Been a month since balancing my pasture...

Katie coming off winter hay... beet pulp and a "Ration balancer"..around beginning of May
Needless to say, even with a broad based "balancer", things were still not balanced...



Katie now... (Not to mention her frogs are growing back...and her new hoof wall is really tight and clean...
Back to her old self and better... :)

wow what a change, she looks great!

She looks amazing TC good Job

What a big difference!!! Katie looks great!

She is looking great!!!

Tc I'm a little confused or maybe I missed a previous post somewhere?? ok first winter was hard on her? I've noticed in some of your pictures you have a lot of clover ....beware...vet was here a couple of weeks ago and since I've had to sell my beautiful yearling stallion and had to board my horse as vet highly suggested I get them off this abundant white clover...both my horses had a digital pulse and still do..will take a while to detox I guess...what were your symptoms TC ? weight loss??? and what was going on with the hooves ??? here were my symptoms : pulse in both front hooves of both horses...severe white line seperation and tenderness
and how is it your balanced your pasture???

[quote="rude"]Tc I'm a little confused or maybe I missed a previous post somewhere?? ok first winter was hard on her? I've noticed in some of your pictures you have a lot of clover ....beware...vet was here a couple of weeks ago and since I've had to sell my beautiful yearling stallion and had to board my horse as vet highly suggested I get them off this abundant white clover...both my horses had a digital pulse and still do..will take a while to detox I guess...what were your symptoms TC ? weight loss??? and what was going on with the hooves ??? here were my symptoms : pulse in both front hooves of both horses...severe white line seperation and tenderness
and how is it your balanced your pasture??? [/quoteI

The past couple winters she has not held her weight as well.
Just losing her top line.
No laminitis issues. I watch closely. Just lack of frogs.
I had my pasture grass analysed. Found what was unbalanced or missing and added it.
Made a huge difference.
I will look into the white clover issue. Thank you. :)

I had trouble this spring with my Paint horse, he kept tying up. I phoned the vet and he suggested that he might be lacking selenium. I spend a day reading on the internet that Quarter horses can have PSSM. Lust pastures(high sugar) can trigger tying up with PSSM Now that the pasture is longer grass and I switched his feed and adding selenium he is better. Next spring he will not be going out to pasture until later. Some horses that you think are foundering may be tying up, because at first I thought he was foundering but I noticed that his muscles were enlarged and he was rubbing them on the stall walls. UPEI did a study and found that all pleasure horses in the Maritimes are lacking selenium.

How do you get them the extra Selenium? In a feed? I've also heard that NS pastures lack Selenium and I don't see it listed on the vitamins I feed.

You can buy selenium & E at Greenhawk, but be careful how much you feed. All horses should be getting 3 mg a day, performance horse 5 mg a day. You need to check your feed and vitamins to see what they are getting now, then top up with the supplement to 3 mg. Most horse feed only contain .6 mg. if you are feeding the required amount of daily feed and our soil in the Maritimes is deficient so they get very little from our hay.
Remember when the polo horses all died in Florida, they were given a shot of selenium(overdosed) and it killed them.
You need to be careful when feeding Selenium but it is an important mineral for horses because too little can cause big problems like tying up and stiffness. If you read the article from UPEI, it was the pleasure horse that were lacking selenium. Maybe this is why so many pleasure horse are so stiff???? I don't know, what do you think

Thanks! I'll be label-reading this afternoon!

She really did come out of winter a little poor looking. Gleaming now!

I started feeding selenium and loose salt a few months ago and this is the first summer that Beauty hasn't been covered in rain rot on her face and legs. Totally clear this year! I'm going to test my hay this fall once the horses are off grass and supplement with everything else.

she looks like an entirely different horse TC......I am sure you are really happy how she has bounced back.

tilly wrote:

You can buy selenium & E at Greenhawk, but be careful how much you feed. All horses should be getting 3 mg a day, performance horse 5 mg a day. You need to check your feed and vitamins to see what they are getting now, then top up with the supplement to 3 mg. Most horse feed only contain .6 mg. if you are feeding the required amount of daily feed and our soil in the Maritimes is deficient so they get very little from our hay.
Remember when the polo horses all died in Florida, they were given a shot of selenium(overdosed) and it killed them.
You need to be careful when feeding Selenium but it is an important mineral for horses because too little can cause big problems like tying up and stiffness. If you read the article from UPEI, it was the pleasure horse that were lacking selenium. Maybe this is why so many pleasure horse are so stiff???? I don't know, what do you think

just a note. I think the the measurements above are for the product weight - not selenium itself. A 1000lb horse should get 2mg of selenium per day max. My hay tested for .3mg of selenium in 25lb of hay - clearly not enough. I add selenium and other minerals to balance my hay supply each year.

The vit E and selenium mix is a good product but quite expensive. Horses do not need vit E in summer and fall because they get it from green grass and hay under four moths old. So I wouldn't waste my money on Vit E all year round if you can get selenium-yeast and add just that.

But be careful. As noted above, selenium is toxic if given in too high a dose. But it is ESSENTIAL too.

I've found top dressings and supplements with added selenium have such small amounts they don't offer enough in the recommended daily feedings.

Hug-a-Horse....is that what the supplement is called...Selenium yeast? Where do you buy it?

try contacting Barefoot_Horsegirl. She is planning on getting some in bulk. She's fairly near you.

Barefoot_Horsegirl wrote:

She really did come out of winter a little poor looking. Gleaming now!

I started feeding selenium and loose salt a few months ago and this is the first summer that Beauty hasn't been covered in rain rot on her face and legs. Totally clear this year! I'm going to test my hay this fall once the horses are off grass and supplement with everything else.

You will have to send me the link to where I can get hay analyzed. As soon as I start ordering my hay I want to get it analyzed. That and my pasture grass if possible.

http://www.equi-analytical.com/


I do the Equi-tech pack

Equi-Tech - combines high tech near infrared and plasma spectroscopy for a complete nutritional profile. By utilizing this progressive technology, lab efficiency is maximized enabling us to offer you a complete hay or pasture analysis at a reduced cost. Includes moisture, dry matter, digestible energy, crude protein, estimated lysine, acid detergent fiber, neutral detergent fiber, lignin, Ethanol Soluble Carbohydrates (ESC), Water Soluble Carbohydrates (WSC), starch, non fiber carbohydrates (NFC), fat, ash, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium, sodium, iron, zinc, copper, manganese, molybdenum.
Best use - best dollar value for frequent analysis of hay or pasture when a comprehensive profile is desired.
Price: $28.00

:)