1/6/12 - It's always a head-shaker for me that people will pay hundreds of dollars for supplements when so many issues can be addressed simply by changing the horse's food. Poor hooves, poor coat quality, weight (too much or too little), and in many instances poor behavior all can be affected by the food they are given. My favorite story about supplements is when people pay a fortune for calming supplements but don't realize that the food they are giving is high in carbohydrates -- so they are jazzing the horse up with the food and then trying to control him with supplementation. They'll pay $200 for a bucket of mostly flaxseed and balk at $28 for a bag of diet balancer that will last a month. Make sense to you? Me neither.
12/19/11 - When people refer to their horses as "easy keepers," they generally mean that the horse puts on weight easily and they don't need to feed much grain. Frankly, I think such horses are hard keepers because without getting the proper nutrition, their health can be in jeopardy. Most people think feeding is about weight; I believe that feeding is about nutrition. I have seen horses that truly ARE hard keepers fed enormous amounts of grain without benefiting from all that food. What gives? I think (and I'm not a nutritionist, so it's just my thinking) that poor quality ingredients with poor formulation aren't of much use to the body, regardless of how much is ingested by the horse. Nutrition is about availability to the horse - who knew that nutrients "compete" for absorption? The balance of vitamins, minerals and amino acids (these are the elements that make up protein) and the quality of these important nutrients are key to their being absorbed by the horse's body. You CAN provide your horse good nutrition without overloading him or her with calories. I know because I do it every day with my own horses.
11/23/11 - When I was a child, growing up in Manhattan (that's NY, not KS), I was in love with horses from afar. I would watch the early Saturday morning TV programs like Roy Rogers, Fury, and even Gene Autry so I could see the magnificent creatures that were not a part of my daily life. I dreamed of being like Dale Evans, having a house and a barn and horses, but felt it wasn't likely to happen. Yet, seven years ago, that dream became reality. With two horses in the pastures that surround our house, I am living proof that dreams CAN come true. Often they require patience, planning and persistence, but they can come true. So if you have a dream, keep working it, and maybe one day you'll be able to encourage someone to follow her dreams, too.
10/12/11 - I'm one of those people to whom words matter. You'll never find me texting phonetics in lieu of a few extra characters to type out the full word. So lately, while mucking stalls or moving hay, I've wondered why we call what our dogs, cats and selves eat "food" while our horses (and most farm animals) eat "feed." To me, it feels like using that word reflects a lessening of the animal's worth (can't call it "dehumanizing" but perhaps you get my drift). "Food" is generally nutritious while "feed" doesn't connote that to me. If you've been to my website before, I think you'll notice that on this visit, the "feed" references have been changed to "food." Does it make a difference to you?
