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The Do’s & Don’ts of Laminitis (Part 3)

The previous article, “The Do’s & Don’ts of Laminitis (Part 2),” by Marijke van de Water, Equine Health & Nutrition Specialist, Homeopathic Practitioner, and Medical Intuitive & Healer, explored a few “do’s and don’ts” for ensuring the optimal health of a laminitic horse. See below for part 3 of this article, which outlines a few more “do’s” when caring for a laminitic horse.

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The Do’s

Do treat horses for a leaky gut if present – hindgut bacteria, acids and toxins are a major cause of laminitis. Use Pro-Colon probiotics, Pro-Dygest, Para+Plus and/or Vitamin B12.

Do treat horses for parasites – parasitic toxins exacerbate hoof inflammation and/or laminitis.

Do ensure a proper barefoot trim with good hoof mechanism. Note: a pasture trim is not a barefoot trim. A pasture trim is done to nail a shoe on, a barefoot trim is done to maximize proper hoof growth and performance. Educate yourself on different trimming methods.

Do also educate yourself on sub-clinical laminitis – this is a type of laminitis that shows no clinical signs of separation, digital pulse or hoof tenderness. It is a common cause of hoof soreness and is absolutely under-diagnosed!

Do know that the most common hoof nutrient deficiencies are selenium, silica and sulphur – all minerals which strengthen hoof wall, lamina and joint capsules.

Do also know that rotated coffin bones will re-rotate back into position if the horse is fed an appropriate diet with the right supplements and is trimmed with a professional barefoot trim. Marijke has guided hundreds of laminitic horses in varying stages to 100% soundness – many of these horses were considered untreatable.

Do use boots and/or casts to relieve pain and encourage movement in the acute stages.

Do practice prevention – good food, good trims, good exercise!

Do read Healing Horses Their Way for an extensive resource of information on laminitis…and much more.

Happy Hooves, Happy Horses!


More from Marijke van de Water:
Website: http://www.rivasremedies.com
Twitter: @rivasremedies
Facebook: facebook.com/rivasremedies1

Riva’s Remedies and Marijke van de Water: Success Story

As you can tell – we love Riva’s Remedies & Marijke van de Water! The work she does is amazing and she is an overflowing resource for healing horses naturally or looking at untraditional ways to improve the quality of our equine friends.

A great testimonial….

“After being told my horse Silver had Degenerate Suspensory Ligaments Disease, known as DSLD and couldn’t be ridden anymore I was told to just put him out to pasture and give him medications when needed. I was devastated! 

Then I heard about Marijke from Riva’s Remedies through a friend as well as the osteopath and after having so many different diagnoses regarding his condition I decided to contact her. I explained to her that Silver was very unhappy as he was no longer rideable, he had trouble moving off after laying down for a period of time and his breathing was heavy at times. So I talked to Marijke and sent her a video. In a few days she contacted me with a new health program. She identified the problem as neurological caused by a toxic level of arsenic.She also said his protein levels were too low affecting the strength of his muscles, tendons and ligaments. 

Silver was started on Equi-Cleanse, Vitamin C and homeopathic phosphorus. Within two weeks he started to improve. I was amazed at how much more alert he was, how much better he was moving and how his breathing had improved.
Today, Silver is off all of his supplements and is doing great. We are doing clinics with Josh Nicol who is showing me how to work all of his positive muscles so I can ride him this summer. Great stuff!

A big Thank You to Marijke and her staff for all you’ve done and for getting the supplements to me so promptly. Keep up the good work…and Marijke, you truly do have a gift for healing horses.”

Helen & Silver

 

Losing Archie to Carelessness and Convenia

In response to my Feature Article this month in the Unbridling Your Brilliance newsletter, Coming Heart to Heart with Grief, Peggy emailed me to tell me about a heartfelt article she wrote that appeared in the latest issue of Pet Connection. Peggy lost a beloved four-legged member of her family in 2012 to a toxic drug called “Convenia”. Read on for Peggy’s experience, and do share your own experience with grief in the comments section below. Click on the image below to read through the PDF version of her article:

Pet Connection_Article by Peggy Horman_Page_1

Does your horse trust you (Part 2 of 2)

Improving Your Horse’s Balance
As a prey animal, your horse will feel uncomfortable unless he knows that he can move quickly and efficiently to escape from predators, regardless of the fact that he no longer lives in the wild. You can help your horse feel safe by helping his body stay supple and balanced over all four feet. For instance, take the time to correct your horse when he tries to push you around while you are on the ground, or when he leans around a corner under saddle. The indications may be subtle, but these small moments of being off balance can actually cause your horse to feel uncomfortable and unsafe. You can help your horse feel safe and secure with proper ground work and exercises under saddle that teach him to use his body in the balanced way. Eventually, your horse will begin to associate these good feelings with you, and will be well on his way to trusting you.

Controlling the Fight or Flight Instinct
Horses are easily frightened. If your horse becomes frightened and you allow his fear to escalate unchecked, he can easily become a danger to himself or others. A horse’s natural fear response is to raise his head, drop his back, and tense his muscles in preparation for flight. In a natural setting, he would then run until he was out of danger, and then relax and resume grazing. You can actually use the last step of this instinctive sequence to diffuse your horse’s fear response. When your horse becomes fearful, simply encourage him to lower his head. When a horse lowers his head and assumes the grazing posture, he automatically relaxes. With practice, you can teach your horse to lower his head on cue. More importantly, your horse will begin to associate you with this feeling of relaxation, another piece in the foundation of trust that you want to build with your horse.

The Foundation of Trust 
Training and riding skills are very important in working with horses, but at the end of the day nothing is more important than trust. It’s important to spend time with your horse and get to know the different facets of his personality. However, time alone will not create trust. Unless you establish and continuously establish your position as leader, protector, and comforter, the time you spend with your horse will not necessarily result in trust. Ultimately, nothing is more important to the relationship than how your horse feels when he is with you.

About the Author

Madalyn Ward, DVM, owns Bear Creek Veterinary Clinic in Austin, Texas. She is certified in Veterinary Homeopathy and Equine Osteopathy. Memberships include American Veterinary Medical Association, American Association of Equine Practitioners, American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, Texas Veterinay Medical Association and the Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy. She has authored several books and publishes the monthly newsletter, “Holistic Horsekeeping.”

When Colic is not Colic – Part 2

A mare with painful ovary can present like colic. The cramping pain can cause her to paw the ground and move painfully. Most of the time a mare will still eat if the food is brought to her. Carefully palpating her flank region will tell you that she has pain in an ovary. Ask yourself if your mare has been in heat or is due to come in. Ovary pain can respond well to homeopathic remedies or Banamine but you will also want to evaluate her management program to help balance her hormones. I like RelaxHer or Relax Blend (as a gentle herbal mix to balance hormones. Some mares will need a deeper approach such as acupuncture or a constitutional homeopathic plan.

We don’t often think of kidney stones in horses but they do get them. A kidney stone can present like colic. The horse will paw and may even get down and roll. Ask yourself if your horse has shown any signs of difficult urination. Maybe he has needed to stop and urinate more frequently than normal or has stretched out and strained for some time before his urine passed. Swelling over the lower back on one or both sides of the spine is a sign of kidney congestion. If your horse has a stone it can be very painful when this area is palpated. If possible, try to get a sample of his urine for evaluation. An ultrasound exam will help rule out a kidney stone.

Musculo skeletal pain can present like colic. Tying up is one example, but this usually occurs after riding. A severe stone bruise, hoof abscess or arthritic joint can cause enough pain to affect your horse’s appetite and willingness to move. Ask yourself if your horse has been worked on rocky ground or if the weather has changed abruptly to cause a flare up in arthritis. Another more ominous musculo skeletal condition to consider is laminitis. Acute laminitis can present like colic. Ask yourself if your horse has had access to lush
green grass or some high protein food in the pasture such as acorns or mesquite beans. Don’t panic if you think it is laminitis. Laminitis can respond quickly to good holistic care. Check out our Laminitis, Cushings and Insulin Resistance e book for a plan on how to avoid or manage these conditions.

So remember what looks like colic is not always colic. Be prepared to explore what other conditions could be happening with your horse so you don’t waste any time or energy with an incorrect diagnosis. Remember a horse on a holistic management program is much less likely to develop digestive problems. Holistic Horsekeeping is a handbook on holistic care and a good place to start if you are wanting a holistic management plan for your horse.

(Excerpt from the Holistic Horsekeeping Newsletter – November 2012)

When Colic is not Colic – Part 1

You walk in to your horse’s pen with his evening feed and instead of coming to you he stands off in the corner and paws the ground. For most of us this creates an immediate fear reaction. Oh my God, my horse has colic. But then, after taking a deep breath, you regroup. Your horse is on a holistic management program, he gets daily prebiotics and he lives a natural lifestyle. He is not likely to colic under these conditions. Sure enough you check and he has good gut sounds and normal manure in the pen. So what else could his symptoms be telling you?

Before you launch into your homeopathic colic remedies or reach for the Banamine, you want to make sure you are really treating colic. There are other possibilities to consider. Possible conditions that present like colic:

  • Respiratory Infection
  • Ovary pain
  • Kidney pain
  • Musculo-skeletal pain

Respiratory infection can cause your horse to have a sore throat and fever that will keep him from eating. A quick check of his temperature will help rule this out. Also ask yourself if he has been around any new horses that could have exposed him to infection. A horse with flu symptoms can feel sore all over and be reluctant to move around.

(Excerpt from the Holistic Horsekeeping Newsletter – November 2012)

The Importance of Fibre and Probiotics in Horses – Part 2

Part 2 of The Importance of Fibre and Probiotics in Horses continues the discussion on fibre and focusses on probiotics and their role in assisting the control of Equine Metabolic Syndrome, insulin resistance and other abnormalities. (www.rivasremedies.com)

The Importance of Fibre and Probiotics in Horses – Part I

Horses get 75 – 80 % of their energy from fibre. Probiotics help with digestion and immunity to keep your horse healthy. Join Marijke van de Water from Riva’s Remedies and watch this 2 part video on the Importance of Fibre and Probiotics in horses.

Yoga – not just for humans! (Part 2)

Part 2 of our Yoga – not just for humans series

By Linda Guanti, CYI (www.yogawithhorses.com)

An easy addition to your daily routine

Now you might be thinking the same thing I was. How can someone possibly have enough time to stretch themselves, the horse and groom and ride and do barn chores and…? Yes, some details started to get left out, but some started to combine!

Is it time to pick the horse’s hoof out? Why not throw in a forward bend? That makes four forward bends if you do it for each hoof. How about brushing the legs? Why not side lunge to the front, then to the back. That’s two of each when you go to each side of the horse. Girth all done up? Now it is time to stretch the horse’s leg forward. It’s a stretch in addition to smoothing the skin under the girth area. Your horse deserves a treat? Make them stretch their neck and head to each side to reach it, or down to their chest or between their front legs before you give the treat to them. Not only do they stretch, but they learn not to pester for treats. They don’t get the treat directly from the pocket. After coaxing my horse with treats to teach him to bow he now will automatically start to bow when he knows I have a treat.

The horse-human yoga partnership

People saw what I was doing and wanted to learn. With the encouragement and support of a wonderful Master Coach, Linda-Ann Bowling, I started to teach what I love.

I combine fundamental yoga postures with fundamental horse stretches, which all together provide a fabulous whole body stretch and balance.

Depending on the horse and human participant some of the yoga poses can be combined, and some alternate between the human doing their pose and then helping the horse do their pose. Some poses use the horse for support or for a visual aid for the experience. The horses almost always join in on the experience before we even ask them to. As the humans start their yoga I have seen the horses stretch their own legs out, arch and stretch their backs, or go for a roll. During one session one of the horses leaned right back into a downward dog and held it while we all stared in awe. I had shown horses how to do that stretch but had never seen one do it freely on their own!

Just the presence of a horse can sometimes take a human to a different level in their yoga. I guide humans through chair yoga sessions where a horse is present, loose to wander in the enclosed area. The horse’s reaction to us and what we are doing is always interesting. It can become quite a spiritual experience. Yoga in a chair helps people understand that yoga can be done anywhere. We can incorporate it into our lives easier then we might have thought. Wouldn’t that be nice for our health? For horse owners they can take that chair yoga into the saddle and have some fun while seated on their horses (or on a hay bale!).

There are different people doing different things with yoga and horses out there. I believe it is all wonderful. If you get a chance give it a try and experience it for yourself….for your sake and the horse’s.

Yoga – not just for humans! (Part 1)

This article appeared in the Equine Wellness Magazine and is a very good description of the amazing benefits of Yoga, not just for yourself but even your horses!

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Yoga – not just for humans!

By Linda Guanti – CYI

“Yoga with horses?” “What’s that?” “How is that possible?” This is what I often hear when people discover what I do. I realize it may be difficult to comprehend at first but once you get a glimpse of what yoga with horses is all about, it actually makes a whole lot of sense. If you can appreciate the need and benefits of yoga for humans then you can translate the same to the horse.

What’s good for you can be good for your horse

The practice of yoga reconnects you with your body. You essentially teach (or re-teach) yourself where your body is and how to move it in the strongest and most balanced way with the least amount of stress. You also stretch, strengthen and tone. Anything with a body is therefore a yogi. Body awareness is fundamental to preventing injury and chronic pain. For riders, knowing how you are using your body can help you realize that sometimes it is your body that is preventing your horse from performing something you are asking!

Yoga helped me when I was seeking relief from a chronic back issue caused by a serious injury in my past. Diligently combining yoga with massage therapy and physiotherapy, the symptoms became less severe and reoccurred less often. It was undeniable. The massage therapy and physiotherapy are now only used on an as needed basis. The yoga remains.

Without such chronic back issues my riding abilities and stamina improved and thus the athletic demands on my horse did. My ongoing concern for his well-being made me wonder what I could do to help his body with his physical stresses. I realized that if yoga was so good for me it would also be good for my horse.

Linda Guanti (www.yogawithhorses.com) is a certified yoga instructor based out of Pemberton, BC. She discovered yoga after an injury left her with chronic health issues, affecting her ability to ride. Yoga changed her life and she now utilizes it to help other riders, and stretch their horses too!