Dear Dr. Dan:
I have reviewed your videos and articles. Very interesting information.
Let me see if I understand a couple of things correctly. Do you recommend only lime for pastures and skipping the fertilizer? (no, find a local source of fertilizer. the minerals below may be perfect even. the red cal will possibly help over the long haul because not everything is absorbed as with any product. I do have a big farm in Lexington that affirms this aspect of red cal. says his fields have never been better) I know an organic dairy farmer who has begun adding minerals back to her pastures and hay fields and she has noticed a tremendous difference in her cattle and 2 senior horses.
Something I want to look into for my own pasture for my Spanish Mustang. Her pasture is fescue with some orchard, clover, and meadow grass. We have not put fertilizer out for the past 3 years nor lime. (it not too rich it poisons the ground in my opinion. see the article on salt and minerals, page 21 of the magazine and the one called perfect pastures) I had heard it makes the grass too rich for her. As she would graze more and more her neck would become slightly cresty.
My vet told me to limit her grazing. Prior to her tendon tear, she was on 1 hour of grazing due to this. I would like to get my horse out on grass more and more as her siblings are at the ranch out in Wyoming (24/7). How can I do this? get her on all our feeding program, including the red cal.. perfect pastures article will help explain why
I have also been feeding her 1/4 cup oats with Vita Flex Accel (1 ounce) and Master Hoof Blend (1 ounce) with canola oil. (canola is terrible in my opinion . it is from genetically modified rape seed and flax goes rancid to easily) Due to the tendon issues and muscle wasting along her back over the past couple of years, (I hope you will consider our Joint Check…. see the magazine about it.. it has so much more than just "joint ingredients" , it actually has all the ingredients from health check too …and ….our H2oil . it already has coconut oil.. but I actually get better results over all from our Weight Check oil instead of our H2oil.. it is GMO free and crude unrefined with all the goodie still in and not filtered out. H2OIl is geat but again just better results from the weight Check oil)
I recently switched her to Pennfield All Stage supplement, coconut oil, along with the same amount of oats. She continues to get 10 lbs. of fescue/orchard mix hay, and with her injury, hand grazing for 1/2 hour a day. I also switched her to a loose mineral/salt supplement which I obtained from an organic farmer which is supposed to be from Utah. (there is nothing like our red cal.. sorry)
I am a little concerned about the supplement, Pennfield, because it is 26% protein. My vet says the extra protein may help with the muscle and tendon issues, but the amount worries me and I fear foundering my horse. What do you think?
(I wouldn’t worry at all about this because there is so little supplement given daily even a 100% wouldn’t do damage OR help! protein should come from hay, pasture or feed. the protein content of a supplement has NO consequence.. unless of course you are giving pounds of it daily. I would consider our Just Add Oats anyway instead of other vitamins)
Also, I wanted to know your opinion on annual vaccinations for the horse. What alternatives are there?
I don’t vaccinate for anything under any circumstances unless required by law. there are no alternatives except healthy horses. keep the bugs off and keep them healthy is the best. our horses are never any sicker than anyones, we show, we have sallions for breeding we have mares coming and going we travel the country and again ours dont get sick anymore than anyone elses. ours have never ever ever been vaccinated. all ages included.
Thanks for all you do!
Sheila
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Referenced:
http://www.thenaturalvet.net/
Delaware, Ohio