Shady Haven Horse Agistment

07/01/2023

A very interesting read!

🌱 Meal Size Matters!

🐴 It's time to put the digestive physiology and health of horses before convenience and guilt, because whether you'd like to hear it or not, so many of the health conditions we see in equines today (gastric ulcers, hindgut acidosis, colic, sand ingestion, insulin dysregulation, metabolic conditions, laminitis, wind-sucking/cribbing) are “man-made” issues that continue to become more apparent because horses continue to be fed, exercised, and housed inappropriately.

⚖️ Modern-day feeding practices of the domesticated equine have conditioned us to feel somewhat guilty if we are not providing large hard feed meals on a daily basis. This often involves filling buckets with chaff or finely chopped roughage sources to "bulk up" the meal and keep the horse "satisfied" for longer, or feeding anywhere from 3 to 6 kilograms of a premixed feed in one sitting because that is what the recommended daily feeding guidelines say to do.

🌾 The stomach of a horse is relatively small in relation to the size of the animal, and they are simply not physiologically equipped to be ingesting and digesting large amounts of food in short periods of time, nor are they designed to be spending long periods of time without any food at all. Meals that exceed a horse's stomach capacity are likely to be poorly enzymatically broken down, and inadequately digested or undigested feed is then likely to tip into the small intestine prematurely. Feed that hasn't been adequately processed in the stomach isn't as effectively absorbed and utilised throughout the remainder of the digestive system which reduces nutrient and calorie bioavailability. Hindgut issues may result where large proportions of cereal grains are fed, as grain that is not digested in the small intestine will enter the large intestine (hindgut) which functions to ferment predominantly fibre through microbial fermentation. As grain often contains high concentrations of starch, this can upset the fibre-feeding microbial population of the hindgut and cause pathogenic (disease-causing) microbes to thrive.

🐎 How much stomach capacity does the average sized horse actually have? Around 15 litres maximum, which is roughly the equivalent of a plastic Coles or Woolworths shopping bag if you'd like a visual comparison. Given how large a 500kg horse looks on the outside, 15 litres of stomach capacity is not much room to work with, particularly for horses who have been immediately removed from grazing on pasture or hay prior to receiving their concentrate/hard feed meal and therefore have even less stomach capacity available.

🌱 The first and most important aspect of gastrointestinal health and weight gain/maintenance in equines (who do not have health challenges such as poor dentition) is to allow an almost continuous supply of long-stemmed roughage in the form of pasture or hay. "An almost continuous supply" does not necessarily mean "ad libitum" or "as much as they can eat" as this could be dangerous for equines who struggle with obesity, metabolic conditions, or laminitis. "An almost continuous supply" essentially means that the horse should not spend longer than 4-5 hours without eating some form of roughage, whether that looks like unlimited access to pasture and/or hay for horses with no weight or metabolic concerns, or perhaps a grazing muzzle or slow feeder hay net for the "curvy" or metabolically challenged equines.

🪣 Concentrate/hard feed meal sizes should only be increased or altered once the forage aspect of the horse's intake is taken care of, although it is so incredibly important to ensure that meal sizes do not risk exceeding stomach capacity in an attempt to prevent poor feed digestion and wastage of your hard earned money. A really good example of unnecessarily large meals is the overuse of chaff in modern-day feeding regimes. Horses make their own chaff through masticating (chewing) long-stemmed roughages, and they produce so much more saliva when chewing pasture or hay as opposed to chaff. If a horse needs the "calories" or "bulk" provided by an ice-cream container or 10 litre bucket full of chaff, they are so much better off having this provided in the form of hay as not only will they produce more saliva which is vital for buffering gastric acid, but they will also take longer to consume it which means it will move through their GI tract at a slower rate which = increased nutrient bioavailability.

✨ Of course, there are always exceptions such as horses who are dentally challenged or situations where pasture and hay just aren't available (drought), however as a general statement, it's time we do better and start working on feeding to prevent health issues rather than feeding and medicating to treat the symptoms once they have already established.

23/11/2022

With such up and down weather we are left with the never ending question “rug or no rug?”

11/11/2022

What is a balanced horse?

05/11/2022

Spring is finally here!! 🤩🤩

29/10/2022

Going through my notes this morning on my laptop and found this great diagram, I must rifle through my bookcase to see where this one came from & then I’ll update this post with a reference.

It’s a great diagram which visualises saddle fit in relation to the scapula and spine which is super important, not just how the horse may look from the outside. 🤍

22/09/2022

11/07/2022

To help you stabilize your hand position...

Imagine that you are holding a coffee mug with two handles and direct your horse’s energy through those handles. Holding the mug helps your hands stay a reasonable distance from one another and work as a unit with your thumbs up. Be sure that you don’t tip the mug or the coffee will spill!—Michelle LaBarre

LaBarre trained at the Reitinstitut Von Neindorff after graduating from college. After returning to the U.S. she met her trainer and mentor Carel Eijkenaar, a student of Georg Theodorescu, who she has worked under for over 15 years. LaBarre operates her business, LaBarre Dressage, LLC, out of Voltra Farm, owned by Carin Mei and located in central New York. She trains horses of all levels and is an active clinician throughout the Northeast.

Illustration by Sandy Rabinowitz

01/07/2022

👀 Have you seen the new PCA gear rules effective tomorrow 1 July?

Please be aware that the rules apply to all pony club rallies, activities, training, events and competitions.

👀 Check out section one for the rider attire rules.

You can find the new gear rules here: https://ponyclubaustralia.com.au/sports/national-gear-rules/

14/06/2022

Always something interesting to read about

Making decisions about rugging is much easier when you realise just how different horses are from humans. The temperature range where we feel comfortable (our thermoneutral zone) is much higher and narrower than horses.

In general, horses are comfortable between 5-25℃, whilst humans are comfortable between 25-30℃. That means that we feel cold before horses do, but horses feel hot before we do.

Learn more about rugging from https://horsesandpeople.com.au/the-science-of-rugging-horses-what-to-use-and-when/

01/06/2022

Let’s talk about head-shy horses.

It’s still usually viewed as a behavioral problem that needs to be trained out.
While sometimes that may be the case, it certainly isn’t always.
At the very least, there are measures that can be taken to make the training process much easier.

Even if, let’s say, a horse endured physical abuse to their head at one point in time.
Maybe they were hit or handled roughly, maybe they were ridden in ill-fitting bridles, maybe they were worked in biomechanically incorrect postures for long periods of time (behind the vertical in particular), maybe they have a history of pulling back when tied, or even just pulled back once.

We may think of the emotional trauma that they likely still carry with them that keeps them from feeling safe in their own head, but what about the residual physical restrictions?
It’s something that’s often overlooked if there aren’t obvious signs of trauma.

Let’s also not forget that the birthing process itself can—and often does—create restrictions in the head and neck, if not the whole body.
This is why this work is so helpful for the youngsters!

Take a look at this simple sketch of the cranial nerves I snagged from google, which doesn’t even entirely show the intricacy of the these nerves.
This doesn’t show the veins and arteries that weave themselves throughout the head.
It doesn’t show the spinal cord having to make its way through the atlanto-occipital joint, aka the poll, without restriction.
It doesn’t show the fascia.
It doesn’t show the vital glands that live in the brain.
It doesn’t show the skull itself and all the bones it’s comprised of, including teeth.
Let’s remember, all of these components must have their own free motility in order to function properly.

Think of how our halters and bridles are hanging right on many of these tissues, across the most highly innervated areas in the body.
The nosebands that are often too tight.
The flash nosebands that have no business being on a horse at all, in my opinion.
The horrible posture that we commonly see horses ridden in, even in supposedly high levels, for extended periods of time.

There are so many reasons for horses to be head-shy that it’s amazing to me there aren’t more of them.

So you’ve got a head-shy horse?

This work is thorough in seeking restrictions, whether they’re physical, emotional or energetic. Usually there are all of these components involved.

There are lots of great modalities out there, though I do lean toward craniosacral therapy and indirect osteopathic techniques, as they address all of these tissues.

The restrictions are in the clear?

Proper education is incredibly important.
My go-to recommendations for this are without a doubt are Patrick King, Warwick Schiller, Amy Skinner and Justin Haefner, all of whom take into consideration the emotional and physical state of the horse as they develop them.

In the meantime, I just encourage you to consider the intricacies of the horse.

04/05/2022

Always good for a giggle today :) May the 4th be with you 🤪