A NATURAL HORSE JOURNEY

A Summer Writing Project at Skode's

Another lifetime ago, I worked with young people through a program I created to help give voice to their experiences, strengths and hopes. The program was called Storytellers Ink Inc. and it started in Liberty City, Miami -- one of the poorest city's in the country at that time.

I used to sit on flowers shaped mats on the floor with the other program facilitators and listen to the children write their absolute truth -- no editing (save for spelling and grammar). Then we drew  and painted, and then -- after months of practicing -- the children performed their stories in public. We went to Barnes and Noble, churches, community centers and The Florida State capitol. Once, we even got to fly a child to California where she spoke about being what life was like as an 11-year-old "who lived in the ghetto without a Dad." The children amazed people - - made them laugh and weep and really, really think.

Those years in that program were a gift to everyone involved. The children said they felt strong and proud of who they were. The parents said they felt hopeful and closer to their children. The school administrators said test scores were going up. My fondest memories were of kids wrapping their arms around my waist and telling me how excited they were about sharing what they had written about their lives (something no one in a million years thought would happen.)

"Ms. Lori! Ms. Lori! Listen to this! Look at this!" they yelled.

That program came straight out of my heart and manifested itself in the light in those kids' eyes. I never thought I would stop doing what I did, anymore than I thought I would stop breathing.

Then one of the facilitators and I moved to Oregon to grow the program on the West Coast. After that things we couldn't control -- can we ever control anything? -- just happened. The money stopped flowing, the investors stopped investing, and my friend and I found different dreams.

"I think it's a pause, a comma -- not a period dead end," another friend told me as I cried.

I wasn't sure I believed her. But I never forgot her words, and even while building Skode's Horse Treats Inc., I dreamed about somehow working with kids again. How that could ever happen while working 12 to 16 hours a day with horse cookies, I didn't have a clue. But the dream stayed. That's the funny thing about dreams -- even if you forget to nurture them, they are there. Deflated, perhaps. Weary, perhaps. But there, waiting.

A few months ago, I met a young girl by the name of Kaylee Emoto. She recently turned 13. One could say we met by "accident." I decided to break the monotony of a long day by going riding. I remember I had to push myself to do it -- I was tired. Wearily, I put a bareback pad on my horse, Vashka, and climbed aboard. Nevermind that I was wearing flannel pajama bottoms, mix-matched socks and a dirty t-shirt. I was going riding, I told myself forcefully. Before I could even make it out my front gate, I saw another rider.

In my neighborhood, that is unusual. People have horses everywhere, but no one seems to ride. It's depressing.

"Hey!" I yelled at the rider without even seeing her. "Want some company?

"Yes!" she yelled back.

And that is how I met Kaylee.

Turns out her grandmother had pushed her out of the house to go riding because a friend of hers had flaked on their afternoon plans to ride in the park.

The more time we spent together, the more I thought about Storyteller's Ink. And then one morning the idea was just there: What if Kaylee could chronicle her life at Skode's Horse Ranch. What if she could illustrate her experiences, strengths and hopes here?

The teenager sits downstairs as I type upstairs. She is busy writing in her new spiral notebook about who she is and why she is here. And she is excited to be writing (don't tell her I know that though -- she is supposed to hate writing.) Her writing project is called Summer at Skode's.

I won't say anymore. As soon as she is finished with her first entry, I'll let you read it.

"SKODE"

The Worries and Wonders of Feeding Beet Pulp

Wow, have I had  mixed feelings about feeding beet pulp over the years. On the one hand I have seen the feed do wonderful things with horses who need extra calories, energy and fiber to their nutritional programs. On the other hand, I have also witnessed horses who bloat up on the stuff (as opposed to gaining solid weight), get cresty and even sore footed.

So I have swung wildly between feeding beet pulp almost religiously, to swearing off the feed altogether. Today, I say I sit solidly in the middle of the fence on this one, my conclusion on the feeding of beet pulp being: "It depends on the horse."

Here's why:

THE GOOD POINTS:

Beet pulp is highly fermentable (meaning digestible), has a low Glycemic Index (meaning it does not cause blood sugar spikes), and provides lasting, slow-burning energy for a horse. The food is a by-product resulting form the extraction of simple sugars in the manufacturing of table sugar. Thus, the pulp often has little to no sugar left in it.

Neither a forage nor an energy feed, beet pulp ranks in at 10 percent protein and 18 percent crude fiber. Easily digested by most horses, beet pulp can be safely fed in large amounts to horses because the energy derived from beet pulp comes from soluble as well as insoluble carbohydrates ( as opposed to grain, which is highly soluble). For a really terrific explanation on the difference between the two, the myths and realities of beet pulp, and exactly how beet pulp is digested by horses, please visit Veterinarian Susan Garlinghouse's website and read her articles on beet pulp.

One of the reasons beet pulp works so well for hard working horses and for thin horses who need to gain weight is that dry beet pulp has the same calorie content as oats. Also, endurance riders love beet pulp for its slow burning energy and its famous ability to absorb nearly 5 times its weight in water -- an absolutely wonderful way to hydrate horses.

All of these factors, combined with the relatively low cost of feeding beet pulp -- a 50-pound bag costs $13 in rural Oregon -- makes this food a nice addition to many horses' nutritional programs.

HOWEVER, before you rush off to the feed store to stock up, there are some downsides to beet pulp that are important to consider.

THE BAD POINTS:

1.) Beet pulp is a refuse that is unregulated as feed for horses (as is virtually everything else for horses). Over the years I have found the following in bags of beet pulp: a bit of string; a part of a bone; and several small pieces of metal!

Please sift through the feed with your hands and your eyes.

2.) While pure beet pulp is naturally quite low in sugar, manufacturers very often add molasses to the shreds or pellets as a binder. Because it is a binder, the ingredient does not have to be listed on the label. Several people I know of have had their beet pulp test in at a sugar and starch content of more than 19 percent! (10 percent is the maximum recommended for Insulin Resistant horses.)

Thankfully, rinsing the beet pulp before soaking can very effectively reduce the sugar level. You will want to put the feed in a strainer and rinse until the water runs clear. This can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 45 minutes. Shredded pulp seems quicker and easier to rinse than the pellets. But I still have a warning: If you skip this step and soak the pulp only, know that you are driving any sugars into the feed.

3.) Due to the metal machinery that processes the beet pulp, and the dirt and dust that comes in off the fields with the beets, beet pulp is notoriously high in iron. (Metal and dirt are naturally high in iron.) Dr. Eleanor Kellon DVM and equine nutritionist, has done copious amounts of research on the negative effects of excessive iron in the equine diet. Iron, as Dr. Kellon teaches people, is an inflammatory with which most horses, especially I.R. horses, are already overloaded. Please click here to join the Equine Cushings Group that she facilitates. Once a member -- it's free -- you can go to the "Files" section of the site and look up her research on Iron Overload and Testing.

Just as with sugar, the only way to reduce the iron content in in beet pulp is to rinse it before soaking it as. I was tempted to skip this part of the regime with a non-I.R. horse who boards at Skode's -- until I learned that once a horse absorbs iron into his system, it is in his system for life.

So as you can see, feeding beet pulp really is a "it depends" kind of feed. It depends on whether your horse really needs it and whether you truly have the time to take the necessary time and precautions to feed it.

Professionally, I have decided not to include beet pulp in the treat repertoire of my company, Skode's Horse Treats Inc. For while using beet pulp as the base of our treats would have allowed us to provide a much cheaper horse cookie or horse treat -- beet pulp is a fraction of the cost of flax or specialty hays that Skode's use as the base of all its treats -- I felt the risk and resulting time factors involved in ensuring a high-quality product that relied on beet pulp, were far too high.

Personally, however, I do feed two out of three horses on my ranch regular beet pulp mashes. Robbie, our 30-year-old boarder, receives his mash twice a day, as beet pulp is the only way to keep him from becoming too thin (his older teeth can not adequately break down hay or grass). And Vashka,  whom I am training for a 25-mile endurance ride this summer, also receives beet pulp with oats after conditioning rides. The combination feeds his muscles and gives him energy. Sunny, my Cushings horse, can not tolerate beet pulp -- he was chronically overdosed with NSAIDS before I met him and therefore is not able to tolerate highly fermentable food sources. Within 24 hours of eating beet pulp, Sunny develops loose stools and sore feet.

Be sure to check out the links in this story as you ponder your own decision about whether or not to feed beet pulp -- the two women referred to in this post are great resources to which you will want to avail yourself for years to come. Then, and perhaps most importantly, refer to your horse. He will tell you what he needs if you listen.

"SKODE"

Science, Spirituality and Horses -- Naturally!

My father was a microbiologist who loved to study things in their most minute form. He was also a prize-winning photographer who took pictures that captured details most of us never stop long enough to consider. I remember in particular one photo of an ice cube: You could see the frozen water lines inside the cubes -- a whole world of sub-zero intersections and criss crosses.

Vernon Yearwood-Drayton was a scientist who could explain things to the infentisimal detail no one else could. Yet he was also a spiritual man who would tell you in a flat mili-second that no scientist on earth understands the mystery we call Life Energy.

"It's all opinion based on the facts we have in the moment," my father said. "And those facts take us only so far for so long. Some things are unexplainable." So while my father was a scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, he also prayed and believed in angels -- the unexplicable energy he allowed to guide some of his most important life decisions.

My father would have approved of the approach I have taken in the nutritional care of my horses. Their feeding programs are based mostly on rock-solid science -- their hays are analyzed and the vitamins and minerals that they are fed balance the hays' imbalances, for example -- but there is also plenty of room in their care for their Spirits and my own Gut Instinct. While these two last things are unexplainable, I can tell you about memories that I bet will trigger your own :

* The times when I have stood over my horses' feed bowls and suddenly known that a certain combination of herbs -- was the perfect remedy for that horse in that moment (without knowing the exact healing properties of those herbs until I sat down later to study them.) 

* The times when I have reached for a certain supplement and known beyond any doubt that the supplement  had stopped helping my horse, or was even hurting my horse. (Time always proved my gut right).

*The "mistakes" I have made by feeding the "wrong" medicine, or over-dosing a supplement or therapuetic herb -- only to find that this was the exact dose that my horse needed to heal. This is percisely how we arrived at the perfect Pegolide dosage for my Cushings horse, Sunny. And how about the fact that that his therapy for his stomach issues -- problems that had been plaguing him for years -- began percisely on his 14th birthday ( I did not remember it was his birthday until a week later!)

Coincidences?

Maybe. But I honestly don't think so.

The opposite of science?

I don't think that, either.

To my way of thinking, spirituality and science are paths to the same end -- our healing, our horse's healing, and everyone's understanding of The Truth. To deny one is to deny ourselves and our horses  precious time and knowledge.

"SKODE"

An Old Horse in Our Hearts

When we open our hearts to horses, our lives change and expand in ways we never could have imagined..

My horse, Vashka, led me across the country in search of our own ranch.  On that journey, we met other animal souls who needed a safe and healthy place to live, too.

First there was Harley, the most amazing Shetland Pony I ever met (his owner decided he was too cantankerous for her herd). Then Allie, a Labrador Retriever (she had been abandoned on the side of a freeway). Then Sunny, a gorgeous Arabian gelding (who stopped winning hunter jumper shows and was cast aside as a broken toy at the age of 12.)  And now Robbie.

Robbie is 30 year-young Arabian. Neighborhood legend has it that he was quite the endurance horse in his day. He took his owner on 25 milers and 50 milers on a regular basis. He has that confident air about him of a horse who has "been there done that."  He does what he wants -- when he wants. Not in a rude way. Just a determined: "Let me show you how it goes you young wiper snapper" kind of way.

I met Robbie a couple of months ago. A young girl named Kaylee was riding him outside my house and something inside me told me to ask her -- I had never met her before -- if I could ride my horse Vashka with them. She said a quick and friendly "Yes" and we were off.  We were instant riding friends -- the kind that just fall into place. No one talked too much or too little. We enjoyed our mounts and our meandering trail rides the way females who love riding naturally do. Our get togethers became a regular occurrence. Everyday at 5 p.m., Kaylee and Robbie would walk through the front gate.

I remember the day Kaylee took Robbie's saddle off and was grooming him and I noticed for the first time how terribly thin he was. Even though he had a very thick, winter coat, we could see his ribs. It worried me. Kaylee and I made a pact.

Though she was leasing him from her neighbor, she promised to bring Robbie by my house everyday so we could feed him before we rode. Thus, began our regular beet pulp feedings, complete with all kinds of fresh herbs ground flax seed, alfalfa pellets, vitamins and minerals, and since Robbie didn't show any signs of Insulin Resistance, Kaylee's mom, Anna, and grandmother, Charlotte, contributed a big bag of fresh, whole oats that we sprinkled on top of his warm beet mash.

"You know he isn't going to live long," Kaylee said one day.

"Well you never know!" I said protectively. Slowly, but surely, I was taking Old Man Robbie into my heart.

A woman/angel named Jessica Lynn from Earthsong Ranch in California donated a big tub of pro-biotics, a supplement I have been feeding my own horses for years. I emailed Jessica and asked her what she would do if she were me.

"I'm growing really fond of him but what if I offer to take him on and then can't afford to give him all that he needs?" I wrote. "I already worry about my own horses!"

"Do what your heart tells you and then know the money will be there!" Jessica wrote back.

A woman with three of her own horses, four dogs and four cats, Jessica backed up her positive words with action: Within days, the Prozyme from Earthsong Ranch was at my Post Office Box. The all-natural supplement is a concentrated blend of horse friendly pre-biotics, 9 horse friendly probiotics and 6 digestive enzymes (aides) that promote digestive health while also optimizing the absorption of nutritional supplements.

"Let me know when Robbie runs out and needs more," Jessica told me. "I want to support him. It's my way of paying it forward."

And so a small group of women that span three generations have come forward to help a horse that is to many minds, past the age of helping. We're helping anyway.

Every few weeks, I take a rasp to his hooves and help his feet come back into shape after years of too-long toes and heels. Nevertheless, they are beautiful barefoot feet, some of the nicest I have trimmed -- for regardless of the initial overgrown look of them, they have a  definite form that is easy to find.

"Kind of like Michael Angelo's David," I tell Robbie.

He stands there with a knowing and dignified look about him.

The signs of his improvement have been quick an steady. His ribs are less obvious and there is a certain sure-footed bounce in his step. He follows Kaylee and I for his food, nickering deeply when we emerge from the house with his huge bucket of beet mash.

Robbie has been a full-time guest at my ranch since Saturday. I had been planning on having him stay for only the weekend, but by Monday morning I found it too hard to let him walk out the front gate. His owner and I spoke on the phone and she says she wants what is best for him and she is guessing that if she spoke horse,  he would probably tell her he would like to be here at Skode's Place. We have decided to take Robbie's stay here one day at a time.

I can see the determined Arabian from my office window, standing tall beneath an oak tree. Both horse and tree are old and dignified. A part of Skode's that already feels impossible to imagine any other way.

"SKODE"

How to Soak Your Horse's Hay the Easy Way

When I started soaking hay for my Insulin Resistant horses, it was a huge ordeal. I did not, as they say, quite have the routine down.

I will share the story with you . Just try not to laugh to hard at my expense!

"You need to soak the hay to see if the sugars in it are causing the inflammation in your horses' feet," my vet told me.

"Okay," I said.

From there I went into my hay barn, grabbed a pad of hay and brought it into my bathroom, where I put it in my tub. This should work, I thought. From there I proceeded to fill the tub with water. Suffice to say that the Roto Rooter man had a good laugh as he wrote out my bill. And I learned that one does not soak one's hay inside the house!

From there I tried all kinds of ways to soak hay. I tried putting it in a wheel barrow and placing a stone on top to weight it (hay floats and it's hard to soak something that floats!) I also tried putting the hay in hay nets and soaking, and then hanging from trees to drain. My neighbors thought that was interesting.

A few years later, I have a routine down that is A LOT easier.

I put the the hay in the biggest ice chests I can find at Walmart. I can put one large pad of hay -- which weighs about 5 pounds each -- in each ice-chest. I then fill the chest with hot water, cover, and let sit for 30 minutes. It's a lot like making tea, only with hay. The smell is absolutely devine.

The horses love their "hot hay" and look like they are eating spaghetti when the strands hang from their mouths as they gobble it down. In fact I am now convinced that Vashka and Sunny prefer their soaked "hot hay" to dry hay!

But back to the procedure of soaking hay.  Once the hay has soaked for 30 minutes in hot water or an hour in cold water -- these times are enough to reduce the sugar contents in the hay by as much as 30 percent -- you take the hay out and drain it.  It helps if you have a strong back and have already placed your ice chests on an incline. I simply pick the chests up by the handle with the lids on but not all the way closed, and tilt the chests.  Most people pull the plug on the chest that drains the water and let most of the water come out first. However you drain your hay, the important thing is that you do it  thoroughly before your horses eat it, as the waters are filled with the sugars from the hay.

Now pull the hay form the chests and take wherever you need to feed. Some people are able to keep their hay inside the chests after draining. However i find that there is still water that stands in the bottom of the chest (because the plug in the chest is about above the ground). Even when the chest is tilted, the water does not drain completely. This causes the hay to sour much more quickly than if it is put in a hay tray.

A hay tray is a lot like a baker's drying rake. My handyman Jack and I, have created eleven homemade hay trays made out of oak and plastic trellis. I have put many of them around my horses' dry lot. They stand about two inches above the ground so air is able to circulate all around they hay. When placed in the shade, soaked hay stays fresh all day long -- even in the very hot South Oregon summers.

Soaking hay is now part of the daily routine at Skode's Horse Ranch. It is no longer an ordeal that feels like an intrusion on my daily life. It has become a part of my daily life. I think this is one of the keys to having healthy Insulin Resistant horses -- finding ways to care for them that work for the humans, too.

* Special note: I am writing a short manual on how to make the hay trays I mention in this story. Check back soon for this.

"SKODE"

The Creation of an Herb Cookie -- Lessons Learned

This post is for anyone who thinks making low sugar horse cookie recipes is easy. Or that guessing is okay when it comes to creating a low sugar/low starch diet for your horse.

As many of you know, Skode's is coming out with a new line of herb cookies. The struggle we're having in balancing the sugars and starches of one particular cookie has made it really, REALLY, clear to me how important science is when it comes to balancing our horses' diets --  how "natural" doesn't necessarily = safe -- not even when it comes to something as beloved as herbs. Here's what is going on:

The new cookie we are working with relies on a base of herbs for its taste as well as healing consituents. Herbs are generally perceived to be safe to feed to horses in terms of sugars and starches because they are generally low sugar and low starch. Dried herbs are perceived of as particularly safe because they are dried and therefore many of the sugar molecules in the plant have been extracted through that drying process.

Notice how I italicized the words generally!

That's because this cookie we are working on, is designed to address stomach issues and uses both a cut and sifted herb as well as the root of another herb. And after twice sending samples off to Equi-Analytical Laboratories in New York for testing, we are getting combined sugar and starch results of 10.7 percent and 10.9 percent. We develop our treats so that even Insulin Resistant horses can enjoy them. So we need to keep those percentage below 10 percent. Which means we will be going back to the proverbial drawing board!

The good news is that after much head banging on my part, an equine nutritionist has given us some very useful information: Plants store starch in their roots!   

Now I'm certainly not saying you shouldn't feed your horses' herbs. Horses, after all, are herbivores. They need and depend on herbs for their natural health. What I am saying is this: Don't assume anything when you create or buy our own herbal mixes or treats, or for that matter anything else -- especially if you have an Insulin Resistant horse.

So many people will tell you that if whatever they are selling is "natural" it can not hurt your horse. Just the other day a woman who answered the phone at a vitamin/mineral company told me that I could "rest assured the mix would be good for your horse because it is natural." Then she went on to say that their vitamin/mineral mix contains 78 trace vitamins and minerals.

"Great," I said, "Can I see the analysis?"

There was a pause on the other end of the phone.

I went on to tell the woman Arsenic is natural and you won't find me feeding that to my horse anytime soon! The woman said she would send me an analysis. That was a week ago and I have not received it.

So no need for paranoia, but be careful. If you have doubts, call the company or distributor and ask for documented information, hopefully in the form an analysis. If they can't give you one or refuse to give you one, consider buying elsewhere.

"SKODE"

Yet Another Reason to Avoid NSAID's (Bute, Bananmine)

Somewhat of a miracle has occurred on this ranch, a miracle that involves the healing and increasing health of our Arabian horse, Sunny.

This miracle could very easily have not happened. But because of the care of an expert veterinarian, and my own inability to stop asking questions  -- something many other people have told me is actually a character defect -- Sunny now has a chance at a life without pain.

As with every other miracle I know about, Sunny's started with an apparently hopeless problem.

Flash back to three years ago: Sunny, 12, is sold from his Hunter/Jumper barn in Louisiana, to my friend, Claudia. She thought he was perfectly healthy show horse. What she actually got was a beautiful but chronically lame horse who suffered from Insulin Resistance, Cushings and colitis. Symptoms included laminitis, founder and very soft to liquid poops that always got worse when Sunny was nervous, and weight loss that seemed unresolvable no matter how much we fed him. When my friend moved across the country, she sold me Sunny for the amazing sum of $10 (she had paid thousands).

"I know in my heart he has found the right place," she said.

With barefoot hoof care, correct diagnosis and appropriate medication for the Cushings, and diet changes to treat the Insulin Resistance, Sunny got better. He was mostly happy and mostly sound. That was a lot and we were grateful.

But there were bouts of sore feet, crestiness and very loose stools. Through daily journaling of Sunny's health, I noticed that his crest got very hard at the same time his feet got sore, and that that seemed to happen after he ate. Now if anyone knows of the importance of a low sugar and low starch diet for Insulin Resistant horses, it is me. But the thing was, Sunny was getting an extremely low sugar diet. We had tested his hay at 10.3 percent -- which is low -- and then we had religiously soaked it to bring the sugars down as much as 30 percent lower.  Yet his symptoms persisted.

Concerned, I sent our equine Nutritionist Dr. Eleanor Kellon (D.V.M.), an email.

"I just wish he could be 1,000 percent," I told her.

I felt compelled to tell her his story, the one about his life as a show horse -- when he had been pumped full of Banamine and Bute to keep him jumping. Through phone calls and letters with his previous owner, I learned that this drug therapy was extensive and continuous.  This struck a chord.

"I bet it started with the Banamine," Dr. Kellon said. She suggested dosing him with a an over the counter nutracuetical, which soothes the stomach as well as helps to bind with, and carry away, toxins. By the second dose, Sunny was better. His feet were no longer inflamed, he was more sure-footed and his step was bouncier. By the fourth dose, he was racing his friend Vashka through their paddock. I had a new horse on my hands!

Many people understand that the overuse of Bute and/or Banamine can cause liver damage in horses. But did you know that NSAID's (pharmaceutical anti-inflammatories) -- can also negatively effect everything from bone density to the stomach lining of your horse's stomach?

In Sunny's case, the ongoing administration of Bute and Banamine damaged the lining of his stomach as well as his colon. When this happened, protein molecules from the food he was ingesting, broke through the weakened lining and into his bloodstream. When that happened, his body reacted to this as an invasion and inflammation set in (which explains his sore feet and crestiness, as crestiness is a sign of inflammation throughout the body). Such "invasions" are one of the ways in which food allergies can start!

Startling isn't it? That too much Bute and Banamine can have such a devastating and long-term impact on the health of your horse. Here is an excerpt from The Department of Clinical Sciences, New York State College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca:

"Moderate to severe ulcerative colitis of the right dorsal colon was diagnosed by necropsy or by exploratory celiotomy and biopsy in 13 horses with a primary clinical complaint of either colic, diarrhea, or weight loss. Clinical signs varied from acute fulminating diarrhea (possibly with fever), colic, dehydration, endotoxic shock and death, to a chronic condition manifested by mild intermittent colic up to several months in duration, and weight loss with or without mild diarrhea. In a large percentage of the horses, those affected had been hypovolemic and received nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) or had received inappropriately high doses of phenylbutazone before the onset of illness. Experimental treatment of two horses with high doses of a phenylbutazone oral paste preparation (6 gm once daily for 5 days) and limitation of their water intake to approximately one half of maintenance requirement (for 5 days) resulted in reproduction of ulcerative colitis involving only the right dorsal colon, which was apparent at necropsy examination 11 and 15 days after initiation of drug use. It was concluded that localized ulcerative lesions in the right dorsal colon may be a previously unreported manifestation of toxicity due to the administration of NSAID."

And here are links to more studies that show the negative impact of NSAID's: 

http://www.ivis.org/proceedings/Geneva/2003/Cohen3/chapter_frm.asp?LA=1

J Vet Intern Med. 1990 Sep-Oct;4(5):247-53. Links

Sunny's treatment is scheduled to last two months. I am so grateful to Dr. Kellon for guiding us through his healing journey. And I thank Sunny for trusting me enough to syringe in his medicine every four hours, every day. It took a few days for him to realize it was not Bute and it was not Banamine!

Now one last thing before I sign off and start baking my next batch of cookies for Skode's Horse Treats. Please do not  read this post and begin to self-medicate your horse. The treatment worked for Sunny because Dr. Kellon and I had systematically ruled out other possible causes.

That said, here is the good news: Because of Sunny, Dr. Kellon is conducting a study on horses who have ongoing foot pain despite appropriate diet changes and medications. To reach her, go to the Yahoo Equine Cushings and Insulin Resistance group at:

"SKODE & SUNNY"

Fast Help for Horses with Sensitive Stomachs

When the barometric pressure drops and the temperatures shift drastically -- which can happen by as many as 40 to 50 degrees in single day  in Southern Oregon --  Vashka, our Russian Arabian, gets gassy. I'm sure I don't have to tell you how serious colic is, whether it be gas colic or any other kind of colic.

So before things progress to anything worse than gas, I take action.

Over the years, I have breen able to refine these actions to three easy steps that really work for us at Skode's Horse Ranch. I'm excited to share them here with you because I know they work.

Obviously, each horse is an individual and if you have a horse prone to gut issues, or God forbid, colic, you will want to be in close contact with your veterinarian. That said, here is what we do:

1. A well-steeped herbal tea mixed with about 2 medium sized handfuls of cut and and sifted peppermint leaves, 1/4 cup cut and sifted Ginger Root and a small handful of Parsley. Place into a horse-size tea strainer (about 5 inches in diameter) and let steep in a litre of very hot water for 30 minutes to an hour. In an effort not to scald the peppermint leaves I do not use boiling water, but rather very hot water just about to boil.  Make sure to cover the tea as it steeps so that the volatile oils from the herbs do not escape into the air -- you want those as they are very consituents that most help your horse. Pour over grass hay pellets (not oats as oats are not as easily digested.
2. A live probiotic. Probios Gel for Equines works well, comes in a tube and is easily administered. Available at most feed stores nationwide. It's not cheap -- two doses costs between $5.49 and $6.50. However, it's a great jump start for a troubled horse who needs quick help. Afterward, you can always follow up with a powdered form for maintenance, which I strongly suggest. My equine nutritionist likes Ration Plus for maintenance.
3. "Gastricol" homeopathic spray from rivasremedies.com -- this combination of synergistic homeopathics is so effective I keep a bottle (comes in a spray pump) in my home, truck and emergency care kit. I have seen horses with upset stomachs start to yawn and express relief within seconds of administration. You have to pay shipping from Canada so it's not cheap. But I'll tell you what -- your peace of mind is worth it.

If you need a horse-size tea strainer, we sell those, as well as the herbal tea combinations mentioned in this post. Go to www.skodeshorsetreats.com and click on Our Herbal Teas in the left hand column under "Gourmet Menu."

I hope these action steps work as well for you as they have for us. I would love to hear about your experiences.

"SKODE"

         

How to Start Your Own Successful Horse Business

I get quite a few emails from people who tell me their dream is to have their own, full-time horse business. They work professional, sometimes very highly paid jobs. But they want to get out of the rat race so they can be happy.

"How did you do it?" they ask.

Here is the absolutely most important piece of advice I can give: Do what comes naturally. Do more of what already makes you happy.

Let me say that again. Don't seek the happiness. Do not sit there trying to dream up ideas that will make money. Instead, do more of what you already love to do!

Let me give you an example:

I know a woman whose absolute obsession in life is essential oils and horses. This woman makes the most divine, aromatic essential oil mixes for horses. And they sell like crazy. She is always back ordered. And she doesn't even have a finished logo for her products!

So forget about the 1-2-3- step approach to "making it in the horse world."  Forget about the way of thinking that says getting started in business means you have to go through struggle and hardship and work "really, really hard."

Imagine, instead, that there is a reason that doing what you love brings you so much joy! Imagine, that part of that reason is to share that joy.  What we need most on this planet -- more than anything else, in my opinion -- is joy.

If you could spend all day doing something just because you love it so much, what would that one thing be?

Nothing makes me happier than nudges and nickers from a horse. If you have been following my blog or my website (www.skodeshorsetreats.com), then you know I got into this business because of my determination to find safe, low sugar/low carbohydrate horse treats for my Insulin Resistant horses.  Nothing else existed -- not in the feed stores and not on the Internet -- so I made my own. First I made trail mix treats -- treats I thought a horse in Nature would choose if he could go on a nature hunt and pick whatever he liked -- and then I made horse cookies and then brownies and....well the ideas never ended!

I spend many happy hours researching horse nutrition books and going to local herb farms to find delicious and interesting things for horses to eat. I never did this to make money. I did this because it was my idea of fun. My business evolved naturally. It happened because I was simply being me. Then one day a friend walked into my garage and asked me if she could buy some of my treats. That was my first sale for Skode's Horse Treats, and the birth of Skode's Horse Treats Inc.

So sit for a moment and ask yourself: "What do I love most to do ?"

"SKODE"

How Harley Kept His Promise

Anyone who makes a lifetime commitment to a horse, faces the dreaded day when they will have to say goodbye to their cherished friend. That day for Harley and I came much earlier than I wanted.

This story is for those who face the heart-breaking decision of euthanizing their horse. It is also for anyone, who under any circumstances, has had to help their friend go to that place we call The Rainbow Ridge. This is a true story. It really, really happened.

I hope it brings you even a fraction of the hope and comfort it continues to bring me.

March 11, 2007: I looked into my Shetland Pony's big brown eyes and we talked, woman to pony. He tucked his nose beneath my armpit and said he was sorry. But it was time for him to go.

"I'm not afraid," he told me through animal communicator Mary Getten.

"I will try really, really hard to come and see you in my dreams."

March 14, 2007: I told Harley I would share the lessons he had taught me. I told him everything he went through would help other ponies.  We laid in the sunshine in the pine shavings outside the barn. A few hours later, the vet came.  at 3:30 p.m., I walked my friend to his favorite pasture. I grabbed his mane and whispered my final goodbye, trusting my little friend to keep his word.

The First Dream:  Harley's kiss was sweet and tender and full of love -- nose to forehead. A comforting little boy energy, as if to tell me: "Don't worry! I'm O.K."

I bolted awake.

The Second Dream: The pumpkin colored pony with the thick, golden mane ran as fast as he could through the silver gate and into the pasture. He loved the way his strong feet and legs connected to the muscles in his shoulders and in his entire body. He made me feel that, how exhilarating that felt.  "I'm a powerhouse," he thought at me. "Close to the ground but ready to fly."

Harley was flanked by two other ponies -- a black and white pinto and a chestnut. The three of them laughed as they burst into the wide open pasture.

The Third Dream: The early morning mist covered the Oregon Mountains. Harley walked easily, quickly, across the rock covered ground, his strong hooves impervious to their sharp and jagged edges.  Vashka and Sunny, Harley's close Arabian friends, greeted Harley with great happiness.  It had been a few weeks since they last talked.

Groggily, I made my way out the front door and into the paddock to feed Vashka and Sunny. It had been so hard to make the mental transition to caring for two horses instead of three. I had to keep telling myself: Two feed bowls, not three. Two blankets, not three. To treats, not three.

"Harley's not here anymore," I kept reminding myself.

But on that morning, there were three horses, not two. There was Harley, as vibrant and alive as ever.  He was so shiny and golden, as if he had eaten a thousand vitamins and been dunked in the sun itself.

"Harley!"

"Lori!"

My pony walked to me and nuzzled my hand.  Yes, it was really him. Completely healed. Completely happy. He wanted me to know that. So he had kept his promise and come back to show me.

He had kept his promise.

Now it was time for me to keep mine.

"SKODE"