The Mistake
This year I'm going to turn Cruz Bay, my three-quarters Thoroughbred gelding, into a calm horse. I only have myself to blame for my ten year old's problem: he’s terrified of other horses in the warm-up arena at shows.
The year 2007 was a wonderfully successful dressage season for us. We won all our local schooling shows at Training Level, and when I moved up to First Level we won those classes, too.
Then I made a huge mistake in 2008 by taking him to a massive licensed show at the New Jersey Horse Park for our first competition of the season. I didn’t realize that all dressage levels - including Grand Prix - warm up together in one not-so-large ring.
Cruz became anxious about the high-stepping horse traffic as soon as I entered that arena.
Within seconds he was pinned against the boundary fence with a huge black horse cantering diagonally towards him in half-pass. He panicked and reared vertically. I stayed on for the rear, but he landed with such a thud that I was unseated and lifted up into the air. I fell with a thump onto the ground.
Upshot: me hobbling around with two canes, terrified of Cruz, and Cruz with a deep phobia of other horses.
In the last three years I’ve annually - with a lot of hard work - managed to persuade him that the other horses in the warm-up are not out to get him. He has never had a horse actually run into him, yet that seems not to impress him.
Every year something happens to upset him in the warm-up. Another horse acts up or a loud trailer/car drives by and he becomes a basket case again.
The Mission
So, this year will be devoted to getting Cruz over his anxiety. Until I get past this stumbling block, we shan’t be able to compete at the higher levels in licensed shows.
The First Strategy - Change of Feed
Cruz has been on Ultium for the last three years, but now I was looking for something to calm him down while still providing the energy and nutrients he needs.
After researching the internet and reading horse owners’ feedback on various feeds, I became interested in an Australian product called CoolStance
It is made from coconut, and is low on non-structural carbohydrates (NSC). High NSC diets increase the horse’s blood glucose levels which in turn increase the horse’s blood insulin levels. One of the many negative effects of this is hyperactivity.
In a low NSC diet, the horse’s necessary calories have to come from fat and fiber. CoolStance is ‘packed with ‘cool’ energy from coconut oil and fibre from copra meal.’ Online you will find some bad press about copra, but the makers of CoolStance are fastidious about their preparation process.
CoolStance has been fed to horses for over 20 years. The less than 2% starch doesn’t cause hot or fizzy behavior, and the coconut oil is easily digested and absorbed by the horse.
According to the information from http://stanceequine.com ‘CoolStance and hay will provide the required amounts of minerals and vitamins’ for most horses.
I contacted the only person selling this feed on the east coast, Paul Christy, at paul@stanceglobal.com (Tel: 610-247-7584). He visited me from his home in Pennsylvania and left three bags of CoolStance for me to try. I immediately started feeding Cruz with it.
Here are some testimonials
P.S. No, I’m not a paid representative: I’m simply trying out a new feed for my hot horse!
Next: Working to desensitize Cruz, and the results of the new feed
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Horse Skin Fungus - A Fast Cure
If Snowmaggedon rapidly followed by The Ultimate Blizzard of 2010 hadn't hit my corner of Maryland, I might have noticed the terrible yet hidden condition of the mare's tail earlier.
I feel awful about not noticing the problem sooner. The first indication of anything amiss was a small tangle at the base of Gigi's tail. It proved to be a piece of skin. This was not good news, although her tail looked fine - until closer inspection.
Underneath her long and bushy top bristles, the skin on the middle third of her tail bone was sloughing off in big scaly chunks, like a shedding snake. It was horrifying! I hadn't ever seen her rub her tail nor were there any broken hairs to indicate that she had. She let me touch the area without flinching. It didn't seem to bother her when I gently teased the dead skin off and handfuls of hair come out with it. I decided instead to clean the area off with betadine solution.
In the interests of honesty I rang the friend who had left her horse to my tender care and is very proud of her mare's tail. I was worried that the condition would spead and Gigi's entire tail would fall out. Luckily her owner was great about it and agreed that I should contact the vet.
Three feet of snow made the path down to my barn impassable by vehicle. The vet would not have been able to drive here to check Gigi: so she and I consulted over the phone. She determined that it was a fungus, and suggested I wash Gigi's tail in Selsun Blue.
Since the temperatures were in the teens and low 20s I didn't think Gigi would be keen to have me wash her tail, especially as I've had to shut off the hot water in the barn for now (long story). However, I went to the store to buy the shampoo.
I noticed there were two types: one had sulphur in it, the other had zinc. Just the day before I'd bought a product at my local feed merchant which contained both ingredients as well as mineral oil. It advertises itself as 'the single solution for' a host of horse fungal problems. I decided to try that first. All I had to do was wash off the betadine and apply the new solution daily.
Within two days the problem was already clearing up. The mineral oil was softening the dead skin and causing it to slide down the tail in smaller pieces instead of big chunks, without taking nearly so many hairs with it. What a relief!
Only six days into the treatment healthy pink skin is forming and new hairs are already growing. I'm hopeful that by the time my friend visits us on her annual trip from Florida to New Jersey, Gigi will have a full tail again.
I cannot recommend this product highly enough. It's called Shapley's Original M-T-G (Mane Tail Groom). Its other uses are mane and tail detangling and conditioning. It's not expensive - I paid $12.99 for a 32 fluid ounce bottle. I thoroughly checked my geldings for fungus and one of them had a tiny itchy patch on the top of his tail which cleared after one application.
If your horse gets fungus, rain rot, girth itch, scratches, sweet itch or dry skin M-T-G is the product for you! Check out www.shapleys.com if you're interested. And no, I have absolutely no connection with the company - I'm just grateful it exists.
You may also find my article on ringworm useful. Life is never dull around horses - I discovered the hard way that humans can get ringworm, too.
I feel awful about not noticing the problem sooner. The first indication of anything amiss was a small tangle at the base of Gigi's tail. It proved to be a piece of skin. This was not good news, although her tail looked fine - until closer inspection.
Underneath her long and bushy top bristles, the skin on the middle third of her tail bone was sloughing off in big scaly chunks, like a shedding snake. It was horrifying! I hadn't ever seen her rub her tail nor were there any broken hairs to indicate that she had. She let me touch the area without flinching. It didn't seem to bother her when I gently teased the dead skin off and handfuls of hair come out with it. I decided instead to clean the area off with betadine solution.
In the interests of honesty I rang the friend who had left her horse to my tender care and is very proud of her mare's tail. I was worried that the condition would spead and Gigi's entire tail would fall out. Luckily her owner was great about it and agreed that I should contact the vet.
Three feet of snow made the path down to my barn impassable by vehicle. The vet would not have been able to drive here to check Gigi: so she and I consulted over the phone. She determined that it was a fungus, and suggested I wash Gigi's tail in Selsun Blue.
Since the temperatures were in the teens and low 20s I didn't think Gigi would be keen to have me wash her tail, especially as I've had to shut off the hot water in the barn for now (long story). However, I went to the store to buy the shampoo.
I noticed there were two types: one had sulphur in it, the other had zinc. Just the day before I'd bought a product at my local feed merchant which contained both ingredients as well as mineral oil. It advertises itself as 'the single solution for' a host of horse fungal problems. I decided to try that first. All I had to do was wash off the betadine and apply the new solution daily.
Within two days the problem was already clearing up. The mineral oil was softening the dead skin and causing it to slide down the tail in smaller pieces instead of big chunks, without taking nearly so many hairs with it. What a relief!
Only six days into the treatment healthy pink skin is forming and new hairs are already growing. I'm hopeful that by the time my friend visits us on her annual trip from Florida to New Jersey, Gigi will have a full tail again.
I cannot recommend this product highly enough. It's called Shapley's Original M-T-G (Mane Tail Groom). Its other uses are mane and tail detangling and conditioning. It's not expensive - I paid $12.99 for a 32 fluid ounce bottle. I thoroughly checked my geldings for fungus and one of them had a tiny itchy patch on the top of his tail which cleared after one application.
If your horse gets fungus, rain rot, girth itch, scratches, sweet itch or dry skin M-T-G is the product for you! Check out www.shapleys.com if you're interested. And no, I have absolutely no connection with the company - I'm just grateful it exists.
You may also find my article on ringworm useful. Life is never dull around horses - I discovered the hard way that humans can get ringworm, too.
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