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 always been fascinated by the effects of good nutrition on the equine body. 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) Our hay 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 most 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 a detailed mineral balancing analysis*. 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 use hay test averages for California hay to come up with a conservative plan to help your horse get back on track.
125.00 for an on site consultation with you and your horse + detailed mineral balancing. 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.
26.00 For the basic hay analysis from Equi-Analytical. If you want to test your hay to see exactly what the make up, I am happy to take a sample and send it to Equi-Analytical for testing.
If you are with in 15 minutes of Sebastopol, there is no travel charge.
*The mineral balancing document will outline your horses current diet, so you can easily see where there are deficiencies as well as overages. I will then work with you on compiling a diet that meets all requirements and takes in to consideration your horses life style, health challenges and personality.
The following links are to pages with picture and video diaries that document each horses progress and changes.