• Rounds With Doc T

  Propionate as a mold inhibitor, Relaxation in horses – May 22nd, 2025 [[Replay]] ( Moved to community.thehorsesadvocate.com )

  Posted by Doc-t on May 9, 2025 at 2:26 am

  This Rounds was supposed to be about soundness – or lameness – in our horses. Instead, I was asked about propionate, a volatile fatty acid, which are the short-chain fatty acids made by the hindgut bacteria. It is used as a mold inhibitor in breads and in baled forage. After this, I briefly discussed end-stage teeth in horses, and then a member started a discussion about energy and how to harness it to work with our horses. We finally ended with a showing of the new home for The Horse’s Advocate.

  0:0:22 – A question about propionate as a hay preservative.
  The email is copied here:
  Would it be possible to discuss the thoughts below on our call this week? I did a bit of research after hearing that some horses have issues (sore feet) from alfalfa. I found an article by Juliet Getty in the American Farriers Journal. Here is an excerpt…

  “Alfalfa is often sprayed with buffered propionate (also known as propionic acid) to retard spoilage if baled during wet or humid conditions. This preservative not only reduces mold, but it also decreases drying time in the field, thereby diminishing the potential for leaf loss from harvesting and providing more baling flexibility. Baling can begin in the humid early morning hours and can continue later into the evening, allowing greater acreage to be harvested.”
  “Not considered to be harmful, propionate is one of three volatile fatty acids (VFA) naturally produced by the hindgut bacteria during hay fermentation. The other two VFAs are acetate and butyrate. These VFAs are a significant energy source for your horse. Acetate is utilized by many tissues including the heart, muscles, and the brain. Butyrate provides energy for the cells that line the hindgut epithelium.”
  “Propionate is a major precursor toward glucose production through a process known as gluconeogenesis. And that’s a problem for the IR horse. Once propionate is absorbed and metabolized, it is converted to glucose. So when you feed alfalfa that has been treated with propionic acid, you are essentially increasing your horse’s blood glucose level, just as you would if you had fed a hay with a large amount of sugar and starch. Increased glucose leads to increased insulin. And the rest is … well, you get the picture.”

  She also writes alfalfa brings too much protein into the diet, but I dismissed that idea. Anyway, what are your thoughts? And, do you think soaking the hay eliminates this issue?

  0:30:28 – A brief description of my week extracting end stage teeth from 3 senior horses.

  0:32:27 – A long discussion covering the development of a stall-side test for determining the NSC (sugar) content of hay upon delivery, so a manager could adjust the feeding dials to accommodate the variability of each batch of delivered hay to the barn.

  0:36:57 – The conversation goes into a long discussion about the transmission of our energy through space into a horse or anything else. Once we control our energy, the things and beings around us start to flow with us. This conversation goes on to the end and touches on some interesting points: the various pain nerve fibers, heart rate variability, Schumann resonance, Kundalini energy, letting go, being grateful and thankful, and the energy stored in carbon bonds that is in everything we have in our world (steel, plastic, glass).

  0:55:36 – a quick tour of the NEW Horse’s Advocate Community

  Doc-t replied 6 months, 2 weeks ago 1 Member · 0 Replies
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