Until recently I have been among the large group of horse owners who fed based on what we
thought our horses needed rather than actually knowing what our horses needed.
I have been fascinated by the effects of good nutrition on the equine body for several years.
It began with one old skinny horse and my observations as we tried different feeds and
supplements to help him gain weight & overall health. Everything just snowballed from
there. I began working with and researching the effects of nutrition on laminitic horses,
horses with cushings, horses with ulcers, horses with EPSM, EPM, IR, Skin allergies, Parasite
problems, undiagnosable hind end lameness, diarrhea, and so on.....
What I learned initially caused me to be careful about the hay I purchased and fed. I knew the
growers, I visited the fields (or my husband Ken did) It was always tested and purchased in
huge lots, so there wouldn't be to many feed changes thur out the year. I understood how to
read my hay analysis, but I didn't pay much attention to many of the figures. I was mainly
concerned with the sugar & starch values.
Now I pay attention to every value on the analysis. It tells me most (but not all) of what i need
to know in terms of what additional nutrition my horse may need added to his or her diet to
round out the hay diet. I was astonished to learn that for all of the money and time spent
trying to feed my horses in the best manner possible, I was sadly falling short in many areas.
I began researching other hay analysis' around the state and around the country, only to find
that all hays, to some degree fall short of what horses need to function on the most minimal
levels. Which of course makes complete sense to me when I think of horses eating as a wild
horse would. Wild ones can cover hundred of miles, they get their food from a variety of
different areas, they can seek out what they need, thereby getting most of the nutrients that
they require. We feed our horses hay grown typically in one field from one region year after
year. And even if we change it up a bit, the hay is still generally lacking in overall "perfect"
nutritional requirements.
This all led me to Dr. Kellon. She has been researching, writing and teaching equine
nutrition for years. What she was teaching totally resounded with the questions that I had. I
began taking classes, learning what all those other figures on my hay analysis meant and
implementing changes to my horses diets accordingly. The results have been amazing.
By making simple changes to their diets, I can now insure that they have their basic protein,
amino acid, vitamin and mineral intake, covered. No more guessing, No more wasted money
on supplements and the best outcome of all, my horses feel better than they have felt in a
long time. Some have had improvements that I find astounding, others have had
improvements in areas, that I didn't even know could be improved.
Services offered:
75.00 for an on site consultation with you and your horse. We will go over their current diet,
and any concerns or goals that you have for your horse. If your horse has existing health
issues we can discuss ways to help alleviate the problem. I will help you formulate a diet that
addresses your horses needs.
50.00 for a detailed mineral balancing anaylsis. If your hay is already tested, I will use that
analysis to compile a mineral balanced diet for your horse. If testing your hay is not a
possibility (boarding situation or freq. hay changes) I can work off of averages for California
hay to come up with a conservative plan to help your horse get back on track.
26.00 For the basic hay analysis from Equi-Analytical.
If you are with in 15 minutes of Sebastopol, there is no travel charge.
The following links are to pages with picture and video diaries that document each horses
progress and changes.
Shadow's Nutrition Page
Lotta's Nutrition Page
Sky's Nutrition Page
Honey's Nutrition Page
Missy's Nutrition Page
Whiskey's Nutrition Page
Anabelle's Nutrition Page
Nellie Rose's Nutrition Page
Dreamers Nutrition Page
Jacksons Nutrition Page
Sugars Nutrition Page
Rosie's Nutrition page
Aries's Nutrition page
Cloud's Nutrition page