For years Ian has had a jekyl and hyde personality between summer and winter. Although I had chalked it up to "horses are more wound up in the winter" I still tried to find ways to prevent it, as it's annoying as hell to me and must be uncomfortable for him.
It starts predictably at the same time of the year every year. He becomes uncomfortable in his own skin- spooking while standing out in the pasture, tight in his body, unwilling to move well under saddle. Under saddle I describe it as "it's like his hind end falls off".
Over the years I've tried everything. More hay. Blankets. Joint stuff. More grain. (oddly enough, more grain does seem to help) But still it's never *quite right*.
This year, same thing. He went from Mr. Wonderful to Mr. Tight and Insane. I did all my usual things. Do what you always do, get what you always get. Yup.
So I tried some Gastrogard. Magic. Back to his quiet, nuzzly, summer self.
Is the answer to keep him on Gastrogard all winter? (or even the Blue Pop Rocks gastrogard?) My wallet cringed!!
I can't keep hay in front of him all day, both he and his pony would be founder fat in no time. I tried to think of what I could keep available to them all day long that wasn't particularly tasty.
Straw.
Googling found that horses on an all straw for forage diet showed a higher incidence of ulcers. BUT, horses bedded on straw showed a lower incidence of ulcers. http://www.kohnkesown.com/ulcers1.pdf The assumption is that in conjunction with their regular forage, the straw gives them something to nibble on all day.
Bedding on straw? Would hurt my wallet about as much as the Gastrogard!
My compromise was this: After I clean the stalls I put one thin flake of straw on top of the shavings.
I sat back and watched, fingers crossed that they wouldn't gorge and create an impaction colic.
They didn't gorge. They lightly pick at the straw all day, which is exactly as I intended. The rest gets trodden into the bedding. I go through about a bale of straw a week for all 2.3 of them.
So far, Ian does seem happy.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Horsie electrolytes, homemade or???
Ever the frugal horse owner I scoured the internet looking for a good homemade electrolyte recipe, hoping to save myself some cash. I found one I really liked.
26oz (1 canister) non-iodized salt
22oz (2 canisters) lite salt (salt/potassium chloride)
2T epsom salts (magnesium sulfate)
Mix thoroughly, feed as you would any other electrolyte. I mixed up a few batches and fed them out, utterly proud of myself. Then I bothered to add up the expense. Totalling the prices of the ingredients as purchased at the local grocery store came up with a total of $5.79 for 49 ounces, or .12 per one ounce serving.
A 15# bucket of Apple-A-Day electrolytes through Smartpak costs me .12 per one ounce serving with a lot less work. Plus it smells yummy.
26oz (1 canister) non-iodized salt
22oz (2 canisters) lite salt (salt/potassium chloride)
2T epsom salts (magnesium sulfate)
Mix thoroughly, feed as you would any other electrolyte. I mixed up a few batches and fed them out, utterly proud of myself. Then I bothered to add up the expense. Totalling the prices of the ingredients as purchased at the local grocery store came up with a total of $5.79 for 49 ounces, or .12 per one ounce serving.
A 15# bucket of Apple-A-Day electrolytes through Smartpak costs me .12 per one ounce serving with a lot less work. Plus it smells yummy.
Friday, September 30, 2011
Units of Freedom!
Being a fan of using ration balancers as a base of every ration for my horses, I face a dilemma during the winter months, or any time the horse needs more calories than a ration balancer can provide.
Most companies offer this system to use with their products:
Ration balancer
if horse needs more calories...
Ration balancer plus top dress of high fat product
if horse still needs more calories...
Switch to a regular type feed that requires anywhere from 4-6# fed as a daily minimum.
or
utilize a minimally fortified feed as a top dress (hint, look for a selenium level of 0.30ppm or lower), Beet Pulp, Oats, etc.
Although those options are all valid answers, none of them provide the freedom I like in choosing an additional feed for extra calories. I sat around for a while scheming of a system to create an easy way to calculate "exchanges" ie. if I were to feed a typically fortified feed how would I balance the two out so that I don't overdose my horse on vitamins/minerals.
Progressive Nutrition has the answer. They utilize Units. Units pertain to the levels of vitamins and minerals in the feedstuff. A pound of ration balancer = one unit. Their typical grain (for example, one that runs .60ppm selenium) equates to 4# of grain = 1 unit. Read about it here.
For example, Gelin, requires 2.0 units of his ration balancer. Using the unit system if I want to provide additional calories from Blue Seal's Sentinel LS, I would assign the LS the 4#= 1 unit and formulate something along the lines of...
4# LS= 1 unit
1# Nutrena Balance = 1.5 units
for a total of 2 units.
or
6#LS = 1.5units
.5#NB = .5 unit
or
2#LS = .5 units
1.5#NB = 1.5 units
up until
8#LS = 2 units.
Using the unit system I can easily utilize any feed I choose as an addition to the ration balancer. The volume of feed per unit would depend on how fortified the additional feed is- I use the ration balancer itself as a guide- how many pounds of the other feed would it take to equal 1# of the ration balancer, in regard to vitamins and minerals.
Thank you Progressive Nutrition! If only they distributed to New England, I would be a huge fan of their feeds, as I love the unit system and how they emphasize the RFV of your forage when making decisions about which grains to feed.
Most companies offer this system to use with their products:
Ration balancer
if horse needs more calories...
Ration balancer plus top dress of high fat product
if horse still needs more calories...
Switch to a regular type feed that requires anywhere from 4-6# fed as a daily minimum.
or
utilize a minimally fortified feed as a top dress (hint, look for a selenium level of 0.30ppm or lower), Beet Pulp, Oats, etc.
Although those options are all valid answers, none of them provide the freedom I like in choosing an additional feed for extra calories. I sat around for a while scheming of a system to create an easy way to calculate "exchanges" ie. if I were to feed a typically fortified feed how would I balance the two out so that I don't overdose my horse on vitamins/minerals.
Progressive Nutrition has the answer. They utilize Units. Units pertain to the levels of vitamins and minerals in the feedstuff. A pound of ration balancer = one unit. Their typical grain (for example, one that runs .60ppm selenium) equates to 4# of grain = 1 unit. Read about it here.
For example, Gelin, requires 2.0 units of his ration balancer. Using the unit system if I want to provide additional calories from Blue Seal's Sentinel LS, I would assign the LS the 4#= 1 unit and formulate something along the lines of...
4# LS= 1 unit
1# Nutrena Balance = 1.5 units
for a total of 2 units.
or
6#LS = 1.5units
.5#NB = .5 unit
or
2#LS = .5 units
1.5#NB = 1.5 units
up until
8#LS = 2 units.
Using the unit system I can easily utilize any feed I choose as an addition to the ration balancer. The volume of feed per unit would depend on how fortified the additional feed is- I use the ration balancer itself as a guide- how many pounds of the other feed would it take to equal 1# of the ration balancer, in regard to vitamins and minerals.
Thank you Progressive Nutrition! If only they distributed to New England, I would be a huge fan of their feeds, as I love the unit system and how they emphasize the RFV of your forage when making decisions about which grains to feed.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Competence Confidence
Stages of competence and their relation to confidence in the rider....
Unconscious Incompetence- The beginner. Isn't aware of what they don't know. Confidence can be variable, either the beginner is overconfident and unaware of their lack of skill*, or fearful because of the lack of skill. Ignorance is bliss!
Conscious Incompetence- Through some facet of learning (via an instructor or hitting the dirt ;) ), the rider becomes aware of a lack of skill, but is also unable to perform the skill needed. This marks the lowest point of confidence for the rider. "I suck!"
Conscious Competence- The rider has become proficient at the skill, as long as the skill is within conscious thought. Confidence rises, but is not static as when the skill drops from within conscious thought it does not exist for the rider. "I can! Sometimes!"
Unconscious Competence- Practice makes permanent and with enough conscious competence the skill finally rises to the point where the rider is able to perform it without thinking about it. "I dunno, I just ride. Doesn't everyone?"
Studies have reinforced that that there often isn't a direct relation between confidence and competence- the Dunning Kruger effect. Confidence levels of the uneducated are often disproportionately high, and confidence of the very competent are often low. http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2010/05/ssw_20100508_1237.mp3
Also important, during the conscious competence phase, is how many tasks the conscious mind can process at once. Answer: two.
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/04/multitasking-splits-the-brain.html
PLUS, and this is critical to remember during lessons, the mind considers active listening one of those tasks.
It's been theorized that the length of time it takes to master a particular sport/art/etc. is 10,000 hours (or roughly 10 years). I'm not so sure that applies to horse sport, where we often hear that it takes three lifetimes! If I quickly add up some vague stats for myself, I've had approx. 380 hours of instruction from 13 different instructors, mostly during the past 5 years but beginning specifically in dressage about 18 years ago, so if I add in a minimum of 10 hours of practice for each lesson... 4,180 hours. Only 5,820 hours to go! (and to think I gave the horses tonight off!)
Unconscious Incompetence- The beginner. Isn't aware of what they don't know. Confidence can be variable, either the beginner is overconfident and unaware of their lack of skill*, or fearful because of the lack of skill. Ignorance is bliss!
Conscious Incompetence- Through some facet of learning (via an instructor or hitting the dirt ;) ), the rider becomes aware of a lack of skill, but is also unable to perform the skill needed. This marks the lowest point of confidence for the rider. "I suck!"
Conscious Competence- The rider has become proficient at the skill, as long as the skill is within conscious thought. Confidence rises, but is not static as when the skill drops from within conscious thought it does not exist for the rider. "I can! Sometimes!"
Unconscious Competence- Practice makes permanent and with enough conscious competence the skill finally rises to the point where the rider is able to perform it without thinking about it. "I dunno, I just ride. Doesn't everyone?"
Studies have reinforced that that there often isn't a direct relation between confidence and competence- the Dunning Kruger effect. Confidence levels of the uneducated are often disproportionately high, and confidence of the very competent are often low. http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/2010/05/ssw_20100508_1237.mp3
Also important, during the conscious competence phase, is how many tasks the conscious mind can process at once. Answer: two.
http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/04/multitasking-splits-the-brain.html
PLUS, and this is critical to remember during lessons, the mind considers active listening one of those tasks.
It's been theorized that the length of time it takes to master a particular sport/art/etc. is 10,000 hours (or roughly 10 years). I'm not so sure that applies to horse sport, where we often hear that it takes three lifetimes! If I quickly add up some vague stats for myself, I've had approx. 380 hours of instruction from 13 different instructors, mostly during the past 5 years but beginning specifically in dressage about 18 years ago, so if I add in a minimum of 10 hours of practice for each lesson... 4,180 hours. Only 5,820 hours to go! (and to think I gave the horses tonight off!)
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