta!

Natural Trimming Basics

I've been trimming my own horses using Pete Ramey's natural trimming methods for the last two years now, and I can honestly say that their feet have never looked better.  We're not quite to the 'gravel-crunching' level yet, but I think we're getting there.

I know a lot of people are becoming more interested in all things 'natural', including the natural trim.  I think there are even some farriers out there who've jumped on the natural trimming bandwagon, even though they know very little about it.  To me, if you are truly a natural trimmer, you don't shoe horses as well. . .  One farrier even told my husband (who also went to farrier school) that he just tells people he does the natural trim and that gets him business.  If you're an owner and you haven't done the research yourself, you'd probably have no way of knowing.

I am by no means a natural trimming expert, but I have studied the method quite a bit and trim at least one horse a week.  For those that want to learn to trim their own horses or just want to know what a natural trim looks like, I wanted to share the basics.  This is by no means a detailed tutorial on natural trimming.  I highly recommend Pete Ramey's book, Making Natural Hoofcare Work for You or his dvd series, Under the Horse to learn more about it.  His website is a great place to start, too.

Before you ever attempt to trim, you should study a diagram of the inner structures of the foot.  The natural trim uses the coffin bone's shape and placement in the hoof capsule as a guide.  You should understand how to gauge the coffin bone's position before ever laying a tool to the hoof.  With that said, here are the natural trimming basics:

1.  Place horse on a level surface and note any imbalances or flares.  Note if the horse leans forward (sign of heel pain) or leans back (sign of toe pain).

2.  Use the sole callous as a visual guide for trimming .  Never pare or rasp into live sole, but do scrape away dead sole with your hoof knife.  It is usually powdery or flakes off easily.  Pay close attention to scraping away dead, chalky sole in the seats of corn (V between bars and wall near heels)--it tends to build up there.

3.  Trim the hoof wall so that it stands 1/16 inch above the sole.  Trim it just slightly shorter in the quarters (so that a credit card could fit under that area if the horse were standing on a flat surface).

4.  Trim the heels at the level of the wall, but never trim long heels drastically in one trimming.  You may need to work your way down in several trimmings.  (Yes, we actually want low heels!)

5.  Trim the bars level with the heels.  If the bars have been neglected, they may be folded over and run over part of the sole.  You may have to carefully trim them back with your hoof knife. 

6.  If the frog has any loose flaps, you can cut those away.  I tend to leave the frog alone for the most part though.

7.  From the outside of the hoof (usually with a hoof stand), rasp flares on the lower 1/3 of the hoof flat.  You want the lower 1/3 of the hoof to eventally be at the same angle as the hoof growing down from the coronary band. 

8. Finish off with the 'mustang roll'--a round beveling of the wall all the way around the hoof (except heels).  Using my rasp, I start the mustag roll from the bottom of the hoof, but then finish from the top using my hoof stand. 

9.  Inspect the hooves again while the horse is standing on a level surface to make sure hooves are balanced. 


And those are the basics!  Of course, I've left way more out than I've included here, but that's why there are books and dvds and entire websites dedicated to the natural trim.  Hopefully this will give you some insight though.  And if I can trim my horses, you can too.  Knowledge is more important than brawn here!

Ta-ta!

Home Remedies & Acupressure for 'Gunky Eye'

First of all, I'd like to preface this post with the statement:  I'm not a vet.  If your horse has a condition that your unsure of, take him to a vet for a diagnosis.  With that said, occasionally my horses get gunky eyes for one reason or another, and I usually just treat it myself.  Three of them have the eye gunk currently, so I'm guessing that it's some sort of viral conjunctivitis (pink eye).  I thought I'd share a couple homemade remedies for treating conjunctivitis in horses and a few acupressure points that can help clear up eye problems.


Here are the remedies (borrowed from an equine rescue website):

Conjuntivitis Remedy #1:  
Steep several tea bags ( black tea is strongest ) in a cup of hot water (distilled water is safest). Bring to lukewarm temperature.  Wash each eye with soggy tea bag saturated in tea.  Wash carefully, do not break open the tea bag.  Use several tea bags for each eye to make sure the eye is thoroughly cleansed and do not use same tea bag on both eyes, it could cause contamination.  Do not dip tea bag back into tea, this will contaminate tea mixture, also.  The tannin in tea has antibiotic properties. 

Conjunctivitis Remedy #2:

Using unpasteurized honey, mix 3 tbs. honey in 2 cups of boiling water (distilled water is safest).  Stir to dissolve, cool, and use as an eye wash.  Unpasteurized honey has antibiotic properties.   

Note:  I haven't used either of these remedies yet, but I plan to as soon as I can get the ingredients. I'll probably try the first remedy since tea is cheaper!

Acupressure Points for Eye Problems

You can apply slight pressure with your forefinger to these points.  Hold for about 10-15 seconds or until you see a 'release' from the horse, such as head-lowering, licking, or chewing. The points are bilateral so use them on both sides of the horse.  If the horse won't tolerate you touching a certain point, just skip it.

Bladder 1: benefits eye disorders; located just in front of the inside corner of the eye (not on the eye itself)

Bladder 67:  clears the eyes; located just above hoof, 2/3 of the distance from the front to the back of the hind hoof on the outside of the leg

Stomach 1: used for all eye problems; located directly beneath the center of the eye

Large Intestine 4: benefits the eyes; located in the 'valley' on the inside of the 'knee' when you pick up the front leg (you have to feel for it by running your fingers around the backside of the 'knee' when the leg is held up as you would hold it when cleaning the hoof)

                                                Acupressure Points for Eye Problems

These are just a few natural remedies for treating gunky eyes or other minor eye problems.  Again, if you suspect your horse is ill or there may be something else going on, please see your vet!

Ta-ta!

The Grazing Muzzle

It may look strange or just plain cruel if you've never seen a horse with a grazing muzzle on.  "What is that thing?" many a friend has asked when seeing one of my horses in a grazing muzzle.  The muzzle is not to keep the horse from biting (although it would probably work for that!), but it's to reduce grass intake.  And it might just save your horse's life.

Growing up, we had four (or more) horses kept on about two acres.  We never had a problem with an overabundance of grass.  I had never heard of things like laminitis or insulin resistance back then.  When I got married, my husband and I bought thirty acres.  We fenced off a five-acre pasture, and again, I never worried about how much grass my horses had access to.  I rode nearly every day, and my horses weren't fat.

Fast forward to 2011.  I now had five horses in two pastures--both with more than enough grass.  Four of these horses were what I'd call obese.  I had two small children so riding time was limited.  I had recently completed two equine nutrition classes as part of my acupressure certification and had learned just how bad too much grass can be for your horse.  I knew I needed to do something.

I know it seems ironic that grass can be bad for a horse.  Aren't horses, like, supposed to live on grass?!?  Well, the wild horse actually evolved in the desert regions where vegetation was sparse.  They covered many miles a day as well.  Many of our domesticated horses today are actually in quite a different environment than their ancestors.  And while it may look pastoral to see the fat horse grazing peacefully on the lush, green pasture, it's actually not a good thing.  It seems we're seeing more and more overweight (and under-exercised) horses these days.  And researchers believe insulin resistance and laminitis are on the rise.

Anyhoo, back to my topic--grazing muzzles.  If your horse is overweight, shows symptoms or has been diagnosed with insulin resistance or laminitis, a grazing muzzle may be the way to go (unless you want to keep your horse in a dry lot and feed low-sugar hay).  There are some laminitic horses that can't tolerate any grass at all.  But if they can, a grazing muzzle can greatly reduce the amount of grass they eat.

I use grazing muzzles on three of my horses, but not all of the time.  They've gotten used to them and don't seem to mind them too much.  I have one horse who simply doesn't like the grazing muzzle though--she will stand in her stall and pout all day if I leave it on her.  I've actually done several things to limit my horses grazing-- we re-fenced our pastures, making them smaller, I keep the horses in their stalls/pens during the daytime hours in the spring/ summer (since sugars in grass are highest during the day), and I use the grazing muzzles.  It's really helped to keep their weight under control.  Hopefully, we won't be seeing any laminitis or IR around here!

To read more about safer grazing, I suggest Katy Watts site, or this article from The Horse.  


Ta-ta!