Katherine Williams – is Cushing something that is prone to particular breeds. Thick crested horses. Parts of the country. Feedings throughout a horse’s lifespan?

Carol S. Brewer – I would be interested in an extensive discussion of hay. Here in SC, they have “ coastal” hay which many refuse to feed fearing colic. My barn owner feeds it with a b… Read more

So sorry to see you go, Sandy. Matt will cancel your membership today. If the charge somehow gets through, he will get you a refund.

I received notification that my yearly membership was about to automatically renew. How do I cancel my membership and avoid the renewal fees?

Good thought on the pro/con. I probably won’t get around to a chart but here are my thoughts. Sorry this is so long. By the way, none of this would be an issue if I didn’t board my horse.

Remy has to wear a cribbing collar. (I don’t have a choice where I board. I have the collar covered in fleece and padding and it is removed daily for cleaning… Read more

Thanks for your reply. This sounds pretty similar to the changes I’m trying to make but I must confess that I struggle with the discipline to stick with the diet and exercise plan. I’ve set some lofty goals for me and my mare this year with training and showing so my fitness is going to an essential part of my goals. I’ll have to look up… Read more

Thanks @Doc-t A 7am session your time would be great for me in the UK if it suits everyone else 😁

I just ordered this collapsible slow feeder contraption. Does anyone have any experience with it? I have practically an encyclopedia set of hay bags and nets, none of which are satisfactory so I hope this will not only slow him down, but keep his brain busy, too.

https://kiwifeeder.com/https://kiwifeeder.com/

reserved for questions list.

Howdy, everyone! We had a great time with the first Ask Doc T meeting in January and already have questions pouring in for our next meeting in February. Please feel free to start commenting below with your questions and we will edit in and add others we have received to have a list for the meeting.

If you would like to register for the February… Read more

CAN HORSE OWNERS BELIEVE THE HORSE SCIENCE?

I created the new word “complexicate” which means “to make something more complicated than it needs to be in order to make the person (idea, issue) look more important than they really are.” Tonight’s discussion is how horse science has complexicated the caring of horses.

Horse owners are bombarded… Read more

Thanks for this clear explanation. I always call it a win if I learn something from an experience. Today I know more than I did before, but that will surely stimulate more questions. (One being why didn’t I know some of this 25 years ago? Answer, because I haven’t had a horse this sensitive and what we did back then seemed right for every horse.)… Read more

        My horse has (or had) been very agreeable for a long time. He is naturally a horse with a fairly short fuse, especially if he doesn't feel good, but he's also inherently very friendly so when he acts out the first thing I consider is discomfort. When he began to act out this fall it crept on gradually and ground handling refreshers weren't…

Read more

Howdy Advocates!

Here is the replay of this month’s AMA:

AMA #001 Jan 17, 2022

We are quite excited for 2022 and expanding what we do with our community. In addition to our monthly Rounds with Doc T meetings, we are also going to be hosting an open meeting for Doc T. to answer your questions live or sent i… Read more

It’s explained pretty well in “Accessing the healing power of the vagus nerve” by Stanley Rosenberg. It’s only human, not equine but horses have the same cranial nerves as people. Warwick Schiller talks about it a lot on his podcasts with respect to humans and horses.

Are you familiar with the polyvagal theory? It’s interesting and a working knowledge of it can be helpful with working with our horses (an for ourselves too). I wish you well on your quest to help Praline-sounds like a tough case.

That sounds frustrating. I haven’t had any issues with low fat, de-hulled soybean meal (47-48% protein). I have a horse that is highly sensitive and easily stressed, although he does not have skin issues. I have to be very careful about what he eats, and the least little disruption to his routine or environment causes behavior changes. He did… Read more

My farrier says his horse is allergic to soy. Can you try the hemp meal, is it available to you?

@AngelaM , two great resources that support the advice you’ve received are two books by Jec Ballou: “Equine Fitness” and “55 Corrective Exercises for Horses”. There are diagrams and photos as well as full descriptions of targeted exercises. I’ve found both very useful.

Thank you Dinah-I think I am on the right track then-I use the dirt bike jumps that my husband made for little hills. And we hand walk over different surfaces-I should add the ground poles though. It will be 5 months with the diet before I try riding again (just based on winter here) so I am very interested to see how that goes-of course… Read more

I just listened to the podcast Pituitary Dysfunction (What is Cushing’s Disease in Horses? Towards the end you mentioned how you have changed your own diet, increased protein, etc. You said you would right a blog on it sometime. I looked through the site but couldn’t find anything related to this. Does it exist yet? I am also making changes to m… Read more

I have been wondering a while now about whether having insecticides in fly sprays make sense. (I realize there are sprays made of essential oils only and this is what I now use) It seems to me it makes sense to repel the flies only as trying to kill them with a chemical when they land on your horse is not likely going to be successful-they will… Read more

Welcome Dinah! My sensitive horse has thrived on this diet and I am happy to hear how well your mare is responding. Great to have you here.

You made a sink on wheels!

Thanks! So interesting that sand accumulation is a result of decreased gut motility from inflammation. But I don’t think it’s what’s going on with my horse. It made no difference when I soaked all his hay for a couple months when he was first diagnosed with asthma. Since then I’ve been steaming all his hay (homemade steamer). Again no differe… Read more

Welcome Dinah! I wish you well on your journey with Praline. We are travelling a similar path here in Canada! I would be interested in your perspective as a bodyworker on the changes you see after a few months of this way of feeding. I have our chiropractor/cranial sacral therapist booked for later this month. Although I’m not riding at the… Read more

Signed up. Very timely topic for me. Thanks Doc T!

I was successful in registering. I created a zoom account from the registration page and that did the trick. Not sure why it didn’t recognize my existing zoom account. Maybe it has to do with the email I used. I am in and that’s what counts 🙂

Thank you very much. And I will attempt to register again.

Hi Matt, I tried to register for the December webinar. The error message I get is that I need to be an authorized user. Do I need to renew my membership? Thank you.

Hey everyone!

Here is the replay for December 2021 Rounds With Doc T – “The Skin Of Horses.” Recorded Monday January 3, 2022.

We all see the skin, yet we all see the same thing and wonder what to do about it. The first thing to do is correctly identify what we are seeing and then discover the treatment that works. However, I look at this a bit d… Read more

Great, let me know how she gets on!

Well that was quick-I let her know and she ordered it right away-thanks again.

Thank you Jenny!! I will let her know.

Hi Angela,

I’m in the UK, do tell your friend that I get my SBM from a company called Burnhills. It’s 44% CP, hulls extracted, really good quality and arrives in a couple of days. What’s more it has done wonders to my dressage horse’s topline and over all muscling.😀

The reason I ask is my husband was going to the farm store and I asked him to pick up a couple of bags and now I have 160 lb of the 44% with hulls in the shed. It’s a potential ooops situation.😂.

And I think my friend in the UK has entirely the wrong thing as well (but worse as it still has the oil in it).

Thanks, Angela. I use Mad Barn products. I don’t know where the Canadian hay is grown. Unless a test is available for the Kentucky hay I have nothing to compare it to anyway. No one could tell me at the store if any of the hay they sell has been tested and it makes no sense for me to test since I buy so little of it at a time. The horse will eat… Read more

Well I don’t know but we are quite a large country so it’s a bit of a perplexing comparison. I would say it depends where it came from in Canada, soil, harvest time, weather, is it newly seeded or in need of reworking the field, how it was processed etc so there would be a lot of variables. There is a supplement company here in Canada called Mad… Read more

Does anyone know the difference between Canadian or western produced Timothy versus Kentucky, or Midwest grown? I couldn’t find anything in a quick online search.

I’m supplementing my boarding barn-provided fescue hay with Timothy to provide a variety of forage this winter. I went to the feed store today to get some and they asked if I wanted… Read more

Hi Doc T, I wanted to pick your brain about something that I’ve noticed in a lot of pasture horses that are not fed grain or only fed a small amount (less than 1 pound). You state that the more a horse chews, the more they wear their teeth. I’ve been finding that pasture horses or horses not fed a lot of grain, don’t have as sharp of enamel points… Read more

What if it does have hulls but oil is extracted? Is it ok to feed? My understanding is if it is 44% it does have hulls, 48% CP does not.

Also I have a friend in the UK and her farm supplier gave her soybean meal with a label that says 33% protein and something like 18% fat which I think means the soy beans have just been heated and ground, no… Read more

Ok so I think I have the wrong SBM as it is the 44% and although the young person at the farm store did not know if it was dehulled, this is what they had so not knowing it was possible to extract the oil without dehulling, I bought it. Is it ok to use? I understand it is heat treated but I am wondering if it is not dehulled, should I be feeding… Read more

Those podcasts came to mind, actually.

I generally keep a “doing the best I can” attitude and I don’t worry too much about what I can’t control. Once in a while the steam has to leave the kettle, though. I have been through the ringer with this horse, or at least it feels like it. I have never had one this expressive and this sensitive. Steep… Read more

In my area of Georgia, while generally very mild, late fall and winter can be 3 seasons in one day. I suspect, as Doc said, my horse’s stress is primarily due to barometric pressure changes. I use colic in its literal definition since he had the Whitman’s Sampler of colic varieties for a few years.

I had no idea that temperature swings were a factor in colic. I read your post yesterday and thought “hmmm…maybe it’s particular to their region”. Then today I learned of a horse that died from colic in my area (north shore of Lake Ontario) this week and we have had a lot of temperature swings. There may have been other factors but thank you… Read more

Anyone else have a super sensitive creature? No? Just me? I’m beginning to think keeping horses, er, one horse in particular, in the southeast is one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever done. Wild daily temperature swings (sets off my precious little flower’s quirky system) warm season grasses that turn to crap in the off season leaving not… Read more