Horse Feed Wisdom

So today I will rant about idiots buying horsefeed. The place where I work we on occasion have bags of horse feed get busted open. Well these bags we discount VERY well so that they sell quickly and thus dont become bug infested. I'm all about people getting a deal on their fav brand of feed BUT it irks me to no end those that come in and ask for the busted bags of horse feed regardless of what type it is. Forexample a lady come sin today and asks about our busted feed. I ask her what type she normally buys so hat I can check and se eif we have any busted bags of that type. She replies "Oh I feed my horses whatever bags are busted doesn't matter what type it is." WHAT??? SO you mean to tell me that you are constantly swapping your horses feed around without any regards to it's health? Wow what a horse owner you are. I understand that the economy is crap right now, fine but would you buy random busted cans of say baby formula with out any regards to what it could do to your infants stomach by swapping it so randomly? No you wouldnt and any good horse owner would feel the same way. I also understand the need to want to save money but at my store we offer a GREAT program where you can become a member and thus get a TON discount on just one bag of feed. Now ton pricing makes the feed about 50 cents cheaper than normal. Save money by becoming a member and getting that discount, don't risk your horses gut for the sake of a few cents

Good feet = a happy horse

So today I decided I do have time to post a new blog. I mean hell I'm dead here at work, The occasional customer comes trottign through oh every hour maybe. Winter is slow at the feed store. With winter starting to set in I've started slacking off on taking care of my horses feet. Bad owner I know but it's getting dark quicker, I can't get out to the barn like I should... ugh Winter SUCKS. Anyway we all know how important proper hoof care is. Aside from trimming your hores regularly (every 6-8 weeks) It doesn't hurt anythign to paint a dressing on the sole , frog and shell of the hoof to help strengthen the hoof as well as trap moisture inside it. A good one to use is Hoof Heal by Cutheal animal products. Really anything with with pine tar is good. Now now all you none pine tar users who swear it's the devil read this article (http://www.netpets.com/horses/healthspa/dress.html). Pine tar has been proven to hold moisture in the hoof better than anything else. This study was done by Texas A & M and seeing as how they are have one of the leading Animal Science programs in the country, I think we are safe to follow their lead. My farrier recently told me a mixture I could fix at home and paint on the hooves. It consists of Pine Tar , RAW linseed oil and Venice Turpentine. One part of each ingredient (for example 8oz of the pine tar , 8oz of raw linseed oil and 8oz of the venice turpentine). And let me tell you this stuff WORKS. Apparently it's a recipe that an old racehorse trainer used years and years ago. You know back when TB's actually had good hard feet and could run hard .... but thats besides the point. I started using this mix on my appy filly and WOW it was awesome. Her feet look and even feel healthier!

Thrush though is starting to pose a problem now as the moisture in the grass isn't evaporating as quickly and well as winter weather hits let's face it it becomes slightly muddier. Always CLEAN your horses feet out atleast once a day. This will help prevent the thrush from starting. Should your horse get thrush I have found the best product to quickly and effectively is ThrushBomb. it's a purple liquid in a little bitty squeeze bottle. You draw one line down each sid eof the frog (make sure you get it in the crevice) and that one dose pretty much kills the fungus out! I swear by this stuff.

Many people feel the need to feed a hoof supplement and if you use an inferior quality feed such as Dumour or all-stock its honestly a good idea. See every year the NRC (Nutrition Requirements Council) reviews the daily needs and percentages of certain vitamens a horse needs. Most feeds out there have the bare minimum amount of these vitamins. Co-Op feeds have the amount recommended and then some:) See they are all about the health of the horse, not the profit from the feed. Every year Co-Op updates their feeds while numerous other companies don't or if they do, they barely make them better. A Good feed such as what Co-Op carries actually eliminates the need for additonal hoof supplements unless it is an EXTREME case. IF a hoof supplement is needed then you don't want to get anything that has over 20mg of biotin per serving. That's all a horse needs. Anything higher and you are basically throwing your money away.

Wow! Now this is a guy I want breaking my horse.

Earlier this summer I had a customer leave here after buying some NFZ , DMSO , Blue Lotion & Vet Wrap. Me being the typical oh a horse person let's talk kind of gal, struck up a conversation with him as I was helping him. I asked him what had happened to his horse that he was having to buy so much first aid stuff... his response? "Oh he got a little rope burn' Ouch that hurts so I start asking him how that happened. Well it turns out this man is breaking this horse. The horse had issues with being caught so the guy ropes the horse gets him haltered and proceeded to snub him up to a post (with the rope still around his neck frm where he had been roped) and leave him. Not for an hour, not for 3 or 4 but for THREE DAYS!!! The horse being young, unbroke and scared out of his mind, of course struggled and the loose end of the rope became entangled around his fetlock several times until it had rubbed the fetlock RAW. This guy said you could see the meat of the fetlock!! I couldn't believe that he was sitting here BRAGGING about how he cured this colt's catching issue. When he was done with his story he grinned and said "yeah the shit don't run from me now" WELL NO DUH ASSHAT!! YOU MADE HIME LAME HE CANT RUN FROM YOU!!! I rang the customer up ushered him out the door and prayed he would never come back. Well this morning I have an email form an addy I don't know so I open it up and lo-and-behold it's him... apparently he had picked up one of my cards. He's thanking me for my advice on caring for the wound, I told him keep it clean and put the NFZ on it but he really should get a vet in on this if it's that bad. So anyway he's thanking me for the advice and had sent me pictures. I open them up and find the pics attached with this blog... WTF??? Dude I hope to hell you called a vet instead of tryign to treat that yourself.

I will definately respond to his email and see if he did indeed call a vet as I strongly suggested... let's hope he did

Are You Serious????

http://nashville.craigslist.org/grd/876576654.html

what we have here is a complete lack of equine safety knowledge!!!! Not only are there asshats hanging all over this mare like little kids on monkey bars she's underfed.

Ginger - 12 year old Well Broke TB Mare - $500 (Lewisburg, Tn)
Reply to: mailto:sale-876576654@craigslist.org?subject=Ginger%20-%2012%20year%20old%20Well%20Broke%20TB%20Mare%20-%20$500%20(Lewisburg,%20Tn) [?]Date: 2008-10-12, 5:04PM CDT
This is a nice 12 year old that just about anyone can ride. She's quiet, has been to shows, played in games. Has GREAT POTENTIAL for Poles. She's easy to handle. You can ride her in just a halter. She also would make a nice English horse to. Nice all round mare. This is a nice mare, don't let the price fool you.

What kills me is the complete lack of safety they are practicing around these horses. I mean look at that asshat STANDING on the poor mare's back, so saddle , no hlater.. NOTHING and to top that off there are other loose horses in the field. Can we say IDIOT??? From the pictures she doesn't even look like a TB. i must say though that it is evident from the pictures that "Ginger" has a sweet temperment. God knows I couldn't stand that shit if I was a horse.

This just hurts me to read

http://nashville.craigslist.org/grd/862404329.html
please read!!!5 year old ex racehorse
Reply to: sale-862404329@craigslist.org [?]Date: 2008-10-01, 12:11PM CDT
She is an exracehorse.She was abused at the track and then sent to my farm to rehab.To be honest,the rehab did not work.If she is just out in the field she is fine.She will approach you but she will not let you mess with her(tie,groom,etc.)What she needs is somewhere to be turned out and left alone.Her owner does not want to come get her or deal with her.But I need her of my farm,not because she causes problems,but due to the fact I have relocated my business and she is of no use to me. 615 668 6211

Now reading this just hurts my heart to no end. I don't understand how they can say this horse is of no use to them. Every horse has a purpose, maybe not with every person, but every horse DOES have a use. And the fact they say rehab didn't work, thats a crock. Maybe they just didn't rehab her in the way that SHE needed to be rehabed. We all know that no two horses can be trained in the exact same manner with the exact same results. If I didn't have way too many horses myself I'd call in a heartbeat. Is there anyone out there willing to take this mare, take the time needed to earn her trust and show her a good home? Come on people this is pitiful. Why dump a horse b/c she's been abused? Keep trying don't quit on her. I hope someone finds this lil mare and gives her a good home.

WTF???? 18 months old and KID BROKE?

I found this CL ad today while shopping around for a barrel saddle for my son. Who in their right mind would break an 18 month old colt? I mean yes I realize they start TB's as early as 12 months but come on this is a BYB horse. (I say that b/c this is the same person that Poptart came from.....atleast this pony is somewhat fat) The pics of the pony make him look disproportioned and well like junk. That's something I don't understand, if you are going to post pics of a horse you are trying to sell, why not take some that make the horse look good? All these pics of grazinf horses drives me nuts. You can't tell anything about conformation from a grazing picture. Come on use some sense when posting ads with pictures!!!

And looking at this picture he loks wormy and has funky hips. see this pic does nothing for the pony. I wouldnt even go look at him in person after seeing this pic

http://nashville.craigslist.org/grd/851387942.html

Registered Pinto pony colt--18 moths old--KID BROKE - $500 (Clarksville/Woodlawn)
Reply to: sale-851387942@craigslist.org [?]Date: 2008-09-22, 8:01PM CDT
This guy was born at our house and was imprinted from the minute he hit the ground. His mom was a grey roan 12.2 HH pony ( junk) and his dad is a registered APHA horse (APHA # 691123 Mccain Cool Copy) (hasn't done a thing in the show pen) chestnut and white 14.3 HH. He is currently measuring 44". He can be handled by any child no matter the age and is bombproof.(Yes cause we all know an 18 month old STUD COLT is so very wise to the ways of the world.... wait till he decides he'd liek to see a mare in heat while a kid is handling him, how bomb proof would he be then?) He will not kick or bite and it doesn't matter how young they are. I can send pics of both parents. He is Registered Pinto Horse Assoc. # 132634Y and his registered name is Mccains Copyright Canyon (canyon for short). We have already led our kids around on his back so he is completely used to that (once again such a safe thing for a child to be doing... riding an 18 month old stud colt) and we have hauled him to shows and practices just to get him used to that environment and he loves to go places and acts perfect. He has one blue eye and the other is brown and blue. Can send more pics. Truly kid and bomb proof

Ugh it just kills me. I fwd'd this ad onto Fugly, hope she has fun with it! :)

AGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH

Sometimes you just need to scream!!!!!! Rough day dealing with idiots

Holy Shit WTF Is wrong with these people

I can't even begin to describe how angry this makes me. Fugly says it all in the opening line of her blog unfuckingbelievable.

http://fuglyhorseoftheday.blogspot.com/2008/09/memo-to-asshats-were-faster-to-copy.html

I can't believe this my good that poor poor filly! I actually sent Fugly a link to a craigslist ad earlier today where someone had an extensively broke 3 year old. This horse had been started at 14 months and was being ridden in the MOUNTAINS at 18 months (WTF PEOPLE??) and the pic showed a kid about 4 years old on the horse bare back, no reins... nothing AND the kid had NO HELMET. ok lets cripple our horse and kill our kid all at the same time. Now i know this is a constant rant of Fugly's but man it blows my mind to see how many idiots (or to borrow Fugly's term ASSHATS) are out there breaking horses when they are barely 2. I know I know TB's are doen the same way in racing and I dont agree with that either BUT atleast we know they are properly cared for by the trainers..... Sigh once again all I can say id there should be a test required

AGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH I hate LAMENESS

So as my close friends on YA and others know i have apaint mare whom I dearly adore. I have raised her since birth, helped her come into the world actually. Broke her and trained he ron barrels and poles. She's agorgeous lil palomino overo with a bald face , 4 white stockigns and eyes as blue as the colorado skies. GORGEOUS. Well back in march of 2006 by some freak accident, Bailey punctured her deep digital flexor tendon sheath. It became severly infected and we almost lost her. She was on 3 weeks of continous antibiotics and complete stall re4st. She had to ahve compression wraps applied to her leg daily when the wound (which was only the size of the tip of a pen) was cleaned and doctored. Bute off an on... long story short it took 8 months to get this mare back sound and wlaking good again. She started off with just hand walks b/c every tiem we tried to turn her out the injury would flare up again and she'd go lame. I realized in 2007 she's never barrel race again so I bred her to a reg welsh pony to get a sport pony for my kids when they were older. In May of this year she foaled a stunnign stud colt who looks to take after both sire and dam in their athletic ability, btu that is ebsdie the point this blog is about lameness and how I hate it with a passion. Now I understand most everyone hates lameness issues but I'm just so sick of it with this mare I could scream. Just like a person with artheritis she has good days and bad days. Today is one of her bad days. my horses are kept at my parents house just down the Rd from me and first thing yesterday morning I get a call form Dad. "Better get over here asap, your mare's lame AGAIN" I have to wait about an hour before I can ge there because I'm at work and can't leave.... Noon arrives and i book it for my parents house... I get there and Bailey and her colt are standing just outside the barn in the hot sun... move inside dummy... well when I got to her I saw why she hadn't moved into the barn, her leg was swollen from the cornet to knee and she could barely hobble around on it. She didn't want to go in b/c it hurt to walk. I halter her and lead her into her stall and begin my examination . it's that flexor tendon injury flaring up... DAMMIT she hadn't had a lame day in months and now all of a sudden she's dead lame... grrrrrrrrr. So I walk into my tack room to get my DMSO , Cool jelly anythign I have on hand to alieveate the swelling.... nothing is in there. My DMSO gel is empty (I've used it all on her and our old pony mare) , my cool green jelly is MIA... no problem I'll just do a compression wrap... but wait... where are my no bow pillows??? AND my polo wraps??? They too are MIA (looks liek I'll be grabbing some stuff at work monday) CRAP CRAP CRAP. I fish around and FINALLY find a little bit of Liquid DMSO. By the tiem I find it my poor mare has been stanind tied for half an hour and she's begining to look a lil pissed at me. So I talk to her open the DMSO and begin to pour it down her leg and rub in.... now i've done it, I've really pissed her off now. The DMSO is obviously "burning" her b/c she starts shifting around and trying to get out of the crossties. I'm tryign to talk to her and calm her down as she eyebals me with one of her big blues in complete disdain for whatever I am telling her. Sigh poor Bailey I know I know but hinestly I'm tryign to help. As I'm rubbing her leg Soco (the colt) decided he wants to investigate my tack toom..... next thing I know I hear thudding and a big crash, I jump up and lok and Soco has knocked a bunch of stuff over... he also found my jar of cool green jelly :) Anyway I usher him out and get bacl to trying to help my mare. There's not much I can do at this point so I put her in her stall with the baby , feed her a lil grain and bute and tell the parents just keep an eye on her while I'm not here. I get there this morning and she's outside (and her leg is even more swollen.. DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT. It's Sunday , my vet is out of town... what to do??? I call the Vet that works closely with my company and ask his advice... basically the same thing I have been doing is his reply. If it continues to look worse or there is no change in swelling then I need to bring her in. YAY ( that is dripping with sarcasim for those who dotn know me) I'm at a loss. I had hoped we had the lameness issue beat... ugh guess i was wrong. Looks like my lil mare will probably never be sound enough to even really ride again....

For The Love Of God... Parents Educate Your Children!!

So as you may ahve noticed I haven't written a blog in about a week, it's because I have been at the TSSCA (TN State Saddle Club Assoc. ) State Championship Show. Now I've been to this show pretty consistently since 1998 ( granted I had a 4 year hiatus when I had kids.) This year was my first year back to state for the entire weekend since children came along and boy I never knew how ignorant some of the parents and kids who show in this are. Now don't get me wrong there are some damn good lil 12 and under riders out there who know how to properly handle a pony and wear protective gear and do right by there ponies. This year (I suppose since it was my first year in attendance as a parent) I noticed a disturbing amount of kids who had no clue as to the danger they put themselves in. I'm standing up by the arena on Nick nack when I glance to my right and see this little boy on a pony just whipping the shit out the pony and jerking it's reins. This was freaking the pony out hyping him up. Now I can understand maybe getting the pony a lil hyper and ready to run but you don't do that by whipping him till he's ready to jump out of his skin and then jerking the reins until his mouth is foaming and raw. Take him out to the warm up area and trot him in circles short lope him a bit, do something to loosen him up and get his adrenaline flowing but don't basically beat the pony! Needless to say this pony when it came time for him to run was so wired he reared up going in the gate, snatched and jerked around and when the boy finally got him in and headed for the pattern the pony was so rank he veered off course dumped the boy and ran out the gate. The boy didn't have on a helmet but fortunately was fine. the more I watched the more horrified I became . Parents were blatantly ignoring the pony abuse, cussing the kids if they messed a run up or they were beating the ponies themselves. Now this wasn't the case with ALL the ponies and 12 - under riders BUT I did see it alot. Most all the ponies who were jerked on and whipped before their run did horribly. The ones who were properly warmed up and LOVED by their tiny riders did AWESOME and placed.





Now what I'm wondering is 1) how come I never noticed this as I was an active competitor and 2) HOW can a parent allow their child to do that to something clearly bigger than they are? I mean I had a horse that if you so much as jerked her reins in repremand she would fight back. All it takes is one rank pony and one of those kids could be killed. Parents PLEASE PLEASE eductae your children on the proper way to handle a pony, eductae yourselves if your not sure before turning a kid loose on a barrel pony. Some of those lil snots are hard to handle depsite their size. This furthers my belief that riding lessons should be mandatory for ALL who want to ride. I mean honestly in ALL the years I took lessons I NEVER saw an instructor tell us to jerk that pony's mouth or whip him to make him hyper before going into the ring. When I was in 13-17 I had a horse that LOVED to run barrels and he would get himself hyper and ready to run. All I had to do was short lope in small circles about 10 riders before our turn and man he'd go in there like a bullet. Same with the mare I rode after Deal died, short lope some circles before our ride and man she was ready. They both also got loads of love and praise when we ran a clean pattern and even if we DQ'd I'd praise them b/c it wasn't their fault that a barrel went down, it was rider error, meaning it was MY fault. This past weekend a girl pulled her pony into the barrel causing him to shoulder it and knock it down. It was obvious this pony really didn't need the guidance, he would have been fine and run beautiful pattern has the girl not gotten into his mouth. As soon as the pony cleared the ring, her daddy took her off the pony and began whipping him and jerking his head around pulling him in tight circles.... yeah that's a GREAT way to correct the problem idiot. All that is going to do is cause the pony to shoulder the barrel any time pressure is put on his lil mouth.... moron. If you want the pony to run right teach your daughter to ride correctly, better yet instead of your tutoring on the subject , which is all she's obviously had, get her some lessons given by a PROFESSIONAL. I've got some great video of it too. I just have to figure out how to get the video off the camera and onto the computer.... my stupid comp isn't compatible with the camera... go figure. Anyway that's all for my rant about state show... at the moment. I'm sure I'll think something else up.

And people wonder why their horses are foundering

Wow it's started already this morning. my very first customer to come in the store buys some grass seed and straw then happens to notice the logo on my work shirt has a barrel racer above it. Ding ding ding it occurs to him that I am a horse person so he begins to ask me questions. Now this I don't mind as I sad before I'm all about educating people as to proper care of their equine family. Well this guy starts asking me about feeds and hay. So I tell him about the feeds we caryy and hay we supply. He wants to know the price of Alfalfa so I tell him and he says ok I'll take a bale of that and a bag of the mare & foal feed. "Cool" I think he's got a mommma and baby that he's really taking care of. I ask him what kind of horses he's raising and he says "Oh I dont have any babies, this is for my 8 year old pony and her 18 year old pasture mate. My vet reccomended I feed them this twice a day. The pony is foundered and the 18 year old is super skinny" SCREEEEEEECCHHH my helping instinct comes to a hault. WHAT??? Feed a foundered horse a 16% protein 6% crude fat feed AND alfalfa hay... what kind of vet is this????? The guy continues babling on about how his poor pony is lame and he can't understand why she wont get better when the vet reccomended something that is supposed to work. I stop him right there and say ok first off you need a new vet, no vet in their right mind if going to tell you to feed a hay and grain both so high in protein twice a day to a foundered pony. Secondly pull that pony off of the pasture, STOP giving it that feed and hay and get it some help. Call a new vet to come examine the pony , call a farrier to do corrective trimming and keep it up todate on it's trim. I also reccomended to feed it a supplement called Remission which is geared towards horses and ponies that have foundered or are prone to foundering. The all natural ingredients in it help the symptoms to go away and also keep them from having a flare up. I calmly explained that all he was doing was feeding the pony to death "Really? ... I'm killing her by feeding that much????" So I gave him the run down of founder and it's consequences if left unchecked. he looked at me and said "I need the number of a good vet and farrier" So I gave him my vet's number and my farriers number. He bought a tub of the remission and some B-L to help ease her pain until the vet got there. Said he was going home putting her in their round pen and calling Doc right up. I'm atleast thankful he wasn't starving the horse to death......... he was just killing her with love and kindness. And AND he's taking responsibility and FIXING his mistakes. THANK YOU LORD for allowing this man some common sense!!!!!!!! I know in yesterday's blog I ranted about folks not feeding properly, now on the complete opposite end of that are the people who feed too well..... how can there be such extremes????? Don't get me wrong I'd much rather see a horse with a huge belly than none at all, it is after all easier to work fat off than put it on. But why can't peple use some common sense and thought when feeding horses? They need a BALANCED diet too.... well let's see what the rest of the day brings... yall might be having an update!

Let's Talk Supplements

I've noticed that while I carry an enormous selection of equine supplements in my store, not many people seem to purchase any for their beloved equine family member(s). I have a 21 year old qh mare whom I religiously feed her joint supplements to. A rescue pony who gets 2 daily servings of a weight builder supplement and 2 performance horses who get a join supplement (b/c I barrel race and as we all know those quick turns have a tendency to be hard on the joints) and they also get a coat supplement. What gets me about it is people are fanatic about stuffing themselves full of things like calcium , msm , chondrotion and glucosamine yet they don't think that horses might need that to be comfortable too...... I figure it's because people don't really know what supplements are for what , what they do or are used for.. etc etc etc. So With that said lets learn :)

Hoof Supplements
An inadequate diet eventually will make itself felt throughout the horse's body. He'll usually have a dull, staring coat, poor muscle tone, no energy, and the growth of his hooves will be slower than normal, resulting in splitting, cracking, and difficulty holding a shoe.
Hoof supplements usually contain biotin as the main ingredient. Biotin also known as vitamin H or b7 has the chemical formula C10H16N2O3S. is a water-soluble B-complex vitamin which is composed of an ureido (tetrahydroimidizalone) ring fused with a tetrahydothiphene ring. A valeric acid substituent is attached to one of the carbon atoms of the tetrahydrothiophene ring. Biotin is a cofactor in the metabolism of fatty acids and leucine, and in gluconeogenisis. Biotin is also helpful in maintaining a steady blood sugar level. Biotin is often recommended for strengthening hooves and hair coat. As a nutrient, biotin is involved in glucose metabolism, the processes of cell growth and division, and the utilization of other B vitamins such as niacin. And because it contains sulfur, an element needed for the formation of the reinforcing bonds between strands of collagen, biotin plays a role in the health of all connective tissues as well as the hair coat and the hooves. Reliable research supporting the use of biotin to encourage better hoof growth in horses has been slow to surface. Most of the reasoning behind supplementing equine diets with this vitamin comes from studies in other species. In many animals, various types of hoof and/or foot lesions have been treated well by supplementing biotin, therefore it's a reasonable assumption that it could in fact provide the same results in horses, in the past 10 years research has shown this to be correct. In a 1991 study, for example, 42 Lipizzan stallions at the Spanish Riding School in Austria participated in a double-blind examination of biotin supplementation. Over two years, 26 of the stallions received 20 mg of biotin daily in their feed, while another 16 stallions received a placebo. The conditions of the horses' hooves - which had been crumbly, thin, and had a tendency to crack at the weight-bearing border - showed significant improvement after they had been on biotin for nine months. There were fewer hoof cracks, less crumbling of the horn and greater measurable tensile strength. This and other similar studies have at last demonstrated that there's something to this biotin stuff.Feeding biotin at a level that has an impact on hoof growth is not really a matter of correcting a deficiency. In essence, it's taking a nutrient and feeding it at a level beyond normal requirements, at which it really becomes a therapeutic medication. Fortunately, biotin, like all B vitamins, is water soluble, which means it's not stored in the horse's tissues. The body uses what it needs and eliminates the rest in the urine. So there's very little chance of a horse developing biotin toxicity. (This bit of info came from the following website http://www.petplace.com/horses/do-supplements-give-horses-healthier-hooves/page1.aspx)

There are many various brands of biotin based goof supplements
Farnam has
Horseshoers Secret which contains 15mg of biotin per 6oz scoop
Horseshoers Secret Concentrate = 25mg per 2 oz scoop
Vita-min Biotin = 6.25 mg per scoop
H.B. 15 = 15mg per scoop

Select Supplements
Nu-Hoof Accelerator = 20mg per 2 oz scoop
Nu-Hoof Max = 30mg per 2oz scoop

Those are just a few of what I offer in store. There are many many others.

Joint care



The harder a horse works or the older they get, the more stress is placed on their joints. Stands to reason that you would want to protect those joints. Most joint supplements are now a combination of ingredients for optimum joint health and repair, though you can still purchase each ingredient separately. We'll start with the main ingredients

Glucosamine helps to repair damage to tendons , joints and/or cartilage. Glucosamine is a type of sugar charged molecule used in the production of proteoglcycans. Proteoglcyans are essential for the building of joint cartilage as they maintain the amount of water found in cartilage. Cartilage needs to be squishy and absorbent, bouncing back to it's original shape when compressed, or you are left with dry, brittle cartilage in knees and hips that can be painful.


Chondroitin is a natural component of joint cartilage and chondroitin sulfate is believed to block certain enzymes that tend to break down cartilage. While experts disagree on how much chondroitin is actually absorbed when taken orally, preliminary findings suggest that chondroitin supplements are linked to the stabilization and sometimes the functional restoration of certain arthritic joints. Chondrotins and hyalurionic acids are used to "lube" the joints. They help to replace the fluids in between the joints to stop the popping and creaking often heard when a senior horse moves.

MSM
in a nutshell MSM is a great supplement that helps with the joints and also helps to "push" other supplements into the horses system at a quicker rate. B/c there is such vast information on MSM, instead of typing all of it out or copying and pasting from another site and referencing it I'm taking the lazy way out and just posting a link :)
http://www.sheld.com/sehorses.html

Basic Everyday Health Supplements.

There are many supplements used for just overall health. There's Nu-Image which is a skin and coat conditioner , Clovite , Nu-Image dark , Red Cell , Yucca , Healthy Coat by Manna Pro , and many many more. As I said above, we as humans are constantly showing vitamins and minerals into ourselves to make us feel better and perform better. Why not do the same for our horses?

Poptart A Rescue Pony

Poptart is a 52'' bay pony mare who came to me in April of this year. She had been used on pony ride for 3 years and apparently during those 3 years, never fed. She came to me a 1 on the body score chart . She was so pitiful that when laying down she looked like a wooly lil buffalo. The lady I bought her from wanted 300.00 for her and even though she was far from worth it I forked over the cash and loaded the lil snot (at that point called Lacey) in a trailer and took her home. She had a spark in her eyes that said "I'm a fighter and when I get better I PROMISE you I'll be a dang good pony" . That spark and the spunk she showed in the followinf days earned her the name of Poptart. She's be down in the pasture snoozing when I'd go to feed the other horses and I'd shake a bucket of feed and she's pop right up off the ground and beat he big horses to the fence. I'd whistle if they were in the back and she's always be the first one down, never failed. Such spunk. Because I didn't know the Tart's history well I started her out by worming her with Safeguard and then at my vet's recomendation worming her with an additional dose 2 weeks later. We started her off on 2 cups of 10% Supreme Co-Op horse feed twice a day until she had gotten used to eating grain again. All the free choice hay she could get and thanks to my job position a vendor gave me a free 22# tub of high fat supplement called Penwoods Body Builder. She soon was putting on weight and living up to the promise that showed in her eyes. Poptart still has a long way to go to being 100% healthy and fat. As it is now she's probably at about a 3 almost a 4 with 5 being the ideal scale. What irks me about the whole thing is the people who owned her continued to work her on the pony rides even in the condition she wa sin. She has scarring over her back where each vertabrae is from sores caused by the pressure of a saddle and rider on her back when she was literally a walking skeleton. How can someone claim to love their animals and yet allow them to slowly starve to death? Whats really sad is this woman had about 20 other ponies in the same lot at the Tart and ALL of them looked that way, one of them she wnated 800 bucks for..... I hope there have been others that have gone to her and escued some of these ponies. If I can figure out how I'll up[load before and after pictures of Poptart.

First Blog! And I must say this should prove to be fun ;)

So Fugly Horse Of The Day inspired me to start this and lets hope I can do a remotely good job at keeping this blog up. If I can even be half as creative and everything that Fugly is I'll be happy:) So To start off let me give a brief background of myself and it will let yall know why I'm doing this blog.

My name is Heather and I'm 26 years old. I live in TN and manage the equine section of a farm store. I've had horses for numerous years and have made it my life to educate myself and other as to the proper care, handling and stabling of horses. I started a degree at MTSU in Horse Science and unfortunately have yet to finish it, though as of Spring 2009 that will be remedied when I start classes again. As the equine mgr of this store I am employed at I see my fair share of good, honest hard working horse folk and like everything else those good people are often times shadowed by plain old idiots. It's these idiots and the havoc they create for me that gave me need to start a blog. Lord knows my co-workers are tired of hearing me rant to them ;) So my first rant is going to be about wounds and wound care....

Today first thing this morning before we even get the lights turned on to the store a woman comes beating on the door visibly in a panic over something. We get the lights on the registers up and running and unlock the door. As I'm opening up the door shes pushing past me talking about a mile a minute. "I need vet wrap, where is vet wrap??? I need Penicillin and syringes, i need tetanus shots... etc etc " She's talking s fast I barely understand whatshe is wanting me to find her. So I calm this woman down and ask her what exactly is she needing it for. Turns out her horse somehow got hung up in the bars of his stall and ripped from his knee down to the cornet almost down to bone, she claims you can see bone on part of it. they don't know how long he had been hanging there like that but he had been there for a bit (her exact words) b/c he had urinated and thrashed around enough to get cover in manure, the urine and shavings and also be drenched in sweat. So she is wanting all this stuff b/c after they cut the bar and freed this poor horse she's going to Dr it until he's well. Well right there I wanted to stop her, smack the shit out of her and say "Are you FUCKING STUPID?????" First off if a horse has had his leg caught in the METAL bars of a stall why are you coming to the local feed store instead of calling your vet? There is no telling how much internal damage that poor horse has sustained. Secondly how do you think you can doctor a wound as severe as what this gelding has and do a good job of it? It's been open so dirt and germs are more than likely abounding in the wound... penicillin is NOT going to cut it for antibiotics, you'd need something stronger. And did I mention she said the horse still had not gotten up after they cut him loose? Whats sad is I see and hear things like this on a weekly basis. Sometimes even on a daily basis. You know some minor wounds are ok to treat yourself but leave the big nastys to a vet , don't come to the feed store and expect us to tell you how to bandage a gaping wound that probably needs stitches and xrayed. CALL A DVM For those that don't know what the letters mean that means CALL A DAMN VET!!!! Ugh idiots kill me sometimes. It's folks like this woman and many other customers I've had in the last couple of years that make me believe that before you buy a horse you should have to take a test and pass it with flying colors and then be allowed to buy a horse but you have to be checked on periodically for 6 or more months before you are turned loose to go at it alone. And sadly just since that woman came in this mornig I have had a phone call askign what to do if a horse has a huge oozing knot on the side of it's jaw that has not gone away after 2 weeks..... sigh my resposne.... Call the vet and please find the horse a new home