Oberon/CPT... A quick question...

Queenbee

Queenbee

Well-Known Member
Joined
20 August 2007
Messages
12,020
Location
Cumbria
Visit site
How long after a feed change could a horse become 'footy'?

I can't quite put my finger on it, it's so very subtle as to almost be dismissed but im not content with Ben. the last few days he has come in and almost looked footy. It's almost as if he treads on a stone, but it must be the smallest stone in the world because he hits at faltering but doesn't quite if you get my meaning, but there are no real stones on the yard. It's been three days now, no worse, but every day, it's almost as if there is 1000 parts sound 1 part footy/tender. He is out at day.... The field is wet, but hey aren't they all at the moment:rolleyes:, he's in at night and is on a pellet bed so his feet get to really dry out and he has a nice large stable so gets hard standing too. He has 2 haynets at night and up till recently was on fast fibre. 4 weeks ago we switched to Alfa oil. That is the only change.


Last summer he was slightly footy on our gravel carpark but only on that but I didn't overly worry as he was great weight wise, unridden and stood in a field all day. Later that year I mentioned to the trainer I sent him to that she may find him funny with stony terrain until his feet toughen up, but she reported he was great, and indeed I have not had a problem with him at all. The only thing back then that I see now was again, in the summer he was on alpha oil until ebony got ill and refused the alpha and so I bought a stupid amount of fast fibre, he was on this up until last payday and I thought with the winter, and him being clipped I'd buy some Alfa oil especially since he was starting to get bored with the fast fibre and leave it.

He has about 2/3 scoop twice a day, I know Alfalfa isn't always the best for barefoots... But thought he would be ok on it, am I right that if I started him on it four weeks ago and he is now slightly not right.... This is ample time to be able to put it down to the alfalfa? I'm kicking myself now for not buying something like hifi and considering getting a bag of hifi and fast fibre and just giving him ff with a token of hifi to make it more appealing to him. :( or do you just reckon it could be the foul weather, the wet etc? But to my mind of thinking, it's been wet for ages so I'd have seen it before. Tell me if I'm on the right track please:o
 
Not who you FAO'd it to - but yes Id say that would be a distinct possibility.

Take it away and go back to the Fast Fibre - but add a handful of spearmint one day, fennel seeds the next, turmeric the next etc. :)
 
It could be the alfalfa.. my boy went footy on it. Took him off it for a few months. Then had no choice but to go back and he was fine. Horses are weird.
 
The really sensitive ones can be 24 to 48 hours. Plenty of time for the alfalfa to have done the trick.

Since donig barefoot I am absolutely amazed how many horses simply can't tolerate the stuff.
 
TigerTail said:
Not who you FAO'd it to - but yes Id say that would be a distinct possibility.

Take it away and go back to the Fast Fibre - but add a handful of spearmint one day, fennel seeds the next, turmeric the next etc. :)
Click to expand...

That's a good idea, I think it's a combination of him getting bored with the flavour and not liking slop, so spearmint sounds like an excellent idea, out of interest the fennel seeds and tumeric... Are they purely appetisers or do they have other properties?

cptrayes said:
The really sensitive ones can be 24 to 48 hours. Plenty of time for the alfalfa to have done the trick.

Since donig barefoot I am absolutely amazed how many horses simply can't tolerate the stuff.
Click to expand...

I'm amazed, it's only the slightest hint of something not quite right, to others, they can't see it, but to me it is glaring because its just so not him:o. Poor little mite and very bad and ashamed mommy:o. I'm going to give the Alfa bag away to a shod horse;)

Right, thank god it's payday tomorrow:rolleyes:
 
Also consider the frosty grass we've had this last two weeks is super sugary too.

I gave my old boy alfalfa pellets and they didn't work for him - his soles were flat while he was on them.
 
rema said:
Really?..Why..I have a lami prone horse and have been really carefull not to turn him out on frosty mornings..I would be interested to know if it was all baloney..
Click to expand...

Hang on rema, I am trawling the www for the source of my confusion... I'll be back hopefully declaring I am mad and dreamed the whole thing... :confused::confused::confused::rolleyes:
 
OberBaubles said:
Also consider the frosty grass we've had this last two weeks is super sugary too.

I gave my old boy alfalfa pellets and they didn't work for him - his soles were flat while he was on them.
Click to expand...

We haven't had any real frost down here in Cornwall. I'm just glad that I've spotted it so soon before he really started to get bad, hopefully I can change the diet and he will be right as rain in no time.
 
I am back. This is not the paper I got it from but I'm damned if I can find it again...

http://www.safergrass.org/pdf/JEVS8-05.pdf

So basically, it is stressed grass you need to watch for, not necessarily frosty, as in the paper it says sometimes wet conditions leach everything out anyway. I will keep trying to find the table I am looking for when it shows the differences in NSC of frost stressed grass and summer grass. The was hardly any difference!

Basically, if you have a laminitic, just don't give it grass! But then, my boy who was laminitic, once his metabolism was sorted lived out 24/7 on fertilised grass so... It's not as cut and dry (ooh a pun!) as we would like it to be.
 
If you want a barefoot friendly non-sloppy alternative to fast fibre that is also good for keeping weight on try speedibeet. I make it up but drain off the water because mine won't eat "slop"
 
The_Snow_Queen said:
...out of interest the fennel seeds and tumeric... Are they purely appetisers or do they have other properties?
Click to expand...

Don't know anything about Fennel, but Turmeric is a good natural 'joint supplement'...

"The active constituent known as curcumin has been shown to protect against free radical damage to dna.curcumin reduces inflammation by lowering histamine levels and by increasing production of natural cortisone by the adrenal glands."

It's excellent for people too!

http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/20-health-benefits-of-turmeric.html
 
KristmasKat said:
If you want a barefoot friendly non-sloppy alternative to fast fibre that is also good for keeping weight on try speedibeet. I make it up but drain off the water because mine won't eat "slop"
Click to expand...

Thank you :) when I had him on ff I always tried to put as little water in as possible... Speedibeet may be n option, but I'm an impatient cow and even that takes too long for me:rolleyes: I do know when he was a youngster he flatly refused ff, now he's no where near that bad now, in the old days the bowl would be untouched overnight:(. But back then just a handful of hifi added and he would eat it, so that may well be the way forward.

Liath said:
Don't know anything about Fennel, but Turmeric is a good natural 'joint supplement'...

"The active constituent known as curcumin has been shown to protect against free radical damage to dna.curcumin reduces inflammation by lowering histamine levels and by increasing production of natural cortisone by the adrenal glands."

It's excellent for people too!

http://www.healthdiaries.com/eatthis/20-health-benefits-of-turmeric.html
Click to expand...

Yeah, I googled it earlier and saw this...

OberBaubles said:
Fennel eases bloat and settles the gut.
Click to expand...

And this... But if he isn't bloated and has good stool and fibre based diet, is it really worth bothering with fennel? I can't see a reason to, although perhaps I'm missing something.

tallyhohoho! said:
Yes sorry qb....

But just one more......

http://www.thehorse.com/articles/18837/finding-and-testing-low-sugar-forage

:D
Click to expand...

Lol! That's fine :D
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top