Stories From Fish Hatchery Road

Welcome to My Natural Horse Journey

There is a magnet on my refrigerator that says: "Horses are proof that God loves us."

And I believe that to be entirely true.

BEFORE YOU GO FOR THE ANTIBI0TICS, TRY AN HERBAL TEA

You probably already know that anti-biotics can wreak havoc with a horse's gut flora. I knew that and I still gave my horse a 5-day dose of anti-biotics. Why did I do that?

Because I was frightened. Vashka was lethargic. He had a fever of 104. He didn't want to eat.

My vet, whom I respect a lot, told me Vashka needed the anti-biotic -- immediately.

"As long as you are feeding a good pro-biotic you should be fine," he said.

So I dosed up my horse with pro-biotics and anti-biotics. By day 2 he was feeling A LOT better. But by day 3 he was turning his head away from the syringe with the pink stuff in it. I forced it in anyway.  By day 4, Vashka was colicking big-time.

The vet came back. Vashka had to be oiled.  He had an impaction colic. The colic lasted another two full days. Time stopped here. That's how it is when a horse colics. Because every horse person knows that colic is the #1 cause of death in domesticated horses.

Once the colic was gone, the fever from the virus came back. I called the vet -- but only to tell him that I was going to try an herbal tea before anything pharmaceutical. Luckily, a Master Herbalist in the town where I live helped me formulate a tea specifically for Vashka's viral and inflammatory symptoms -- which, it turned out, were becoming a problem for several horses in the area.

Within three hours of feeding that tea, Vashka's fever was down to 102. I fed him another dose of tea -- just poured it over some hay pellets -- once more before bed. By morning, his temperature was normal. It spiked by a degree over the next day, but has remained normal ever since.

Moral of story: Natural remedies can be every bit as effective as herbal remedies! And natural remedies can be a lot less harmful.

I know, you want to know what's in the tea. So I'll tell you most of them: Lomatium, Yerba Santa, Echinacea, Rosehips, Yarrow Flower, and dried organic fruit. The ingredients are known for their anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties, as well as their nutritional content. Once we got the proprotions right, my horses gobbled this tea up as if it was a treat. 

The Master Herbalist who helped me with the recipe says she has shared the conconction wtih several horse owners in the area -- turns out the viurs has become quite the mysterious problem.  "Ah-Choo!" Herbal Mixture is now available in Skode's online store.

 

You can order yours by Clicking Here.

Exercising a Horse with Laminitis

A client who is taking her horse through a Skode's Connection Consultation wrote to me today.  Her horse is recovering from laminitis and the woman, who wants perfect health for her horse -- as quickly as possible -- is hand walking her horse in boots and pads. I used to do that.

Now I have learned that patience is often the quickest path to healing. Here is what I wrote to our client about exercising the lamintic horse:

***

When a horse has experienced laminitis, that means the tissues in the foot have been inflamed. That is why the horse is sore. The inflammation can weaken and even tear these tissues, leading to founder or at the very least, chronic laminitis.

 

Movement in a healthy horse promotes circulation. Movement in a horse with laminitis, however, can -- and often does -- worsen existing inflammation. Only the horse can gauge its own comfort level, which he/she can do very well --  if allowed to do so.

 

To provide this allowance it is best to give the horse freedom to move as it pleases 24/7, as well as a soft, cozy place to rest and heal. Stalling at night during convalescence is okay in my experience, as many horses lie down for several hours then to sleep and encouragment of this rest is beneficial.

 

Hand walking is forced exercise that is not advised until the inflammation is totally gone. You will not know that is the case until your horse is off of all anti-inflammatories (including herbal) and is walking on her own -- without boots -- in complete comfort. Until then, provide the horse with the natural herbs and remedies he needs to heal, as well as the boots and pads that the internal structures of the horse's hoof need to stablize.

 

When human agendas are dropped and horses are given the time they need to heal in the beginning, the healing will, in the long-term, be much faster and long-lasting.

 

SKODE

 

Follow The Magic

This morning I looked out my cottage window to see my horses running around their field in the forest, chasing each other, nosing each other, rearing and play fighting.

I am now continually connecting with a very quiet place within myself that knows what the next right step is for my horses.

All of us have this quiet place within us. Sadly, we rarely listen to it. But I'm starting to. It never fails me. Some people call it God. Some call it Spirit. It doesn't matter.

I know for absolute certainty that this quiet place doesn't usually abide by the rules or logic of the world. In fact, at least for me, it often flies in the face of anything even remotely "normal." 

I'm going to be writing more about my findings so that I can help others. However I don't think it's going to be the recipes I give out that is actually going to make the biggest difference . Because each human and each human-horse cconnection is unique. That is why there is no panacea, no matter how natural.

The secret, I am learning, is in tapping into your own gut instincts and your own horses' magical energies. And then following the Internal Guidance that is forever flowing between the two.

"SKODE"

Is Your Animal Waiting to Tell You Something?

Today, I did something very unusual for me: I took a break.

I just stopped all my frantic cookie cutting and herb sifting (I have a huge order from a big tack store I'm trying to fill) and I went outside and stretched out under an oak tree. I was lying there, listening to the horses munching on their hay and staring at the clouds scooting in and out of the tree tops, when the most amazing thing happened.

My dog Allie came up to me and hung her mouth directly in front of my face. I pushed her away, told her she was "blocking my view." She came back and hung her muzzle in front of my face.

"Alllllllllllllllllllie," I whined.

But she wouldn't listen.

"What do you want?" I asked.

To which my big, black dog very purposely opened her mouth to show me a view of a thin, bone-like looking thing stretched across the roof of her mouth. I stuck my finger up there to check it out. Sure enough, the bone-like thing was not a natural part of her mouth. So I pulled.

Allie resisted the pressure but she did not pull away. She just kept her mouth open -- like one does when one is at the dentist. With a few tugs, the bone-like thing snapped out.

Allie and I stared at it together.

It smelled a little vile, as if it had been lodged up there in the roof of her mouth for too long. I remembered how, during the past few nights, Allie has been licking at herself obsessively. And how I have been telling her to stop so I can fall asleep. I feel really bad about that now.

But here is the reason I'm writing this-- my dog took the very first opportunity she had to communicate with me. It was a very obvious, direct conversation on her part. And it  has me wondering: how long do our animals wait patiently for us to sit still for just a moment so that they can tell us something important?

SKODE

Affordable Ulcer Care and Prevention for Horses -- The Natural Way

As I was said in my last post, some 85 percent of domesticated horses, will at some point, suffer from an ulcer. That means the chances that YOUR horse will have an ulcer, are staggering.

The only way to know for sure whether your horse has an ulcer is to have it scoped by a veterinarian. This procedure costs an average of $800. That said, there are some common symptoms to look for in your horse that I will list here. If you find yourself checking off quite a few of these, I strongly suggest you put your horse on an affordable ulcer-care program that will help to naturally heal your horse and/or prevent ulcers from occurring in the first place.

First, some of the common signs/symptoms of ulcers:

• Unexplained teeth grinding
• Wood chewing
• Tummy aches directly after eating
• Reluctance to eat pelleted foods and grains
• Grumpiness over being touched/groomed, especially in stomach area
• Lethargy
• Clear communication from the horse that he does not want to be exercised (he/she runs away from you as opposed to being willingly haltered). Obviously, you will need to know your horse on this one, as it would be easy to mistake bad behavior for a physical problem.
• Wood chewing
• Unexplained performance problems
• Girthiness
  

A nutritional supplement plan that can help to heal the ulcers:

• 3 to 5 ounces Aloe Vera juice 2 X per day over feed
• 1 Tablespoon Marshmallow Powder 2 X per day over feed
• 1 litre cold Chamomile tea, broken into two parts 2 X per day (so 1/2 litre each time)
• Access to pasture grazing at least 30 minutes per day

The above program is extremely effective and costs me approximately $1.64 a day. That's less than $50 a month, which is less than one or two days of conventional anti-ulcer chemicals.  Here is how the natural program works:

• The Aloe soothes and heals as it reduces inflammation in the intestinal tract (it is also a great anti-fungal, anti-bacterial and anti-viral).
• The Marshmallow powder creates a demulcent as well as aids the body in reducing excess fluids(acids). The herb Slippery Elm Balk is often suggested in powder form and will work like the Marhsmellow powder does. However the Slippery Elm is much more expensive and has no advantages in terms of helping the ulcer to heal. So you might as well save the money and use the Marshmallow.
• The Chamomile tea, also an anti-inflammatory, also soothes the stomach as well as helps to calm the horse emotionally.
• The access to pasture reduces stress because it allows your horse to relax and to continually digest live food enzymes -- which is what his/her body is designed to do. This, in turn, lowers cortisol levels (stress levels) which when high, are what create excess stomach acid in the first place.  If your horse is Insulin Resistant, talk to your veterinarian about your horse's risk factors for laminitis and then judge for yourself whether your horse can handle the risk. Since my horse is sound and in a regular exercise program, I give him 30 minutes a day 2 X per day in a pasture.

Here is where you can find the herbs in this program:

• 99% pure Aloe Juice -- Walmart (costs about $8 per gallon and a gallon lasts about a week)
• Certified Organic Marshmallow Root powder -- www.herbalcom.com
• Chamomile flower buds -- www.herbalcom.com

I have been told that some horses who have severe ulcer pain need a more conventional, expensive route. However I have interviewed several experienced horse care providers who say that even horses with severe ulcer symptoms were able to transition quickly to the purely herbal route.

When faced with the decision of conventional versus non-conventional, I put my horse, Vashka, on the herbal route. He was displaying all the symptoms listed in this article but I simply could not afford the "official" ulcer medications. Within twp days --  all of the ulcer symptoms Vashka had been displaying were gone. As far as I'm concerned, he will remain on the program for the foreseeable future.

SKODE

Affordable Ulcer Care for Your Horse

Okay, I'm mad.

Up to 85% of all domesticated horses, according to Veterinary estimates and studies, have ulcers. Please stop and read that again -- the part about "up to 85 percent."

Because if that is true, that means YOUR horse, probably has ulcers.

I don't care how "naturally" you treat him/her. Your horse is domesticated. It is impossible to provide him/her with a truly 100 percent natural environment, no matter how hard you try (and trust me, if anyone has tried it is me).

This is not the part that makes me mad (though admittedly it does make me sad). The part that makes me mad is how much the equine industry wants to charge for the treatment of this prevalent, debilitating condition. Try $40 a day for the prescribed chemical pastes and $25 a day for the unprescribed pastes you can buy online or in a feed store. Do you have $350 -- $25 a day for a 14-day treatment? How about the $50 a day treatment that is often required for the horses who have exacerbated conditions (and therefore need double dosing?)  Of course this is not including the scoping that is the only recognized, proven way to diagnoses ulcers and which costs an average of $800.

What? You don't have the $800, plus the $350 plus the up-front vet fees for use of the facility and the vet's time? Well, what are you going to do?

I don't tout my own horn a lot -- I like to tout the horns of others. But in this circumstance I'm going to put myself out there and tell you: I have a lot of SUCCESSFUL experience with the treatment of my own horse's ulcers and I am going to help you with all the information I have. This information comes from equine nutritionists, vets, energy workers -- and most importantly, my horse.

I'm going to share this information with you for free. I'm going to tell you where to get most of the products in your own hometown and how to mix and feed them.  My goal is to save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

Because I'm sick of this game where people and their horses suffer unnecessarily.

Stay tuned. This information will be in my next article, which I am writing as soon as I hit the publish button on this post.

SKODE

How Colloidal Silver Can Help Horses

Colloidal silver is pure elemental silver that is evenly distributed into water. The silver is not dissolved but suspended evenly throughout the solution as a result of the positive electrical charge that is attached to each particle of silver as it is electrically sintered off of the silver electrode into the water. The process is made using a Colloid Master generator, distilled water, and 99.99% pure silver.

On average the process for making one quart of Colloidal Silver is between 3 and 5 hours. The finished product will be clear to pale yellow to pale yellowish brown in color. It is odorless, nearly tasteless and a potent non-toxic disinfectant and healing agent. It should be stored away from direct sunlight and if done so, has a shelf life of around one year. Colloidal Silver is considered a Homeopathic Remedy and is also referred to as Silver Mineral Water.

I began using Colloidal Silver on my horse, Haley, after he received 2 months of traditional medication for EPM (Equine Protozoa Myelitis) treatment. When test results finally showed that he had cleared the protozoa that had wreaked havoc on his central nervous system, I wanted to use a product that could keep his immune system healthy and ward off any further protozoa attacks. I knew that he would not be able to handle further damage to his spinal cord. I began by giving him 2 cups of Colloidal Silver mixed in with his meals twice daily. It has no taste, so there were no palatability issues. And it makes a nice substance for his supplements to adhere to in the meals.

When Haley developed abscesses all around his coronary band on the right hind hoof, I put the Colloidal Silver in a spray bottle and cleaned the hoof with it daily. It kept the wounds clean and allowed the abscesses to heal.

For horses with acute issues you can give up to 2 cups of Colloidal Silver twice a day mixed into the horse’s meals. For more chronic conditions, you can mix in up to 1 cup twice a day.

It makes a wonderful topical healing agent for cuts, scrapes, abrasions, abscesses or any other type of wound. It can even be spray on warts, growths and greasy heels. Simply pour the solution into a spray bottle and use as needed.

Hoof abcess before treatment with C.S:

 

Same hoof after treatment with C.S:

Other uses for household and humans include: Use topically on cuts, wounds, abrasions and rashes; Spray on burns to heal rapidly without scarring; Wipe telephone mouthpieces, Sterilize toothbrushes; Spray refrigerator, freezer and food bin interiors; Spray toilet seats and bowl, tile floors, sinks, and door knobs; Mist kitchen sponges, towels and cutting boards to eliminate bacteria; Swish in mouth to diminish toothaches and mouth sores; Taken internally it cuts down time from colds and flu; Add to drinking water when traveling or camping; Mix a little in pet water, birdbaths, and cut flower vases.

Article by Cindy Daigre at Ferrell Hollow Farms

To buy this product, CLICK HERE

An All Natural Fly Spray that Really Works!

One of the fringe benefits of owning a horse business is connecting with wonderful horse people who are creative and smart.

Cindy Daigre, owner of Ferrell Hollow Farm, is a genius at creating natural products that help the horses at the ranch she runs. One such product is her all natural fly spray.

It is called Ferrell Hollow Farm Natural Fly Spray and is an extremely effective blend of five proprietary essential oils that keeps the flies off your horse! Based in a raw, organic apple cider vinegar that contains what is known as The Mother, this product is exceptionally powerful and long-lasting, yet safe for your horse, yourself and the environment.

 

Other natural fly sprays are diluted with alcohols, perfumes and plain old water. Ferrell Hollow Farm Natural Fly Spray is made out of concentrated, high quality essential oils along with the original, pulpy healing properties of raw, cider vinegar.

 

Fly season is upon us. Protect your horses and order your Ferrell Hollow Farm Natural Fly Spray today. Simply Click Here.

New Low/Sugar Low/Carb Horse Website

Hi Everyone,

I have created a new informational website -- www.thelowsugarlowcarbhorse.com This site is specifically designed to teach you how to give your horse a healthy, low sugar/low carb lifestyle -- from the hays he eats to the low carb cookies he gobbles up for dessert.

Here you will find articles, a national database, how-to's and soon -- interviews with top equine experts. The information on this site is very cutting edge and yet easy to understand. If you have a metabolically challenged horse you will want to spend some time on this site. It is the accumulation of years of experience and research. It is also a gift of collaboration amongst professionals who include certified herbalists, equine nutritionists, energy workers, veterinarians and barefoot hoof trimmers.

Currently, you will find articles on:

• Finding the right diet for your low sugar/low carb horse -- including vitamins, minerals, herbs, whole foods, hays and appropriate supplements.
• Learning to understand the correlation between your horse's nutritional program and his trim (the two directly effect one another in very obvious ways).

• The reasons a low sugar/low starch diet are healthier and more natural than any other program. 

Many more articles will be added on regular basis.

The Low Sugar Low Carb Horse is the website I wish I had when my horses were first diagnosed with Insulin Resistance. If it puts one horse care provider on the fast track to helping her horse, than it has fulfilled its mission.

For what is the point of our own experiences if not to turn them into ways to help and connect to others?

"SKODE"

The "Un-Peeling of the Onion" in my Horse

Just when I thoughtall was well -- we were over the fever and the virus that attacked my horse -- I found Vashka lying in his stall, panting.

I held his head in my lap while we waited for the vet.

The vet took Vashka's temperature. Which was normal.  The vet checked his respiratory rate. Which was a little above normal but nothing to be too concerned about. We had already done extensive blood work. Which was normal on every account.

Which meant that the virus had been treated successfully with the anti-biotics and natural anti-inflammatories (White Willow Bark mentioned in previous post). The vet and I stood over my horse. Thinking....Thinking..

After an hour of discussion (which we did while standing over my horse who was lying flat out in his stall) -- we think we have the problem figured out. The treatments we gave Vashka has exacerbated a pre-existing ulcer.

Looking back I just want to say "duh." Because all the signs were there: teeth grinding, girthiness, upset stomach on any kind of hard food, including grain or even hay pellets, lack of overall energy, resistance to being groomed, grumpiness.

So of course I feel really bad, that the treatments I administered to my horse made the problem worse. Except that if I hadn't administered them, maybe the problem would not have stayed underground.

I have a horse friend who calls this kind of unfolding "the un-peeling of the onion." I call it "horrifying."  But in my heart I also know she is right.

So Vashka and I are now on the journey of treating his ulcer in a holistic manner. We have decided upon Aloe Vera Juice at 3 oz four times a day, mixed in with organic Marshmallow Root and Chamomile Tea poured on top. He really loves this! I'm also going to make sure he gets his 2 pounds of Alfalfa each day as the calcium in the legume is very soothing to his stomach.

In addition, I have decided to also administer Ulcer Guard for three days  -- boy is this stuff expensive! --  and in the next week or so, to add a product from Uckele Equine Health and Nutrition called Gut Powder.  Cindy Daigre, a very knowledgeable friend of mine who offers Equine Health Consultations from her farm in Tennessee, says she has had great results with the product. Visit Cindy by Clicking Here.

I will keep you posted on how Vashka does, sharing any and all successful tips with you along the way.

"SKODE"