Staff Introduction – Kathy

[Lancette]

A fellow Endurance rider, awesome!

[KayTeeDid]

Yes, Unfortunately I lost my horse a few years ago. I’d love to get back yo it but I need to find the right horse.

[LizLundEquestrian]

Hi @KayTeeDid !! I see you’re a breeder. Do you find the grain free/forage based diet is “enough” for the broodmares? I have other breeders and vets telling me I need to feed a broodmare type feed like Growth. Would love to hear your thoughts and experiences!

[KayTeeDid]

Hi Liz, Yes Geoff and I had a breeding farm in NY many years ago. Back then when we had broodmares we basically fed the routine oats & sweet feed combo. We always added Calf Manna or soybean meal to our mares and growing horses. Geoff can address this better but we did have issues with foals growing too fast. I have no experience with Growth but would check the ingredients before I fed it. Most vets only repeat what they hear from the feed companies so check the feed contents yourself. I’m sure Geoff (DocT) can answer this question better.

[Doc-t]

Kathy and I knew of the research and the researchers doing the growth studies at Cornell. They were actively working on the cause of developmental orthopedic diseases of foals (DOD). The bottom line is that foals will achieve their genetic potential for growth but pushing it to occur faster (or increasing their size) only led to DOD. Restricting energy intake prevented DOD while achieving maximum growth over time.

The ingredients of all horse feeds are based around adding fillers (byproducts) and unnecessary “nutrients.” Reading the old text books on feeding horses, the way feeds are formulated is based on the old science. Any new science is agenda driven. Just remember, Secretariat was fed the “old” way and did pretty well with no one coming close since then. The lack of protein plus the damage from inflammatory ingredients have taken their toll on modern horses. While each horse is an individual and needs to be fed as an individual, gut inflammation and lack of protein affects them all.

[AngelaM]

Is it fair to say that much of the OCD seen in young horses that are competed early in life is epigenetically induced by feeding extruded grains?

[Doc-t]

I think that most DOD diseases including osteochondrosis dessecans (OCD) develop in utero or early after birth in horses overfed with feed in excess of their daily needs. This leads to rapid growth of the bones from which OCD, epiphysitis and contracted tendons occur. These are secondary to the over feeding which causes the genetic expression (epigenetics) of the DOD’s from breeding horses to grow rapidly and bigger. Most competitive horses are bred to become bigger and faster and when fed to achieve this goal, the DOD lesions materialize.

My mentor at Cornell, Dr Hintz, told me around 1990 that Campbell’s soup had bred chickens to grow bigger and faster for more production of chicken soup. However they had created a problem of OCD that they could not breed out of their chicken lines.

I don’t think extruding the grains is helping but I wouldn’t look at the extruding process as the cause. We saw OCD in foals long before the availability of extruded grains.

I also think that OCD lesions occur in utero or soon after birth up to 36 months of age. The fact that they are seen in young competitive horses belies the fact that the lesions were there well before they became apparent. This is true for the small OCD lesions in areas of bones not within the normal range of motion. However with increased work these lesions become aggravated and subsequently become evident as a lameness and then discovered with diagnostics. The lesions may well have been there from birth.

[Kayce]

This membership site rocks. Thanks for the work you do to make things happen KayTeeDid. My heart goes out to you for the loss of your horse. Mine just turned 32, and I just brought her home to live with us and our other horse. I am concerned about the stress from the move for both horses, and trying to boost their resilience. Any insights are appreciated.

Glad to be here and thanks again.

[KayTeeDid]

Sorry I missed this comment @Kayce –

Stress can be invisible to those not looking for it. Some of the simple things we have found are things like altered appetite, change in behavior or stable patterns, and physiologic things like body temperature, hoof heat, digital pulse, sweating, and overall changes in personality – and these are often very subtle.

Basic attention to water, cooling fans in the summer or warmth in the winter, ability to get away from other horses in tight situations, cleanliness of sleeping areas, ventilation, and all other good husbandry topics along with some quiet time with you without pressure. Then, when they are asking, add to their life the obligations of living with you, such as riding, pulling the plow, racing, showing, etc.

The last thing we feel is very important to understand is that all horses include their humans in their herd. During stress, we need to take the leadership position in a kind, patient, and benevolent way giving the disoriented and stressed horse some structure to their life and above all else, security.

Boosting their resilience is all in feeding them only forage and not feeding inflammatory ingredients – as you already know. So reducing cortisol production through the environment (you and the barn/farm) is the other remaining factor we have control over.

I had Doc T in on this answer and he feels this will be a great point for the next Rounds With Doc T. And thanks for the comment about the website. We have more ideas coming throughout the remaining year. Thank you for your support!

[Kayce]

Here is a Sera before-move video. I note your feeding program in this YouTube video write up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMsyop7OANw (maybe turn volume down…)