wispagold
Well-Known Member
I have come across an interesting issue that I thought you guys might be able to help me out with.
Bit of background: I work for a ruminant feed mill and a friend of our MD has a horse. This friend keeps the horse in England over the summer and then takes it over to Majorca for the winter.
Apparently the horse is as good as gold in England but within a few days of being in Majorca starts to really get upset. The horse gets skittish, chucks people off, very out of character compared to how it behaves in England. This happens every year. They take all their forage out with them (hay etc) and their hard food. Work load is also similar.
The only changes that the owner can think of are the water supply which comes from a well and the grazing. We have an on site lab and are running a mineral assay on the water samples and soil, there is also a plant that they have bought back with them.
This is the plant- we are also sending this off for testing
Has anyone any idea what this plant might be (it smells kind of minty) or have any idea what might be causing the change in behaviour? I don't know what the climate in Majorca is like having never been there. I was wondering whether it might be Magnesium or whether the water is very acidic which might be causing problems like ulcers? I would have thought grazing would be sparse so might be a problem with forage intake as I am not sure what the feeding regime is.
I think I need some more info so if there are any questions I should be asking I will speak to the owner on Monday.
Any ideas?!
Bit of background: I work for a ruminant feed mill and a friend of our MD has a horse. This friend keeps the horse in England over the summer and then takes it over to Majorca for the winter.
Apparently the horse is as good as gold in England but within a few days of being in Majorca starts to really get upset. The horse gets skittish, chucks people off, very out of character compared to how it behaves in England. This happens every year. They take all their forage out with them (hay etc) and their hard food. Work load is also similar.
The only changes that the owner can think of are the water supply which comes from a well and the grazing. We have an on site lab and are running a mineral assay on the water samples and soil, there is also a plant that they have bought back with them.
This is the plant- we are also sending this off for testing
Has anyone any idea what this plant might be (it smells kind of minty) or have any idea what might be causing the change in behaviour? I don't know what the climate in Majorca is like having never been there. I was wondering whether it might be Magnesium or whether the water is very acidic which might be causing problems like ulcers? I would have thought grazing would be sparse so might be a problem with forage intake as I am not sure what the feeding regime is.
I think I need some more info so if there are any questions I should be asking I will speak to the owner on Monday.
Any ideas?!