What People do to Horses

I really couldn't find the right title for this article other than my constant thought on what kind of a human being starves horses. Good Lord, it doesn't take a someone with smarts to ask for help when they can't fed a horse nor does it take much for people to recognize a near death horse and report it. I don't know what troubles me more, the sadness in seeing a horse in this condition, or the anger I have for the person who is responsible. But thank God for people like the Perfect Harmony Horse Rescue and Sanctuary of Chaparral, New Mexico. Chaparral is located just north of El Paso, Texas, and is one of many little incorporated or unincorporated communities that make up the greater El Paso area. Although there are several certified horse rescues in the area, Perfect Harmony is the only one I have confidence it and will support.

Marianne Bailey, Owner/Operator of Perfect Harmony, along with her staff who also consists of her daughter Jessica and husband Dan,  received a call on or about 19 June 2021 concerning a horse in really  poor condition who had been seen wandering the roads around Berino, New Mexico. A New Mexico Livestock agent placed the horse in a temporary home and called Marianne. 

Marianne and her crew looked at the horse, who they named Esme, and committed to take her in knowing full well the cost in terms of money and time that it would take to try to save Esme. Not to mention the emotional toll if they weren't successful.

On 21 June 2021 Perfect Harmony picked Esme up, who looked to be in her late 20's, and trailered her to their facility.  That's Dan Bailey in the photo above with Esme.  She received immediate Veterinarian attention and on top of the obvious malnutrition, Esme was diagnosed with a respiratory infection and Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Disease (DSLD), then started on anti-biotics immediately. On top of that, her teeth are bad and need attention, but now is not the time for sedation and equine dentistry.

Despite people telling Marianne to just to euthanize the horse, she decided to give Esme a chance as long as she seemed willing to fight. Perfect Harmony believes, like we all should, that all horses deserve a fair life and an honest effort on the part of humans to give them that.

Rehabilitating a starving horse is not as simple as it sounds. Perfect Harmony has been in the business of rescuing horses for a couple decades now and they are sound horse people. They use the UC Davis refeeding schedule, available at this link, as well as strict protocols on when and how much to feed and only designating one person for this chore.

As of today, Esme is doing well and gradually putting on a little weight. In the last eleven years I have only asked readers of this site to support one other rescue case as I am cognizant of all the pulls for people's donations. Perfect Harmony never asks for money, instead funding their rescue of items they make,  and an on-line store.  They also do community events and outreach such as equine education and pony rides. 

But I am asking now. I just sent Perfect Harmony $100 via PayPal to their e-mail address, Perfect Harmony1@aol.com. I have faith that a sufficient number of readers would donate $10-$15 each or to visit the Perfect Harmony on-line store and pick something up, to help give Esme a fighting chance.  She, and every horse, deserve at least that.  

 

Changing Feeding Routines for Older Horses

I try not to give too narrow of advice about feeding horses as there are just too many factors to consider. There are cases were something needs to change and this usually pertains to the amount of feed a horse is getting - much too little, or too much. Over the years, with my horses and managing a public barn for 6 years where we had an average of 40 horses, I saw just about every problem you could think of concerning feeding programs. When I was running that barn I contracted for a Equine nutrition doctoral student at nearby New Mexico State University to some in and give a seminar on nutritional requirements and developing a sound feeding program based on the individual horse. He too was careful not to give too narrow of advice, but he succeeded in reducing the incidences of colic and founder. Perhaps the best advice he did give was routine dental exams on all horses, especially the older horses.

Horses have individual needs based on their age, health, condition of teeth, and activity so those needs to be taken into consideration in their feeding program. And older horses can have rapidly changing conditions and nutritional requirements. Long ago, we started feeding a mix of alfalfa and grass hays. Some horse's get 70% alfalfa and 30% grass (in weight) and others the reverse ratio. Horse's generally don't need that high of a protein content that comes with alfalfa, and the grass helps balance out the minerals. So the horse I am describing below, Charlie, was getting about 6 lbs of alfalfa and 14 pounds of grass (Bermuda) each day.

Charlie is a big stout Quarterhorse type, 15.1 hands and around 1,300 lbs. In the picture above right, he is the sorrel horse with the white socks and one stocking. Although the young man I bought him from couldn't produce papers, Charlie came from substantially good breeding and had really good feet. Despite my advice to this young man, Charlie was on a straight alfalfa hay diet, also receiving one large coffee can of dry wheat bran on odd numbered days and a large coffee can of Strategy pelleted feed on even numbered days - see? I told you I have seen quite a bit of different, if not odd feeding programs. This young man never succeeded in being able to load him to take him to any ropings, which he had his Pa send Charlie to him for. He never asked me for help nor did I offer......as I kinda liked that horse.

Eventually this young man approached me about buying Charlie. He started asking $2,700 and ended over a few days settling for $800. He tried to pass Charlie off as an 11-12 year old, but I could tell he was near to 20. But knowing how resilient that horse was by surviving the odd feeding program and his obvious excellent conformation and good nature, I bought him for my wife.

Fast forward 12 years later, Charlie is near to 30 years old. My wife rides him often and even rode him in a Randy Rieman clinic where Randy called Charlie the Old Campaigner. He is animated as ever, especially at feeding time, trotting around with is head shaking wanting you to hurry up with the feed, but never aggressive or disrespectful when you are in his pen with the feed.

Lately Charlie would drop bolts of partially chewed hay and his manure was pretty loose as his gut absorbed more water trying to move the bigger pieces of lesser chewed hay through his system. We feed in huge box feeders, but it doesn't stop Charlie from throwing his feed out onto the ground most of the time. Thinking that the symptoms were a result of ingesting too much sand, I just upped the interval on him getting Sand Clear. Half the time this would clear up his less than formed manure. But the years have taken their toll. Despite dental exams and teeth floating every 12 months his molars are worn down where he can't masticate the longer stemmed hay anymore which causes some distress in his gut and sometimes, colic type symptoms. In the last couple months we changed his feed where more than half his grass hay needs are received using Standlee Timothy grass pellets soaked pretty good in warm to hot water to avoid so much of the long stemmed hay that he has a hard time chewing. We had other older horses but none of them had the problem with the longer stemmed forage that Charlie had, so this was a new problem for us.

Since we made the feeding change, Charlie's manure is well formed and moist. He has lost just a little weight, which he needed to do anyway, and his energy level is much higher. He gets about 3 lbs of alfalfa in the morning, along with 5 lbs (dry weight) of soaked Standlee Timothy grass pellets. Around noon he gets about 6 lbs of mixed Bermuda and Timothy grass. In the evening he gets about 3 more lbs of alfalfa, following by another 5 more lbs (dry weight) of soaked Standlee Timothy grass pellets and his Glucosamine supplement.

So really the whole purpose of this article is to pass on a lesson learned or maybe just a reminder that older horses can have rapidly changing conditions and needs, including routine or even a shorter interval for dental exams. And never having been a big proponent for pelleted feeds being a large part of my horses diet, I am very much pleased with the quality of the Standlee products. They make a wide variety of products from compressed bales of alfalfa and timothy hays; pelleted and cubed timothy and alfalfa-timothy blends; and much more. Plus their web site offers a ton of good information on equine nutrition which we all could benefit from.

Evolving Feed Programs

I get the occasional e-mail from people with questions on previous articles I've posted on what I fed my horses.  More questions are specifically asking about prevention of sand colic. Katie and BL would be the last two I received - this article is for you.  It is intended to show you want I do.  You would be well advised to work with your Vet on what is going to be best for your horses in your specific area.

A significant portion of horse owners have the benefit (and sometimes the dangers as well) of keeping horses near yearly on pasture. In West Texas and the desert Southwest, putting your horses on pasture is rarely an option. And if you own horses long enough you will see a case or two (or three or ten!) of sand colic.  I saw a lot of it when I ran a large public barn.  And, in my observation, the rates of colic increased when horses were fed straight alfalfa and consumed much of it of the ground.    

Sand colic of course is distress or even an impaction of the gut caused by the digestion of sand. If you want to get concerned about sand colic, goggle the term and look for x-rays and pictures of necropsies showing just how much sand a horse can accumulate in their gut. 

While for centuries, horses grazed off the ground, it has usually been plants and scrub. The tendency of a horse to pickup sand in his feed increases greatly when small alfalfa leaves or grain is dropped onto the ground and the horse cleans up every bit of it. Generally, horses can eat long stemmed forage, such as grasses off the ground without a problem, but feeders, and mats, that will contain the feed of the ground is generally safer.

I used to feed in tubs that were small enough where the horses would pull out their feed and distribute it on the ground, where they would pickup sand while cleaning up. As a preventative step, I used to routinely feed a wheat bran mash, usually mixed with Sand Clear - a pelleted psyllium supplement, to help remove sand from the gut. This also presented it's own issue with horses (some more than others) dropping mouthfuls of the mash onto the ground then cleaning it up digesting more sand. It was only when I went to using large box feeders, where the horses would drop very little feed outside of their feeder, where I could cease the routine feeding of bran mashes.

This is the evolving part of a feeding program for horses. As factors change, so does what and how you feed.  Many factors would influence changing types and amounts of feed- these are just of them:

~ As horses get older their dietary needs will change. We've kept horses rideable into their late twenties and even early thirties by adding judicious amounts senior type feed to ensure these great old horses obtained a healthier amount of vitamins, minerals and pro-biotics their aging bodies need.

~ Teeth issues, causing pain to chew or inability to chew food small enough is a big facto.  Older horses will generally have teeth problems.  And in fact, all horses can have teeth issues so nothing better than an annual exam and floating to eliminate teeth as an issue.  While you are at it, have a conversation with the Vet on what types of feed will benefit the changing health of the horse.

~ Changing sources of alfalfa and grass hay, with changing quality and nutritional value, will also likely move you to change your feedings. we feed a mix of alfalfa and grass hay and that ratio changes as we detect quality changes in the hays. First cut alfalfa, with it's normally rich leafy and higher protein values, direct us to feed less alfalfa and more grass.  While you can normally find a nearby asset to send feed samples to for diagnosis, the horse owner usually develops a feel for the feed quality through sight, touch and smell.
 
~ Several of our horses receive a periodic dose of pro-biotics and when we change alfalfa sources, all the horses get another dose even though we mix old and new alfalfas for 7-10 days. We also give them an out of cycle dose of Sand Clear as well.

I do routinely use Sand Clear. Some people have commented that it's expensive, but having a Vet respond to a colicing horse is more expensive. Horses are going to be different - some get along just fine without the intervention of added psyllium. I have three horses who get one scoop (5 ounces) of Sand Clear once a week. Nothing indicates that they digest much sand, but Sand Clear isn't just helpful to prevent sand colic, it's helpful to keeping a healthy gut. And two other horses get Sand Clear two to three times week depending upon the condition of their manure.

As a rough 'sand in the gut' check, You can collect five or six balls of manure that haven't touched the ground and put them into a mason jar.  Cover the balls of manure with water; shake the jar up, and let the sand settle to the bottom.  While I have done this dozens of times, I no longer bother to do.  I can usually judge by changes to the horse's manure piles on the ground.  Wet, partially formed manure can indicate sand in the gut. We have been able to keep two of our older horses pretty well balanced this way for years, and actually eliminated the periodic colicing of one of these horses when we first came to us.

My Vet runs a large stables and her practice is that all horses receive Sand Clear once a week. The fact that she recommends it should be good enough for most of her clients. I do still believe wheat bran has a place in the barn. A sloppy wheat bran mash with a bit of molasses (and I usually put in some corn oil) is a good way to get fluids and nutrition into a horse.

So to answer several questions over the past few months, and those from Katie and BL, I obviously recommend Sand Clear.  However, not all psyllium products are the same. I would be hesitant to use psyllium products intended or humans, and would not use any of these products that had artificial sweeteners added to make it palatable to humans. Metamucil for instance contains Aspartame. No human could consume Aspartame, and neither will my horses.

The Polite Horse

Everybody likes a polite horse. Nobody likes to feed a pushy or aggressive horse. When someone writes me on what to do when their horses are aggressive or crowding at feeding time, I just say "don't feed them when they are pushy or impolite, you are just teaching them that this behavior is okay.  You need to back them off."    I will eventually find, in the local area, a feed aggressive horse that someone wants helps with and do a better article on how to correct, but until then this article will have to do to address the requests I get on horses that are pushy during feedings.

We've all likely seen horses try to herd people with an arm full of hay or try to take hay out of the person's hands when they are heading to a feed bin. There is nothing cute about that, it is potentially dangerous behavior. Excuses like "well, he's very hungry", or "he feels comfortable enough to eat out of my arms", are just that excuses.  You are doing a disservice to your horses when you allow this.   

I know several people who no longer allow horses to be boarded at their places, sometimes because the part time owners would often unwittingly teach their horses bad behaviors which manifested especially at feeding times.

I used to have a boarder, even though we fed that horse twice a day, would often give the horse treats by hand and allowed their horse to push on them looking for treats. Well, to make a long story shorter, one day that horse about ran me over when I was feeding one morning, so from then on I made that horse go to the other end of the pen before I dropped the feed into the feeder. In the beginning when I sent her to the other end of the pen, she would try to inch closer to me (and the feed) so I would have to drive her back to the far end.

Also in the beginning once I dropped the feed into the feeder, this horse would try to come in before I allowed her to, so I would have to drive her away.  I did this with just my body language and voice, but sometimes a flag works well. Horses are used to be driven away by other horses with subtle body languages, sometimes just a look, and other times something more pronounced like another horse pointing his head and pinning his ears. I found that horses learn very fast that polite behavior at feedings is expected, after all they want to eat.

Another example is the horse in the video below. The very same day I brought him home I went into his pen to feed him. He was in the end of the pen and I thought someone did a good job at teaching him some feeding manners, so I turned my back on him to place the feed and that son of a gun came up behind me and pushed him away with his head. I turned quick to address this and the horse spun and tried to jump out of the pen getting his front legs momentarily caught over the corner before he fell back. He stayed in the corner, so I dropped the feed, but he still wary of me he would not approach the feed until I walked away.

For the next week or so he would stay away until I dropped the feed and walked away. Then one day I had my back to him when pouring grain into a bucket on the ground and that horse put his head between my legs trying to eat. We were underneath an overhead cover too, so all I could do was quietly step away to keep him from spooking and raising his head therefore driving me into the roof.

From then on out, I always make my horses back a couple steps up before I drop feed and not let me come in until I allow them.

There are several horse people out there that advocate just setting things up so you can throw feed without any, what they sometimes call, dramatics. These people advocate minimal handling or bothering of the horses during feedings. I think just a little opposite. I think you should be able to control your horse during feedings, including brushing him or rubbing on him when he is eating. If the horse pins his ears, I'll just move him off, wait on him to show some understanding, then let him back in. I don't think my horses are worse off for this. To the contrary, I think it makes a more gentled horse.

The horse in the video below is pretty much good at backing off, usually without my asking him to, and not coming to the feed bin until I ask him to or walk away. This also translates well to a horse in hand (on a lead rope).   Maybe your hands are busy at the moment and you can't give a signal on the lead rope or mecate lead for the horse to back, so getting them good at backing under voice is a good tool to have.

Feeding Tips for Horses

Last week, wife and I helped some neighbors out when one of their horses, a 3 year old gelding, was   seemingly was in the middle of a colic. Two of the hands were there but neither gent spoke more than a few words of English so my wife and I had a hard time with our limited Spanish explaining that muscle tremors, drum tight flanks, sweating, rapid and shallow breathing, and no gut sounds in any of the four quadrants spelled colic.  We advised them to get a Vet out pronto and tried to call one of our Spanish speaking vets to talk to them over the phone, but on a Sunday night it's hard to get ahold of people.   

On our north fenceline, these neighbors are in the process of building their horse facility.  I think one of the issues with this gelding may have been that after they finished the stall gates on the still to be finished barn, they were locking the horses in for the night and feeding alfalfa and grain - they are feeding these horses once day.  The horses had to wait to be turned out in the morning to have access to water.      

How did that little gelding fare?  Well, I wish I would have had the article below in Spanish, for these guys that night. But their horse came out his distress after 8 cc's of Banamine, a dose of Pro-Bios probiotic and some thin bran mash with mineral oil.  I haven't checked back yet, but hopefully they took the advice to feed twice a day and make sure the horses have access to water 24/7. 

This article came from the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA). While I think it's a pretty good baseline article for the care and feeding of horses, I have added some comments in italics.

Top 10 Nutritional Tips for Horses

Remember that old nursery rhyme that begins, “Hay is for horses…”? As it turns out, that’s sound advice for feeding companion equines—as are the following tips from our experts at the ASPCA Pet Nutrition and Science Advisory Service.

1. Base Your Horse’s Diet on Grass and Hay.

A horse’s digestive system is made to process large quantities of grass, which is high in fiber and water. The basic diet for most horses should consist of grass and good-quality hay that’s free of dust and mold. As a general rule, companion horses should be able to graze or eat hay whenever they want to.

Forage (grass and alfalfa) first. That's the motto of ADM feeds and something that guides my feeding program. It would be nice to have horses on pasture but there is very little of it in West Texas. I like to differentiate between alfalfa hay and grass hay. In my way of thinking a straight alfalfa diet is too rich in protein for most horses. I'm usually feed a 60-40 mix alfalfa and grass, sometimes more grass depending upon the cut of the alfalfa. Plus it helps balance the calcium- phosphorous ratio.

2. Feed Several Small Meals a Day.

Because horses’ stomachs were developed for grazing, horses function better with a feeding plan based on “little and often.” ASPCA experts recommend that horses should eat several small meals—at least two, preferably three or more—in the course of a day. When feeding hay, give half the hay allowance at night, when horses have more time to eat and digest.

I used to feed four times a day and did so for several years before I went back to three feedings day. I would think that two feedings day would be minimum.

3. No Grain, No Gain.

Most horses, even fairly active ones, don’t need the extra calories found in grains. Excess grains can lead to muscle, bone and joint problems in young and adult horses. Unless directed otherwise by your veterinarian or other equine professional, it’s best to feed low-energy diets high in grass and hay.

Good point that most horses don't need grain. I don't feed grain but I do feed a processed feed from ADM called Patriot, which is a 14% protein feed. My horses do well on this. They get about 3.5 lbs of this divided up into two of their three feedings daily. I feed this primarily for two reasons: to provide for vitamins and minerals they don't get in their grass or alfalfa, and to get their systems used to this processed feed to I can feed more to make up forage shortages when away from my barn.

4. Be Aware of Individual Needs.

Feed according to the individuality of the horse, including condition and activity level. Some horses have difficulty keeping on weight, and need more feed per unit of body weight. However, most horses should eat between 2 percent to 4 percent of their body weight daily in pounds of hay or other feeds. Your veterinarian can help you decide how and what to feed your horse.

Two percent is a good baseline number. For the average 1,100 Quarterhorse this would be 22 lbs of hay a day. Four percent is really quite a bit of feed. If a horse worked all day long, he would require additional feed to replace calories burned, but again 4 percent is a lot of feed even for hard keepers.

5. Water Works.

Plenty of fresh, clean, unfrozen water should be available most times, even if the horse only drinks once or twice a day. Contrary to instinct, horses who are hot from strenuous exercise should not have free access to water. Rather, they should be allowed only a few sips every three to five minutes until they have adequately cooled down.

Ensuring that horses have fresh, clean water is often over looked. Many places I visit have really dirty stock tanks and this does not facilitate the horses wanting to drink. Automatic waters are great keeping a supply of fresh water available. However, they still need to be checked every day for function. I have also seen issues with automatic waters if they are not maintained. I use old fashioned stock tanks. They allow me to see how much water my horses are drinking. I have to dump them once or twice a week to scrub them and re-fill which I don't mind,......ask me again when I'm 80 years old. The wet sand I create when I dump my stock tanks allows my horses' hooves to soak up some moisture which is good for the horses and easier on my Horseshoer.

6. Provide a Supplementary Salt Block.

Because most diets do not contain mineral levels high enough for optimal health and performance, horses should have free access to a trace mineral and salt block. This will provide your horse with adequate levels of salt to stabilize pH and electrolyte levels, as well as adequate levels of trace minerals. As long as plenty of fresh water is available, you needn’t be concerned about overconsumption of salt.

It's been my experience that while most horses will lick a salt block, many horses don't like the conventional mineral blocks. There are different mineral solutions from powdered minerals that can be top dressed on your horses grain/processed feed, to newer type mineral blocks such as the ADM GroStrong Mineral Quad Block. I provide a white salt block for my horses and I break up a GroStrong mineral block and keep a piece in each horse feeder.

7. Take it Slow.

Any changes in the diet should be made gradually to avoid colic (abdominal pain usually associated with intestinal disease) and laminitis (painful inflammation in the hoof associated with separation of the hoof bone from the hoof wall), either of which can be catastrophic. Horses are physically unable to vomit or belch. Overfeeding and rapid rates of intake are potential problems. Consequently, a horse or pony who breaks into the grain bin, or is allowed to gorge on green pasture for the first time since autumn, can be headed for a health disaster.

I change out from one cut of alfalfa to the next through a five to seven day period. Some recommend a more gradual change through a longer period. Either way, different feeds and different sources of the same feed should be introduced slowly. I would describe Colic and Laminitis a little differently, Colic is distress of the intestines which can be caused by several issues, one of the worst being a blockage (called an impaction) of the intestines, and colic symptoms are almost always a medical emergency for that horse. Founder (Laminitis) is actually the separation of the hoof bone (the coffin bone) from the laminae which can cause the coffin bone to rotate in the hoof capsule and in the worst case (usually requiring euthanasia) causes the coffin bone drop and even penetrate the bottom of the sole.

8. Dental Care and Your Horse’s Diet: Chew On This.

Horses need their teeth to grind grass and hay, so it is important to keep teeth in good condition. At the age of five years, horses should begin annual dental checkups by a veterinarian to see if their teeth need floating (filing). Tooth quality has to be considered when deciding whether or not to feed processed grains (grains that are no longer whole, such as cracked corn and rolled oats). Horses with poor dental soundness—a particular problem in older horses—tend to benefit more from processed feed than do younger horses, who have sounder mouths and teeth.

This is probably the most often over looked routine health care need for horses. Some advocate a dental checkup once a year. I average about every 16 months. A checkup usually results in some dental work as the Vet has to sedate the horses anyway in order to do the checkup, so may as well get some work done. Some horses will require shorter intervals between floating. Having a competent Vet do your floating, keeping good records on how much sedation each horse needs, is a blessing and helps keep your horses healthy.

9. Exercise Caution.

Stabled horses need exercise. Horses will eat better, digest food better and be less likely to colic if they get proper exercise. Horses should finish eating at least an hour before hard work. Do not feed grain to tired or hot horses until they are cooled and rested, preferably one or two hours after activity. You can feed them hay instead. To prevent hot horses from cooling down too quickly, keep them out of drafts or warm in blankets.

I think one of the worst things people do to horses is to keep them penned up too much. Regular turnout and exercise is not only good for the horse's digestive system, but develops a more mentally sound horse. It breaks my heart to see horses confined to small stalls, week in and week out - it's basically mental torture. When I ran a large barn years ago, I had a boarder keep her horses in their stalls, day in and day out for three, maybe even fours years. The stalls were better than most being a 10x10 inside covered portion with a 20x20 adjacent outside turnout. One day, I almost fell over when this women pulled one of her horses to lead it to one of the available quarter acre turnouts. She had the lead rope wrapped around her arm (lucky she was a very large woman with Popeye sized forearms) and as she was taking off the halter, the horse bolted thinking he was free. Once that lead line became taunt it pulled both the horse and woman off their respective feet. The horse was no worse for wear, but the woman had a rope burn and dirt grinded into her face,.....and she thought the horse was at fault. She didn't consider what it was like for that horse to have been penned up for 3 maybe 4 years.

10. Don’t Leave Home Without It.

Because abrupt dietary change can have devastating results on a horse’s sensitive system, you should always bring your horse’s food with you when you travel. Additionally, some horses will refuse to drink unfamiliar water, so you may also want to bring along a supply of the water your horse regularly drinks.

I've experienced horses not drinking strange water so this is absolutely true. You can try wetting your hay in a bucket with the strange water - this has worked for me, but the best case if having some of the water the horse is used to. I carry water in several 5 gallon plastic military style water jugs for this purpose.

Handling Horses When Eating

Kaylay wrote and said she "remembered reading something I wrote about a year ago about cleaning a horses feet while the horse was eating but she recently read an article from Monty Roberts who said leave your horses alone when they are eating, to do otherwise would only be detrimental for them and make them mad. He was pretty adament about it in his article."

Monty Roberts is top shelf in the world of horse trainers. His ability to communicate with horses and train others to do so is legendary. If you haven't seen Monty Roberts or read any of his books, then it would be an education to do so. His book "Shy Boy" is a great read.

I have read at least some of what Monty Roberts wrote about leaving horses alone to eat. I'm going to have to disagree with him somewhat. It's not that I think you should make it a point to handle horses, rub on them, clean their feet or otherwise mess with them while they are eating, but I think that your horses should be gentled enough that you should be able to do so, just like horses should not be pushy or crowding when you are feeding, or otherwise be feed aggressive.

I routinely throw feed and while anyone of my horse's are eating I have no problem picking up a foot if I need to, picking a sticker out of their mane, put a blanket on or off, asking them to move over so I can pick manure, or even just giving them a little rubbing on the withers.  I don't see my e horses having any problem with this,....no tail twitching, no flats ears, no other signs of discomfort or anxiety.  In fact, I have one horse who will often come off his feed to come over to the fence to visit.    

Many times I trailer someplace and let my horse eat water soaked hay while I am saddling him.  Again no signs of any issues here.        

Monty Roberts is one of the best horsemen in the world and when he gives advice people should listen,..... I just have never had a problem with handing my horses while they are eating.  I see no anxiety from my horses, nor have I seemed to have created another problem.  But every horse is going to be different, so each individual horse should be read before handling that horse while they are feeding.      

Barefoot or Shoes? - David's Question

David wrote "Hello, and THANK YOU! I really like your website, and along with others, learning more about horsemanship. What is your input on shod horse vs. barefoot horses? I see a lot of people going barefoot, and wonder if it would be better for the horse. I see proof of better circulation thru the legs as the hoof flexes with movement, as compared to shod and fixed, not able to flex...By the way, we have a mustang/quarter mare that does not like carrots! but a sucker for apples. She has a brand on the left side upper neck under the mane but I can't tell what it says. She is a sweetheart and good mama horse to her 6mo filly. daddy is tennessee walker, all bay and match. Thank you and please keep up good work. About Colic...if you know you going to ride all day, how much breakfast do you give the horse? and how long to wait till you ride? just a little soaked hay enuff? Man thanks fer puttin up with me...David"

As far as putting shoes on a horse, the type of riding and terrain, and even more so, the quality or soundness of the feet will determine that. In a mostly sand or dirt environment horses can go barefoot with no problem.

More than half of my horses are unshod. If you are going to be riding in rocky areas than shoes would make sense. A good farrier can correct some problems with the feet with corrective shoeing. One of my horse's had a pretty bad flare on his back right outside hoof, and in fact all his feet were in pretty bad shape when I picked him up. Consistent and good shoeing has given him the best feet he can hope for.

The hoof flexing or not flexing should have no effect on circulation, shod or unshod. I would think the concussion of the feet striking the ground and the contraction/extension of the muscles having more to do with circulation. But you know God made those horses without shoes and I think if you can get away without putting shoes on then, for the most part, your horse will be better for it. You can always carry hoof wraps or boots in your saddle bags if you think you might get into some rocky ground.

I think it's pretty unusual for a horse not to like carrots. I have a Mustang who won't eat apples for some reason. When I got him, he didn't eat grain either, but now he like's it well enough.

You may be able to figure out your Mustang brand by going to this web site - Mustangs4us. I'm interested in hearing how your Mustang - Tennessee Walker foal works out. That's an interesting cross. I had a Walker-Quarter Horse cross one time and he was a dandy - very willing to learn and please.

If I'm riding long and far I always let my horses eat and get a drink before hand. I think it's good to have some feed in the gut for energy and to keep the gut moving. If I'm short of time and I'm trailering someplace I may just feed them 5 or 6 lbs of alfalfa, and their grain, then hang a hay net of wet Coastal Bermuda in the trailer for them. More than once I got called out to find a missing person and had to leave pronto so I let my horse eat wet alfalfa from a large bucket, while I was tacking him up. I think feeding amount and time between feeding and riding will also depend upon how hard you are going to work them.

There are many cases of narcotics traffickers using horses to pack dope across the border. It is not unusual for some of these strings to go without feed and water in some cases for a couple days. The trafficker's obviously don't care about the horses and always turn them loose after reaching the vehicle load up spot. I think if I caught someone doing this, I rope them and drag them a long piece. Probably couldn't hang them, which would be my first choice, because of a lack of suitable trees.

I know Cowboys and recreational riders who absolutely will not let their horse graze while they are in the saddle. They call it a bad habit. I think it's only a bad habit if they pull on you or otherwise try to eat absent of a cue to do so. Even though grass is scarce out here in West Texas - Southern New Mexico I'll routinely let my horse get a mouthful of wild grass (Indian Ricegrass or Grama Grass) when I'm riding. I think it's good for him. If it's hot , been riding for a long period and we're lacking water, well that's different and I won't let them eat much.

Some arena riders believe in feeding, or a partial feeding, before training as a way to reduce the horse from being barn sour.

When I get them back to the corral, it as important that you cool your horse down before you feed them. Un-saddling, brushing, checking and cleaning feet, then turn them out for a roll and a drink, then they should be ready to be fed. Erring on the side of caution and waiting longer than you think is necessary won't hurt. Safe Journey.

Roping Horse Can't Keep on Weight

Jeremy from Lubbock asked ”My 12 year old gelding is hard to keep weight on. I have been riding him a couple times a week but want to start roping again with my cousin but think the extra work will make him even skinnier. I have been feeding him three flakes of hay a day and he is barely keeping weight on. Have any suggestions?”

Hey Jeremy, right of you to think about your horse and I think you’re right that the additional work load of roping off him even once a week will require more feed. At 12 years old he should be a hard keeper. I don’t want to tell you how to feed your horse, cause I haven’t seen him for one reason, but some general considerations are:

At maintenance, that is just being penned up and no or very little work load, the average horse will require about 2% of his body weight in feed. I don’t know how much the flakes of hay you are feeding him weigh, but it wouldn’t be surprising to find out that each flake of hay weight 5 to 6 pounds as opposed to 8 to 10 pounds, therefore your horse would probably not be getting enough feed at 15 to 18 lbs per day. Two percent body weight for a 1,000 lbs horse is 20 lbs of hay. Other things to consider are quality of hay, and if you are also supplementing him with grain or processed feed.

The thing to do may be gradually increasing his feed until he is keeping good weight on. A lot of people feed nothing but alfalfa. However, I don’t like to do that so I feed both alfalfa and grass hay and provide a small amount of pelleted feed from ADM called Patriot. If you introduce grains or processed feed, then remember to start small and gradually increase.

If you think you are providing your horse adequate feed and he is still not keeping weight on, then a Vet check is in order and maybe some blood work and a fecal exam. A solid worming program, rotating wormers appropriate to the season, is a way to make sure parasites are not the problem. If you can check where you feed your horse and find half chewed bolts of feed that fell out of his mouth, he may need his teeth checked and floated if necessary. Some horses develop sharp points on their teeth that make it painful to eat and that may make it difficult to eat enough. If the Vet comes out to take a blood sample, I'd have him/her check your horse's teeth too.

Good luck and let me know if you resolve your roping horse's weight problem.

Horse Nutrition Handbook

Some readers ask me to recommend a good feeding book. The two primary sources I have are "Equine Clinical Nutrition" by Lon Lewis and "Feed to Win" by a variety of authors published by Equine Research, Inc. However, both of these books are like textbooks and maybe too much information for the new or average horse owner. I have been buying and reviewing other smaller feeding references in order to recommend them or not.

One book I can surely recommend is "The Horse Nutrition Handbook" by Melyni Worth, PhD as this is a very detailed but concise book on many subjects related to feeding horses. The major chapters in the book are: Basics of Equine Digestion; All abut Nutrients; What to Feed and Why; Designing a Balanced Feeding Program; Feeding for a Lifetime; Feed Storage and Feeding Tips; Pasture Management; and Diets for Common Equine Disorders.

Practical applications in the Designing a Balanced Feeding Program Chapter alone are worth the book.

The book also contains several useful appendixes including: Weight/Unit Volume; Conversions; Nutrition contained in Feed; Feed Requirements for Horses; and, Horse Anatomy.