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

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/

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…

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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

@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.

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

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

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.

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

Hi Angela,

I have one of those horses who does not suffer fools. His behavior improved a lot with the diet change 2+ years ago but he still decides very quickly who is worthy of his time. He’s very much a highly sensitive, thinking horse that learns very quickly, gets bored easily, and he’s not spooky or nervous. He doesn’t tolerate people who… Read more

Thanks @Doc-t . Coincidently, I made notes on my calendar to review his diet when the seasons begin to change. Hopefully he will eventually equalize now that we seem to have found the sweet spot of grazing access and turnout, but I’m not holding my breath.

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing it @Kathy.

My hemp “experiment” fizzled. Tried it for 2 months. Meh. Too expensive. The hype didn’t play out. Didn’t seem to have any influence on Remy’s occasional crankiness (I presumed some kind of inflammation) which has increased, and he’s usually pretty happy in the summers. He also started to look a little bloated and had one episode of discomfort,…

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Welcome, Elizabeth!

Thanks – I think Remy has snuck into a 6 body score and is aiming for 7. People keep asking me what kind of warmblood he is then stare in disbelief when I say “Thoroughbred”. Ruh roh.

I commented during the webinar that I use corrugated, flexible drain pipe on top fence boards to protect the boards from my cribber. As requested, here are a couple of photos. I buy a 50′ section at Home Depot (inexpensive) and cut as needed. This is a stiff material, stays put, and lasts a long time. Easily replaced and doesn’t look horrible on a…

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Sorry, couldn’t find a designated general spot to comment on podcasts, so I’ll leave it here.

The idea that there are fewer vets coming out of universities is an eye opener, not to mention frightening. I get it but the statistics are startling. (As a side bar to the quality of new vets, one hopes they will quickly advance in their skills, and I…

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Hi Julianne,

No doubt Dr Tucker will weigh in with his expertise, but in the meantime… Do you mean those reddish blocks sold at feed stores? Those aren’t good in part because of the binders in them. I’d avoid them. Somewhere in the materials on this site Dr Tucker talks about salt and mineral blocks.

It’s my understanding that a horse would have…

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Hi Lei,

My horse has battled scratches this year for the first time. We moved in late winter to a farm that has some wet areas and a good amount of grass in the pasture so it’s tough to keep his lower legs dry. I also have used the Coat Defense products and found the powder very effective at keeping things at bay. I think the clay is way too…

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Too much focus? Underestimating the age influence? I’m impressed by the discipline and focus. Hope you feel some better energy soon.

Circling back to the hemp discussion. I found a study abstract copyrighted by the American Chemical Society (link below) evaluating the quality of protein in hemp seed. Since there are no studies on horses, is it reasonable to think the values in this study, which were pulled from something done with rats, would be similar?

I decided to order hemp…

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Cool. Looking forward to the podcast. Funny that my wandering through the interwebs intersected with a topic already in consideration. Excellent.

If appropriate, can Dr T interpret this abstract for “the class”? It’s only the abstract, but maybe Dr T can access the full paper elsewhere? I saw a link on FB to a presentation available to a members only dressage site about max protein for horses so I trolled for the researcher’s name on Google Scholar and grabbed the first link I found. Just…

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Thanks – that puts in in perspective.

I don’t believe the sbm is the issue. He definitely had colic symptoms (stretching, grimacing, kicking when his sides were touched.) If I only look at feed, the sbm and alfalfa are the only things that have stayed the same in 4 years (meaning, sbm was in his commercial feed at the beginning.) Pasture has changed, hay has changed, location has…

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…I’m going to test drive some hemp for Remy.

He hasn’t been himself for a few days. Given this animal ticks all the boxes for how a horse should live and be cared for, and since he has been Mr Congeniality for quite a while and reverted to Dark Remy overnight, I’m not quite sure what’s going on. I got sucked into the hemp rabbit hole online and…

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And just for fun (I loved the color genetics discussion), here are a few pics. The bay leg belongs to my horse, Remy, (TB) who doesn’t have saturated black points on his legs. He was the first of many bays I’ve had that didn’t have high black legs. He has what I call “crew socks”. His sire is dark brown and his dam was chestnut. The grulla mare…

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Here’s a close up of Butter’s mane.

Meant to get a question in on behalf of a friend. She wondered what labs she might contact for testing. Wasn’t sure where to post in the forums related to tonight’s presentation. Thanks!

Whew, I’ve done the first steps right. I did hit it with the water trying to knock out any debris, and I scrubbed it with Betadine. Earlier today I irrigated with saline and had to cold hose some swelling below, and wrapped it. Funny how high a horse can lift a hind leg sideways without kicking. He’s usually very good but this one hurts. (Would is…

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So… wound cleaning. Should I add a curved tip irrigation syringe to my collection? Every time I think I have a full complement of first aid “stuff”, the horse gives me a reason to get something else. The good old fashioned hose in this case is a bit too much pressure, or so says the horse.

That’s impressive. Were you struggling to keep to a program before choosing to “say it out loud”? You strike me as highly disciplined with or without accountability.

I’m on a health mission but wondering if I’ll fail after a few weeks.

Thanks much – will work harder on exercising my patience.

Is there any association with coughing and clover consumption? The Bermuda grass pasture is coming on but there’s a fair amount of white clover out there. Remy hasn’t exhibited any drooling (one of his pasturemates has) but he has developed an intermittent cough the last 2-3 weeks, enough so that I wondered if the cough could be related to the…

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Dr T, I’m curious if you have the opportunity to discuss articles, like the one on endocrinology, with the authors in a sort of round table conversation. If so, has the exchange of ideas sparked subsequent research or thought?

Adding that he hasn’t been fed grain for almost 2 years.

Ah, an update–of course!

Recap: a variant of PSSM-2 is/was suspected. Added Vitamin E and Magnesium Oxide per vet’s basic recommendation. Rem gets 7 grams of natural Vitamin E and 29 grams of magnesium oxide. Made no other dietary changes. He has improved. Oh – I originally had his Vitamin E checked last fall. The vet tested in-house. I was told…

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Still figuring out where to post what, but… good topic tonight. Brain was already a bit overwhelmed from listening to the calcium to phosphorous podcast earlier in the afternoon. Husband walked through. Told him I was “in class”. I confess to eating a brownie bite while listening. I think he looked at me askance (but he bought the brownie bites…

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Greetings from the Atlanta area! I’ve been in the group for a while but I think I missed this section/forum. Anyway… I’m a life-long horse owner. Once upon a time and for many years I had a lot of horses and did all the equestrian things. These days I’m retired from work, show rings, race tracks, etc, and down to one horse. Remy, an 8 yr old…

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Last fall my vet suggested PSSM (some variant of type 2) may be the source of Rem’s “issues”. (e.g. Repeated colic symptoms, reluctance to go forward, irritability, among others.) She suggested it again a month ago. Naturally there aren’t a ton of resources for the horse owner. She pointed me to Michigan State’s site, and I’ve found similar info…

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Glad this one was recorded. I’ll replay it. Trying to focus on heady topics while dogs decided to wrestle in front of me, and the husband meandered through asking if my connection was working okay, was hopeless. 😒