No Grain Challenge ( Moved to community.thehorsesadvocate.com )
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Thank you so much for all this wonderful information. I have 2 horses, Titan a Percheron/Quarter Horse and Magnum an Arab/Quarter Horse. I’ve seen Titan get more and more symptoms the more I try to improve his immune system with supplements. He has bug allergies and dandruff allergies and bad hoofs, diarrhea and
he was biting at his sides, he stopped sweating and he gets Dex every third day in his feed. And they were getting way too many sugary treats! I started feeding them both Triple crown 30% Ration Balancer about 6 months ago and that seemed to be an improvement from the whole oats they’d been eating.
I started giving both of them all the grass they wanted and plenty of hay. I also gave them alfalfa pellets and alfalfa cubes, water and salt. But I continued to give them Farriers Formula Double Strength as it has no sugar or wheat meddlings. I also give them Spirulina Waffers from Sringtime even though they have a small amount of sugar in them. My plan is to use pure spirulina with nothing added now that they don’t mind the taste. These guys had been getting so many calories from all the supplements and treats that Magnum thought I was starving him. I just started giving them CoolStance and they love it!!!
Titan obviously feels better…no more biting at his sides and he seems to have a little more energy. I assume it will take time for the diarrhea to clear up. He is happier, that’s for sure. Mag’s skin seems much better. His cuts and scratches heal much quicker.
Question – If alfalfa pellets say 17% protein but they don’t give a serving size, how do I figure that out? Is it 17% no matter the amount??? Doesn’t make sense to me. Also a friend said alfalfa can make them hot. Do you agree? Also, Mag’s neck muscles are really tight again. I’d been giving him a magnesium supplement from smartpak that really seemed to loosen that neck but it’s full of sugar and grain. Any suggestions? Thank you so much for your time and expertise. A very grateful, Denise laCroix
Thanks Denise for your observations. Please read my posts on lectins here: TheEquinePractice.com/lectins It is the plant proteins that are causing the problem and they are in everything. The horse’s body has allowed many lectins to work inside of them over the past hundred thousand years of eating them. It is when we add “new” lectins (new is within the past century) that problems arise. I would be careful of any feed that the horse wasn’t eating naturally such as algae (spirulina). These lectins will cause muscle wasting and poor immune systems.
Farrier’s Formula has as the primary ingredients alfalfa and soy protein concentrate which will offer a variety of amino acids to build connective tissue and improve the immune system.
Coolstance is a non-inflammatory source of fat energy for all species. This will add fat to your horses with little problems.
The % is based on the weight of the feed you give. 17% of 100 pounds is 17 pounds. However, if it says “crude protein” then this is the measure of nitrogen given off when the food is burned (how the nutritional analysis is done). If the biologic value of alfalfa hay is 50%, then this 17% crude protein becomes half of that (8.5%) when measured as the true absorption into the horse’s body. The other half is never absorbed. And this is if there is no gut inflammation. The more inflammation (for example from grain) the less amino acids absorbed.
More information and explanations of % math can be found here: https://www.thehorsesadvocate.com/chronic-protein-deficiency-in-horses/ and here: https://www.thehorsesadvocate.com/horsetalk-chronic-protein-deficiency-in-horses/
I am not sure what is causing the stiff neck but when you eliminate gut inflammation, most stiffness will resolve. Consider eliminating spirulina for a while and then if you are still looking for something, add it back in cautiously.
Thank you so much Dr. T for the info. I’ll take them both off the spirulina for awhile and continue the Farriers Formula. I didn’t realize the Coolstance was to add fat!!!! Neither one of my guys needs extra fat LOL I guess we’ll stick to alfalfa, grass and hay. When I went to buy more CoolStance they were out and the woman told me they were having a lot of people buy it lately. Made me smile…I figured it’s all of us trying the No Grain challenge.