How can we find out what/if my horse is deficient in?

PooJay

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As title suggests really - my girl is seemingly ok, glossy coat, feet of steel (horsefink) happy etc however a friend has just started down the barefoot road, been barefoot for 4 weeks now and there's not much change in the foot. They're hard and ok enough but they're not growing fast enough and there is no concavity appearing, there's also slight WLD in around the white line which isn't serious (and this could well be the muddy weather we're experiencing) but obviously needs addressing.

I think she needs to address something in the diet - she asked me, but what though - my reply is generally, I have no idea - i've always gone down the trial and error route which is expensive and difficult to monitor. She's on equinourish by Trinity and a magnesium supplement on top of that.

We're unable to get the hay analysed as it comes from different sources a lot of the time through our yard.

So - my question is (finally) is there any blood/urine/anything tests we can send off to someone to work out what they horses may need?

Thanks for reading! :)
 

ThePony

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Blood, urine etc isn't very useful (although better than nothing if that is your only option) as it is only a snapshot, only tells you what is there in the horse - anything missing might be because not enough of it is being given to the horse/not enough of something that helps it be absorbed/an excess of something that prevents it being absorbed. So, it might let you have an idea of what is going on, but would make next steps of fixing it pretty difficult!

Our hay also comes from different suppliers, but all reasnobly local (within 10/15 miles I guess) so we just got our grazing analysed. Ok, so it might not be 100% perfect, but enables us to get things closer to being right than just guessing!!

Deficiencies seem to affect different horses to varying extents. Both of ours are on the same diet (always have been) and are in similar amounts of work. On prev un-balanced diet (grazing turns out to be more crap than we thought!) one grew brilliant feet and was rock crunching v easily out of shoes. The other persisted with flat feet, and was footy over more challening surfaces. Both had their diet changed to new balanced diet - rock crunching mare continues to be, and flat footed sensitive mare is growing some waaaay better feet!
 

Miss L Toe

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I am no nutritionist, but I know there is no foolproof blood test, I have just spoken [email that is] to Matt [a nutritionist who believes in a plain diet: fibre, linseed, and minerals] at Equimins and he suggests I only need to use Equmins Advance, in addition to his current diet of linseed and Speedy Beet, even though he is now barefoot and is not rock-crunching, , I feed 80gm of Micronised Linseed Meal and 15gms of Steady up [spooky and in low Mg area]
I know my boy is glowing with health on his current diet, which includes extra magnesium, the skin is great and coat is lovely dark and glossy.
Even though you are getting hay in from different sources, I think you can collect small samples over a period and send them off, with some dried grass from your grazing [use kitchen scissors] to Forage Plus, for a complete analysis and recommendations. due to the cost of transport most hay will be locally sourced, if you look in to it.
 

PooJay

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thanks guys, i am leaving my puter now so i won't be able to reply but i will forward this on to my friend so she can have a gander at any help offered :)thanks muchly!
 

cundlegreen

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If I have any problems with my horses, I send a urine and faeces sample to Folklore Practice in Suffolk. They are very good at telling you what is deficient, and will then make you up a homeopathic supplement to correct problems. I've had some really good results.
 

Oberon

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As title suggests really - my girl is seemingly ok, glossy coat, feet of steel (horsefink) happy etc however a friend has just started down the barefoot road, been barefoot for 4 weeks now and there's not much change in the foot. They're hard and ok enough but they're not growing fast enough and there is no concavity appearing, there's also slight WLD in around the white line which isn't serious (and this could well be the muddy weather we're experiencing) but obviously needs addressing.

I think she needs to address something in the diet - she asked me, but what though - my reply is generally, I have no idea - i've always gone down the trial and error route which is expensive and difficult to monitor. She's on equinourish by Trinity and a magnesium supplement on top of that.

We're unable to get the hay analysed as it comes from different sources a lot of the time through our yard.

So - my question is (finally) is there any blood/urine/anything tests we can send off to someone to work out what they horses may need?

Thanks for reading! :)

Testing the horse is notoriously unreliable (other than for whole blood selenium levels) as it's only a snapshot of that moment's digestion.

The best way is to analyse your forage and balance the minerals accordingly.

If you don't have a regular supply then there are two supplements on the market at the moment that are designed to compliment UK forage (lower in iron, higher in zinc and copper). They are Pro Hoof (available on eBay but currently sold out) and Equimins META Balance (order from the by request as it's 'off the menu').

Add to micronised linseed (in winter only) and a non molassed base (Fast Fibre/unmolassed beet/hay chaff/oat straw chaff)

Simple - but about the best you'll find!
 
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