Over the years, we have been asked many times, "How do you keep your horses in show condition all year round - it must cost a fortune and takes most of your time". Well I have to be honest and say, we don't spend hours brushing, or heavy rugging (although our horses are rugged in winter and always have summer sheets on to protect from UV rays and the flies). Nor do we put our horses under lights.
The answer is very simple - what you put into your horse is what you get out.
I have had horses since I was 7 years old and have tried just about every feed, mineral supplement and variations of feed that are out there.
I have also rescued horses - well too many to count - and have had to find ways to re-habilitate them once the obvious necessities were done, like worming, teeth etc. This is a very expensive exercise (which many of you will appreciate) and what worked for one may not have worked for another.
Well, 6 years ago, my neighbour lent me a book titled "Natural Horse Care" by Pat Coleby. This was the start of a whole new meaning of "feeding horses properly".
Since following Pat's advice and feeding all the necessary minerals, my horses have gone from strength to strength and have never looked better. Health problems that were obviously feed related - dissappeared. Horses with bad feet started growing healthy hoof and had no more problems (my horses are now all barefoot), horses with dull coats started looking gorgeous and didn't loose their colour in winter (like my pally/pinto mare in the picture). Horses with chronic ringbone that are now being ridden after being told by vets that they will always be lame. Old horses with chronic arthritis, now happy and able to walk, trott canter and be ridden well into their 20's. Horses that have come to me in appalling condition, some no more than walking skeletons, have put on condition in record time with no side effects that can come with re-habilitation of underweight horses. Horses with major behavioural problems seem to change overnight (if they have been feed related problems). The list is endless, which proves that these minerals help horses with all sorts of conditions.
Last year, 4 horses on our property contracted the dreaded Mosquito Virus. These were bloodtested positive to both the Hendra virus and Kunjin Virus. All 4 horses has various symptoms, 1 mare with bad colic symptom, 1 4mth foal with high temperatures, colic symptoms, very lethargic and didn't want to drink from mum, 1 mare (in foal) who didn't have any symptoms, and the worst one which was a 5mth old foal who had stroke symptoms and went down and couldn't get back up. This foal we turned over every 3 hours, morning and night, for 1 weeks, then because I was getting exhausted, designed a sling
Best of all, my enormous feed bill was literally halved and I saved thousands in vet bills. People started taking notice and are constantly asking what I feed. I decided to put it on the web page so that others may benefit from the Wisdom of Pat Coleby who has been a vet for many years and is now in her 80's.
Our horses are fed:
Oaten Hay: This is fed in large quantities morning and night. As our horses do not have access to good grazing, we keep hay add lib to all our horses. Those that are good doers, we give good quality meadow hay or barley straw, so that they have continual grazing, but do not become obeise. Horses are designed to graze 24/7 and their stomach juices do not stop flowing. This is why horses that are stabled or in small yards with no grazing are prone to stomach ulcers and boredom. They are fed in the morning and may take up to an hour to finish their breakfast, then they are fed at night which again they may finish in an hour. OK, that is 2 hours in a day that their stomach juices have something to break down - umm - this leaves another 22 hours in the day that the stomach juices are left to keep working, but with nothing to work on except the lining of the stomach. We take horses out of their natural environment with which their bodies are designed to work, and place them in an environment that is suited to our needs. I understand that not all of us are blessed with large properties full of lush green grazing - that would be wonderful, but as responsible owners, we must try to provide what our horses need in the environment we place them in. A large hay net, with small holes, tied high up (to prevent them getting their feet caught), in their stable or yard, filled with a non-fattening hay such as meadow or barley straw, will provide the roughage that they need to keep their juices occupied and also prevent boredom.
Lucern Hay: We only feed small quanties of lucern, say half a biscuit every couple of days. Excessive Lucern has been linked to horses getting Enteroliths (mineral stones formed in the intestine) which is a common cause of colic due to complete or partial obstruction in the colon. It is worth looking this up to get a full understanding of this condition.
PLEASE NOTE: We only feed hay and not chaff as horses were designed with teeth for a reason. Small amounts of chaff are handy to mix feeds in, but only for this reason. Older horses with no teeth obviously benefit from chaff.
Hard Feeds: Our hard feeds consisit of:
1/2 scoop of Hill River Performance Pellets (Mitivite scoops)
1/2 cup of copra meal
Into this we add:
1 tablespoon dolomite powder
1 tablespoon yellow sulphur
1 tablespoon seaweed meal
1 teaspoon copper sulphate (bluestone powder) (this must never be fed without the dolomite powder - dolomite is a natural antidote to copper sulphate poisioning) not that 1 teaspoon is going to hurt your horses, but it is just a precautionary measure.
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
We put the minerals on top of the copra meal in the bucket and dampen it down with water. This helps to hide the taste of the minerals as copper is quite bitter. Sometimes you will need to start with small amounts of the minerals and gradually increase it as your horse gets used to it. We have never had a horse refuse to eat their minerals - in fact they get impatient when you bring the bucket and will literally lick the bottom to make sure they get everything.
Once a week 5ml of cod liver oil.
They also have access to a lump of natural mineral salt (Minerosa mineral block). This looks like a chunk of pink quartz. We tie it up in their stable and you will be amazed at how much they will take at first. This not only helps to provide the salt they need, it also encourages them to drink on hot days.
There is a specific reason all of these minerals are fed and if you would like to know more, I recommend you purchase Pat Coleby's book "Natural Horse Care". It will be the best $24 you will spend on a book.
The other product I would recommend for horses that are underweight or need more topline is: Maxisoy. We have used this product on many underweight horses now with amazing results. Once they have reached the desired weight, they just go back onto the above feeds.
Our broodmares are fed the same hard feed until they have foaled, then we increase the Hill River Pellets to 2 -3 scoops (depending on how much the foal it taking) and 2-3 cups of copra meal to provide plenty of protein. This of course is monitored and more or less is added as the condition of the mare changes.
SAND COLIC:
Another health issue that we have had to deal with for many years is the dreaded sand colic. Unfortunately, we have lost 6 horses to this horrible condition over the years, despite the usual so-called preventatives eg. physillium husks, oil drenches etc. It is heartbreaking watching your horses suffer from this debilitating colic and feeling totally helpless. After loosing our last horse over 3 years ago now, I decided to do some reasearch and came upon an amazing remedy that some of you may already know about - I just wish someone had told me years earlier. It is a simple an inexpensive treatement that will get rid of sand.
The ingredients are God's amazing own, milk, honey and cream. 1/2 kg honey (non-treated, preferably candied honey from a beekeeper, 100% pure), 600ml of full fat milk (preferable non-homogeonised - you know with all the cream on top from a Jersey cow), and 300ml of full fat cream. Melt the honey on the stove, just enough to make it liquid and warm thru, take it off the heat and add the milk, again just warm through. Again take off the heat and add the cream. Have a taste and YUM!
The best way to get this into a horse is to stomach drench them - however most of us cant do that, so the next best thing is to syringe it into their mouths. A 60ml syringe with large nozzle will do the trick, but better is the drenching guns you can buy. These need to hold at least 80 ml as their is quite a bit of liquid to get down into the horses mouth - you must be careful not to squirt it in too forcefully, so that they do not breath in the liquid. Hold their head up in the air until they swallow. If you have a stable beam or a good tree branch, you can throw the rope over it and hold the horses head up that way, providing you let the head down again after they swallow. With this method, you will defnitely need to have a shower afterwards ! The next way is to put it in a small hardfeed eg bran, just enough to take up some of the liquid, but not too sloppy that they cant eat it. If you do it this way, don't give them anything else to eat until they have finished it all. It may take a couple of days, but they will eat it eventually. Don't go soft on them and feel sorry for them if they don't eat it straight away - a couple of days without food will not kill them, but a stomach full of sand will !!!!!!. If you do this on a hot day, feed it to them at night, so that the milk and cream do not go off - the honey will preserve it to some extent but not forever.
Now you just wait and see how much sand will come out. I have had badly sanded horses that have just pooed straight sand for a couple of days. I would wait for another 2 weeks and then treat them again. Most horses will just pass sand in the poo and others will pass the poo and then out comes the sand. A sanded horses's manures will have a bad smell, and will have a black crust form around each ball. Also horses with very dark manures (some almost black) generally have sand quantities. Another good sign is if the manure is in tight balls when passed. A healthy manure should be formed, but still quite moist, so that when it hits the ground it is almost patty like with soft balls. Alot can be learned about a horses health from its manure ! Another sign of sand is the "HAY BELLY" that you often see in horses and ponies and a coat that is rough and turned up at the ends.
Horses in very sandy areas (like us) need to be treated about every 6mths and other horses every 12 mths. This is now a regular part of our routine and we have not had any sand colic since we have started - the proof is in the horses and no vet bills.
Please don't be fooled by thinking "my horse is running on a huge paddock full of feed - it definitely wont have sand". We recently purchased a 2yo gelding who was running on 80acres of good grazing. When we got him, we realised the symptoms and the fact he was very down and gave him the milk, honey cream drench. Out came copious amounts of sand. It took a couple of weeks, but the improvement was amazing. His coat is now several shades darker and he has dapples. The HAY BELLY has gone and replaced with a lovely topline.
"MILK, HONEY AND CREAM WILL NOT KILL YOUR HORSE - BUT SAND WILL"
Please note: This drench can be given to them even when they are having a bought of colic - which we have had to do to some people's horses, however all horses need to have pain relief and it is not fair on the horse to keep them suffering. We always keep injectable Vitamin C on hand and at the first signs of colic, will give 40ml over the tongue and keep the horse walking. If this has not helped in 20 minutes, we will give another 40 mls, then call the vet. Quite often, we will be able to cancel the vet in another 15 minutes, but it is just not worth the risk. Horses with colic need to have fluid and tempting them with a bucket of "lolly water" (1 cup of molasses in a 20 litre bucket of water), will help to get fluid into them.
There are heaps of testimonials online for this drench, you only need to google them to see them. Many of these peole have tried it as a last resort after everything their vet has done has not worked. I would recommend trying it first and saving yourself in vet bills and ultimately saving your horses life.
The answer is very simple - what you put into your horse is what you get out.
I have had horses since I was 7 years old and have tried just about every feed, mineral supplement and variations of feed that are out there.
I have also rescued horses - well too many to count - and have had to find ways to re-habilitate them once the obvious necessities were done, like worming, teeth etc. This is a very expensive exercise (which many of you will appreciate) and what worked for one may not have worked for another.
Well, 6 years ago, my neighbour lent me a book titled "Natural Horse Care" by Pat Coleby. This was the start of a whole new meaning of "feeding horses properly".
Since following Pat's advice and feeding all the necessary minerals, my horses have gone from strength to strength and have never looked better. Health problems that were obviously feed related - dissappeared. Horses with bad feet started growing healthy hoof and had no more problems (my horses are now all barefoot), horses with dull coats started looking gorgeous and didn't loose their colour in winter (like my pally/pinto mare in the picture). Horses with chronic ringbone that are now being ridden after being told by vets that they will always be lame. Old horses with chronic arthritis, now happy and able to walk, trott canter and be ridden well into their 20's. Horses that have come to me in appalling condition, some no more than walking skeletons, have put on condition in record time with no side effects that can come with re-habilitation of underweight horses. Horses with major behavioural problems seem to change overnight (if they have been feed related problems). The list is endless, which proves that these minerals help horses with all sorts of conditions.
Last year, 4 horses on our property contracted the dreaded Mosquito Virus. These were bloodtested positive to both the Hendra virus and Kunjin Virus. All 4 horses has various symptoms, 1 mare with bad colic symptom, 1 4mth foal with high temperatures, colic symptoms, very lethargic and didn't want to drink from mum, 1 mare (in foal) who didn't have any symptoms, and the worst one which was a 5mth old foal who had stroke symptoms and went down and couldn't get back up. This foal we turned over every 3 hours, morning and night, for 1 weeks, then because I was getting exhausted, designed a sling
Best of all, my enormous feed bill was literally halved and I saved thousands in vet bills. People started taking notice and are constantly asking what I feed. I decided to put it on the web page so that others may benefit from the Wisdom of Pat Coleby who has been a vet for many years and is now in her 80's.
Our horses are fed:
Oaten Hay: This is fed in large quantities morning and night. As our horses do not have access to good grazing, we keep hay add lib to all our horses. Those that are good doers, we give good quality meadow hay or barley straw, so that they have continual grazing, but do not become obeise. Horses are designed to graze 24/7 and their stomach juices do not stop flowing. This is why horses that are stabled or in small yards with no grazing are prone to stomach ulcers and boredom. They are fed in the morning and may take up to an hour to finish their breakfast, then they are fed at night which again they may finish in an hour. OK, that is 2 hours in a day that their stomach juices have something to break down - umm - this leaves another 22 hours in the day that the stomach juices are left to keep working, but with nothing to work on except the lining of the stomach. We take horses out of their natural environment with which their bodies are designed to work, and place them in an environment that is suited to our needs. I understand that not all of us are blessed with large properties full of lush green grazing - that would be wonderful, but as responsible owners, we must try to provide what our horses need in the environment we place them in. A large hay net, with small holes, tied high up (to prevent them getting their feet caught), in their stable or yard, filled with a non-fattening hay such as meadow or barley straw, will provide the roughage that they need to keep their juices occupied and also prevent boredom.
Lucern Hay: We only feed small quanties of lucern, say half a biscuit every couple of days. Excessive Lucern has been linked to horses getting Enteroliths (mineral stones formed in the intestine) which is a common cause of colic due to complete or partial obstruction in the colon. It is worth looking this up to get a full understanding of this condition.
PLEASE NOTE: We only feed hay and not chaff as horses were designed with teeth for a reason. Small amounts of chaff are handy to mix feeds in, but only for this reason. Older horses with no teeth obviously benefit from chaff.
Hard Feeds: Our hard feeds consisit of:
1/2 scoop of Hill River Performance Pellets (Mitivite scoops)
1/2 cup of copra meal
Into this we add:
1 tablespoon dolomite powder
1 tablespoon yellow sulphur
1 tablespoon seaweed meal
1 teaspoon copper sulphate (bluestone powder) (this must never be fed without the dolomite powder - dolomite is a natural antidote to copper sulphate poisioning) not that 1 teaspoon is going to hurt your horses, but it is just a precautionary measure.
1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
We put the minerals on top of the copra meal in the bucket and dampen it down with water. This helps to hide the taste of the minerals as copper is quite bitter. Sometimes you will need to start with small amounts of the minerals and gradually increase it as your horse gets used to it. We have never had a horse refuse to eat their minerals - in fact they get impatient when you bring the bucket and will literally lick the bottom to make sure they get everything.
Once a week 5ml of cod liver oil.
They also have access to a lump of natural mineral salt (Minerosa mineral block). This looks like a chunk of pink quartz. We tie it up in their stable and you will be amazed at how much they will take at first. This not only helps to provide the salt they need, it also encourages them to drink on hot days.
There is a specific reason all of these minerals are fed and if you would like to know more, I recommend you purchase Pat Coleby's book "Natural Horse Care". It will be the best $24 you will spend on a book.
The other product I would recommend for horses that are underweight or need more topline is: Maxisoy. We have used this product on many underweight horses now with amazing results. Once they have reached the desired weight, they just go back onto the above feeds.
Our broodmares are fed the same hard feed until they have foaled, then we increase the Hill River Pellets to 2 -3 scoops (depending on how much the foal it taking) and 2-3 cups of copra meal to provide plenty of protein. This of course is monitored and more or less is added as the condition of the mare changes.
SAND COLIC:
Another health issue that we have had to deal with for many years is the dreaded sand colic. Unfortunately, we have lost 6 horses to this horrible condition over the years, despite the usual so-called preventatives eg. physillium husks, oil drenches etc. It is heartbreaking watching your horses suffer from this debilitating colic and feeling totally helpless. After loosing our last horse over 3 years ago now, I decided to do some reasearch and came upon an amazing remedy that some of you may already know about - I just wish someone had told me years earlier. It is a simple an inexpensive treatement that will get rid of sand.
The ingredients are God's amazing own, milk, honey and cream. 1/2 kg honey (non-treated, preferably candied honey from a beekeeper, 100% pure), 600ml of full fat milk (preferable non-homogeonised - you know with all the cream on top from a Jersey cow), and 300ml of full fat cream. Melt the honey on the stove, just enough to make it liquid and warm thru, take it off the heat and add the milk, again just warm through. Again take off the heat and add the cream. Have a taste and YUM!
The best way to get this into a horse is to stomach drench them - however most of us cant do that, so the next best thing is to syringe it into their mouths. A 60ml syringe with large nozzle will do the trick, but better is the drenching guns you can buy. These need to hold at least 80 ml as their is quite a bit of liquid to get down into the horses mouth - you must be careful not to squirt it in too forcefully, so that they do not breath in the liquid. Hold their head up in the air until they swallow. If you have a stable beam or a good tree branch, you can throw the rope over it and hold the horses head up that way, providing you let the head down again after they swallow. With this method, you will defnitely need to have a shower afterwards ! The next way is to put it in a small hardfeed eg bran, just enough to take up some of the liquid, but not too sloppy that they cant eat it. If you do it this way, don't give them anything else to eat until they have finished it all. It may take a couple of days, but they will eat it eventually. Don't go soft on them and feel sorry for them if they don't eat it straight away - a couple of days without food will not kill them, but a stomach full of sand will !!!!!!. If you do this on a hot day, feed it to them at night, so that the milk and cream do not go off - the honey will preserve it to some extent but not forever.
Now you just wait and see how much sand will come out. I have had badly sanded horses that have just pooed straight sand for a couple of days. I would wait for another 2 weeks and then treat them again. Most horses will just pass sand in the poo and others will pass the poo and then out comes the sand. A sanded horses's manures will have a bad smell, and will have a black crust form around each ball. Also horses with very dark manures (some almost black) generally have sand quantities. Another good sign is if the manure is in tight balls when passed. A healthy manure should be formed, but still quite moist, so that when it hits the ground it is almost patty like with soft balls. Alot can be learned about a horses health from its manure ! Another sign of sand is the "HAY BELLY" that you often see in horses and ponies and a coat that is rough and turned up at the ends.
Horses in very sandy areas (like us) need to be treated about every 6mths and other horses every 12 mths. This is now a regular part of our routine and we have not had any sand colic since we have started - the proof is in the horses and no vet bills.
Please don't be fooled by thinking "my horse is running on a huge paddock full of feed - it definitely wont have sand". We recently purchased a 2yo gelding who was running on 80acres of good grazing. When we got him, we realised the symptoms and the fact he was very down and gave him the milk, honey cream drench. Out came copious amounts of sand. It took a couple of weeks, but the improvement was amazing. His coat is now several shades darker and he has dapples. The HAY BELLY has gone and replaced with a lovely topline.
"MILK, HONEY AND CREAM WILL NOT KILL YOUR HORSE - BUT SAND WILL"
Please note: This drench can be given to them even when they are having a bought of colic - which we have had to do to some people's horses, however all horses need to have pain relief and it is not fair on the horse to keep them suffering. We always keep injectable Vitamin C on hand and at the first signs of colic, will give 40ml over the tongue and keep the horse walking. If this has not helped in 20 minutes, we will give another 40 mls, then call the vet. Quite often, we will be able to cancel the vet in another 15 minutes, but it is just not worth the risk. Horses with colic need to have fluid and tempting them with a bucket of "lolly water" (1 cup of molasses in a 20 litre bucket of water), will help to get fluid into them.
There are heaps of testimonials online for this drench, you only need to google them to see them. Many of these peole have tried it as a last resort after everything their vet has done has not worked. I would recommend trying it first and saving yourself in vet bills and ultimately saving your horses life.