To all members – I need some feedback as soon as you can

[Kathy]

I find it a little confusing that every thing I link on I get a screen with a long list of “recent replies” instead of a list of thread titles or the message I’m opening. It would be more intuitive for me if those recent replies were at the bottom of the page or had there own page or at least were confined to only recent replies on the forum I’m using.

I’m viewing on my iPhone and it’s a LOT of scrolling to go through that long list on every click before I can get down to the content I want to view.

[Doc-t]

Matt thought that too. We will work on that. Thanks. Anything else please add.

[Mary]

Hi Doc-T I am a little bit overwhealmed (but probably it is because I have some difficulties about the language too) I check the site daily. I go first to the forums but I find difficult to understand if there are some news discussion or questions.

[Doc-t]

Me too. I am working on a protocol or some widgets to alert us to new replies and discussions.

[Doc-t]

I updated the activity feed to alert members when a new discussion is made or a reply to a discussion has been made. This way, if you check your activity feed you will see all new discussions and replies.

If you want to see anything added on the site from members you will need to connect with them first. The more connections then the more activity seen.

[Mary]

How to connect please?

[Doc-t]

Find the member you want to connect with in the drop down menu located under your name in the upper right corner on a computer (or in the hamburger menu on a phone). Find “All members” (at the bottom) and select that. Then find the member you want to connect with. Hover over the silhouette of a human with a + sign under their profile image. A pop up will say “connect” so press that icon. A request will be sent to which the member will either accept or decline.

You and I are already connected.

You will see all activity of the connected member in your feed after you are connected and they will also see your entries. An alternative is to follow someone where you will also see their entries in your feed but they will not see yours.

[Mary]

Perfect! Thank you

[Lei]

What are your first impressions? Overwhelmed by the design at first. Disappointed that why I joined at this moment had not been covered (looking for thoughts on scratches, the weather here won’t let my horse get dry so looking for some insight)
Describe your feelings with some detail of examples (intimidation, comfort, overwhelm, joy, confusion, expectations met, etc). Seems a bit empty here at the moment. Hope it picks up.

[Doc-t]

Hi Lei – thanks for joining this movement to help horse owners find the missing horse owner’s manual. You might not realize this but this membership site is only 2 weeks old! We did a soft launch to work out the kinks (and there were many) and a major launch is coming the end of this month. Think of it this way – you are one of the first to come to the party and the band is only warming up and the beer isn’t cold yet. It is where the people wonder if this is really going to be a good investment of their time. Looking for fancy hors d’oeuvres you find only potato chips. I get it.

However, as the host I know where this party (the horse’s advocate movement) is going to be soon. I have outlined almost 700 topics of which many, including scratches, need additional material. I have asked for, and you have responded to, requests for topics to be worked on. My goal is adding material to 2 topics per week. By Sunday I will add to scratches and narcolepsy and how to fix a leaking hydrant.

I also have an interesting webcast on Zoom this Sunday discussing insulin resistance and aerobic exercise. The link will be here shortly and it is for members only.

For me, this isn’t a race to become the biggest site for information about horses without an agenda. I rather want to build a safe and effective site to help as many horses as possible in my lifetime even if it takes years to do it. Having members like you to encourage me is an essential part and I am grateful.

With a small amount of time spent here each day checking your activity feed (just as you would on Facebook), this site will soon become easy to get around. I might update the tour videos to reflect this.

In the meantime, have you ever wondered why only 1 or 2 horses in a herd get scratches while the others in the same environment don’t? That’s because scratches is a sign of an immune suppression. The topical treatments won’t work until the underlying immune system is improved. A parasite load is the most common issue (see the “related materials” tab on this page: https://www.thehorsesadvocate.com/horse-internal-parasites/). Another contributing factor is gut inflammation from feeding grain plus protein deficiency (the immune system is almost all proteins).

Thanks again for your thoughts. Stick around as this site will only improve with time. Doc T

Internal Parasites ( Moved to community.thehorsesadvocate.com )

[Lei]

Can’t find the zoom link so I’m behind the power curve Hopefully can find it another day! FYI horse has been on diet for year and a half and has been regularly dewormed. Thanks for having me here.

[Matt-Support]

Hey Lei I am sorry you missed it but I will be posting all of these meetings in the “Events and Announcements” forum.  This meeting was in the discussion “February Rounds with Doc T. “Aerobic exercise and it’s role in insulin…”

I am also trying to post events and announcements to my news feed and we should send out at least 1 email to register before the meeting. If you did register, zoom should automatically send out a reminder email and the join link when the zoom meeting starts.

I should have the replay up for all members shortly and will add it to that same discussion linked above 😀

[Doc-t]

You said “regularly dewormed.” Everyone has a different description of what “regular” is and for many horses, it may not be enough. I often ask this question. How often did your parents deworm you? Ivermectin and Strongid are approved for use in humans so did your parents use them on you?

The answer lies in the infection rate. How dd you control parasites in your family? Many techniques were used including: septic system away from the dining room, washing hands, using knives and forks, toilet paper – all kept our dirty fingers away from our mouths. This is true parasite control.

Is the environment where your horse eats free of all manure? Are you picking up manure from the paddock? If you are then deworming using a fecal report may work well. If you are not then deworming once a week for 3 weeks may get parasites under control followed by more frequent deworming. With increased deworming comes an increased chance of resistance.

For scratches, once a week for 3 weeks with ivermectin usually eliminates the root cause. I’ll write this up this week. My prep for yesterday’s meeting took up all of my time. The recording of that is now up in the events forum in the February Rounds discussion. Thanks for your patience and sorry you missed the meeting. Hang in there as we ALL learn how to get around this site. After a bit of time it will become easier – I promise. Doc T

[Lei]

So I have done the deworming protocol and ran two fecal checks which both came clear. Still have some scratches showing up. Thoughts?

[Doc-t]

I just saw a case of non-healing scratches in a 30 year old who also has DSLD of the front limbs (where the fetlock drops to the ground), top line muscle loss, EOTRH (losing the incisor teeth) and Cushing’s disease. He is being fed grain and no soybean meal.

I also saw another 30 year old this week who had equine sleep disorder (“narcolepsy”) for many years but has resolved this along with adding a top line and a slick hair coat all after about a year of no grain and soybean meal.

The connection between the health of the immune system and nutrition seems to be strong. It is either due to the inflammation in the gut or the lack of enough amino acids from feeding excess glucose (starch) or both.

Please forgive me in my absent mindedness – but have I asked you (and have you answered) what you feed your horse and what his other health issues are? From my view, almost all illnesses and soft tissue lamenesses are associated with excess glucose and constant insulin production. Would you please help me here and remind me what he is eating?

[Lei]

So I just watched the presentation. I enjoy your enthusiasm. For me a white board and your putting some of the information up there would be helpful. I liked the original Horse’s Advocate presentation where you used one then. I will have to listen again to fully comprehend your points. I don’t think I have an exercise deficiency…

Insofar as the scratches answer, I have had a hard winter here, and the sacrifice paddocks are not in good shape due to the mud and muck everywhere. Our farm shares a driveway, and all the water from the driveway is flowing through my paddocks. Two weeks of rain is not my friend. I also needed reminding to do a fecal check this spring. Will try the three week ivermectin to see if it clears her up.

[Doc-t]

“For me a white board and your putting some of the information up there would be helpful. I liked the original Horse’s Advocate presentation where you used one then. I will have to listen again to fully comprehend your points.”

I had put together some notes that I was going to add for everyone to follow, but as I did, it became more confusing. This week I am planning to write a blog for the free side and from that I can make some more detailed notes for members. It is a very complex subject that took many reviews for me before I began to understand it. To think that it isn’t IR but GNG that is the problem is huge – but I’ve really been saying this for years. The exact mechanism has eluded me until now.

Hang on, it’s coming. Please remember I still work full time (more now since my associate has gone part time) and my days are filled with working and driving. I’m aiming for this by Sunday. Thanks for taking the time to watch.

[Rebecca]

I feel stupid, I have spent 30 min trying to find the info you wrote on EMS and Exercise, I started reading it a few days ago, wanted to re-visit, and ummmmm

[Doc-t]

I searched for “exercise” in the search bar and the list became too long to see. But then I went to the forums “Home” page (you can see this in the menu above) and went there. In the middle of that picture of the horses running in the field you will see a search area with the words “Search forums…” I entered “exer” and it filled in the 2 forum items including the “February Rounds with Doc T – Aerobic exercise and it’s role in insulin resistance”

We ALL are learning this new space we call home.

By the way, I have scheduled for this next week a podcast with a white board presentation that will help with this webinar. In addition, I have explained it again – maybe a dozen times – to clients in the barns. I have some more ideas to help “chunk it” into smaller pieces. It will be fun to tease out all that I have packed into this presentation. It all is coming but in the meantime, I also need to continue to go from farm to farm to hotel for another 7 days. Please be patient.