One Year Ulcer Free

I can hardly believe it myself but it's been a full year of Ben being ulcer free. I never knew what to expect when he was so sick. Those were easily some of the darkest times for us. I always had my suspicion of ulcers but never knew they could wreck so much havoc, that they could get that out of control. I was always very on top of Ben & aware of the ulcer possibility. Medication is what healed them, but change is what keeps them away. You can throw a round a ulcer medications at a horse hundreds of times, but until you are willing to step it up & make the needed changes to actually fix the problem. Ulcers are a vicious cycle that grabs hold of you & spins you in this circle until you hit the bottom. Stop the cycle make the changes. As I've said many times ulcers are almost always a secondary cause to a primary condition. The primary cause can be a wide range of things such as the type of grain you feed, feeding too much grain, not providing hay 24/7, not enough turnout, pain, training, lessons, shows, trailering, or changing field mates the list is endless. Just because you don't think it's stressful does not mean your horse feels the same way. Listen to your horse their voice is a lot louder than you believe. An ulcer horse is not always what they appear to be on the outside. They may look the perfection of health on the outside but on the inside tells a whole different story. Ben was at his heaviest when he had ulcers wrecking through his GI tract. A few simple things to remember are turnout is a major part of your horses physical & mental well being so the more the better! Grain is not your horses friend ever & is only to be used when 20-30 lbs of hay a day is not enough to sustain their weight. When you do use grain small frequent meals are a must & choose your grain very wisely. Hay is so very important to your horse. Like the saying goes forage first! Your horse should never run out of hay. It should be available 24/7 & in slow feeder nets ideally. If your horse is overweight do not limit the hay cut back the grain. Reevaluate your routines & if they are meshing with your horse. Preventative care is great so be sure to make sure your saddle fits, your horse is not out of place chiropractic wise & I'm sure they could use a nice massage to keep those muscles feeling & performing their best. Treat your horse like a horse first & things will naturally begin to align. 

Ben has been doing very well lately. He is fully enjoying his retirement spending his days however he chooses. His weight is finally at a good place as is his maintenance routine. I have made changes since my last blog post. Ben is still getting his healthy whole food diet Crypto Aero at 6 lbs a day split 3 ways & doing wonderfully on that inside & out. He still receives his Astrid's Oil now at the maintenance dose of 20 mls a day. I have added a vitamin & mineral supplement for seniors with no added iron that has also been a great addition. His vitamin E is kept at higher levels of 4,000 IUs a day & that keeps his muscles up & his cns happy! I've put him back on his Smartflex Senior herb free joint support, chia seeds have come back at 4 oz a day (love those seeds!), & he receives 3/4 a cup whole flaxseed twice a day. Hay wise he is on just alfalfa hay because it seems to keep his weight the best & make his stomach happy. He has as much as he wants to eat available 24/7 in nibblenets. He is also staying on the Assure Guard Gold for stomach, hindgut & sand support. The above has been a fabulous combo for him & I do not plan on making any changes unless an issue arises. I have trialed many different programs & after over a year since him being sick I have finally figured what works best for him. He continues to live out 24/7 which has been amazing for his overall wellness inside & out the change in him is so obvious. I have people tell me all the time now how happy Ben looks. It's nice to hear that for a change. He still gets his 4 week massages, toe trims, & chiro/acupuncture every 5 months. He just had his vaccines & routine check over where everything was just as it should be. 

I hope people have found this blog helpful to them & maybe even made some much needed changes for your own horse. I am no expert but know what Ben has gone through & what helped turn him around for the better. Don't keep falling into the circle that sucks you in break free & take those steps to make the changes. It's so easy to get caught up in cycle of just treating the symptoms instead of actually fixing the route of the problem. You keep playing with fire & you will get burned. Take it from my experience ulcers are a big deal. 

No Scope No Hope?

So in this blog i'm going to go back into ulcers. As the title states no scope no hope....but it's not what my fellow Hunter/Jumper's may be thinking! Scoping aka Gastric Endoscopy is in relation to ulcer check! I'm going to go over why I believe it's very important to actually scope for ulcers & not just throw things & by things I mean random tubes of Ulcergard & various supplements in hopes of winning the (or what it feels like) never ending ulcer feud. So here we gooooo...

Gastric Endoscopy is not fun & i'm not here to sugar coat it. You have to starve your beloved companion for over 12 hrs with not even a drop of hay. When you see your horse that morning it will bring hangry to a whole new level. You may notice teeth grinding because with not eating that long the acid begins burning your horses GI tract extra good. After your horse has been starved you have to then sedate them because who is actually going to stand a foreign object being shoved so far into your nostrils that it makes it to your stomach? Once the endoscope is in place the real picture of what's going on is finally revealed. Now the endoscope only goes so far & it does not include anything past the stomach & we all know how long a horses entrie GI tract is, but it gives you a great indication of how things are without the guess work. With the scope you are able to get a diagnosis. You are able to get a grade on the ulcers. You are actually able to come up with a legitimate treatment plan & not one you "think" will work. The cheapest part of treating ulcers is the scope. The expensive part comes afterwards & why are you willing to throw your money around not knowing what your dealing with? Think of all the time & money you could have saved by just scoping & following a good treatment plan you work out with your vet? Let me guess oh well I'm trying this new supplement or doing the ulcergard like this.....when in reality the only thing your actually doing is prolonging things, not fixing the problem or treating properly & in the interim wasting your money, time, & horses comfort. STOP! Get the proper diagnosis you may be lucky & not even have an ulcer issue & can redirect your plan to something else.  Just a reminder scoping is for gastric ulcers NOT colonic ulcers so if your lucky to not have a gastric ulcer problem don't forget the GI tract is veryyyyy long so don't forget the possibility of colonic ulceration as well. So do your horse, yourself, & your wallet a favor & just get a real diagnosis. Treating blindly will not work it may by you time, but you will always have a reoccurring problem.

Another reason to not throw random tubes of ulcergard at your horse is you don't know what your attempting to treat! Sure the label says this, but does your horses stomach? While I do feel Gastrogard is a great treatment medication, I do not think it is something to play around with. It has long term side effects & you can cause an even bigger problem if you don't know what your horse actually needs to heal. I have tried a lot of supplements from Aloe to high end products ect. & sure they bought Ben time, but after so long it's not enough. I would never play the guessing game again. This is why I am writing what I am. Maybe someone can read this & heed a warning. Ulcergard is like playing with fire it's great & very useful but you better watch you don't get burned because when used improperly your asking for trouble & more than you bargained for. So please again get a proper diagnosis on your horses grade of ulcers & follow your vets instructions.

After scoping & treating properly you need to do some detective work as to WHY your horse got ulcers in the first place. They don't just automatically hang out in your horses GI tract for the fun of it. Ulcers are almost always a secondary condition to a primary cause. Sometimes you won't always find that exact cause. Honestly I'm not sure I actually found Ben's. What I do know is you need to take a good hard look at your riding & management currently. Grain is your enemy  (some are better than others though) & especially in overload talk about a burning stomach ache! Access to hay & alfalfa 24/7 is your best friend especially in the form of a nibblenet! Stall keeping is not your friend either ok your horse gets 8 hrs outside a day but what about the other 16 hrs.... oohhh you didn't think of it that way well i'm sure your over 1,000 pound horse might.....?  Showing, training, trailering, NSAIDS, illness, herd changes, not enough turnout, not enough hay, pain from anywhere, high grain diets loaded with fillers & gmos & who knows what else are all reasons your horse can & will have ulcers. Ulcers can form in as little as 5 days (I dare you to google it if you question it) that's pretty damn short if you ask me!

Ok you did the scope, the correct treatment plan, & made some great changes in your horses management which is all great! So does that mean that while your horse is being treated you can just continue on as if nothing is wrong because you put a band aid on it temporarily right so it's ok right? WRONG! Give your horse a break! I don't mean forever but while your undergoing treatment yes! What you are doing or where doing was not working clearly. Ulcers are an injury not one you can see to the naked eye (hence the scope!) but they are an injury to the GI tract they can bleed & everything!!!!! They do not heal overnight though with te proper meds you can see an almost immediate difference but this does not mean its ok to saddle up & go for a ride. As with any injury time is your friend. Sorry it may ruin your immediate show plans or lesson plans but in the long wrong your horse & wallet will thank you. By treating everything proper the first time around you will save money, time, your horse, & give you a better shot at remaining ulcer free!

So this boils it all down to scope, proper treatment for your horse (not your friends) , make some big changes, & some R&R! Take that down time to spend quality time with your horse. Form a strong relationship on the ground & when you get back in the saddle you will have a stronger team in the end!

Springing into Health

Spring is finally here & so is full blown shedding season! Ben is shedding out very well this season which is a good indication of metabolic health! His weight is continuously improving & his muscling is looking great! I haven't updated in awhile because I wanted to give the changes I had made a few months ago a really good run. So in this blog I will give my opinion on the things we've done!

Let's start with his feed. As I've mentioned before in my other blogs I changed Ben's feed entirely. I switched him to a feed called Crypto Aero. It's a wholefood with all natural ingredients free from soy, wheat, corn, molasses, fillers, barely & GMO's. It's an oat based feed with lots of great additives some being de-hulled sunflower seeds, rosehips, spirulina, papaya, cabbage & the list goes on! I was nervous because he was going to be eating half of what he had been eating previously & he's the hardest keeper ever! Well over 2 months later & he is improving everyday! He is doing great with this diet change & eats 6 lbs a day split between 3 meals. He loves it & his body is getting the much needed detox from commercial feeds that have a lot of not so great ingredients! I highly recommend this feed to anyone looking to change their horses health inside & out for the better!

I also added the supplement Crypto Aero Plus to compliment his feed. It again has all natural ingredients that support your horse from the inside out. It has replaced his stomach, hoof, & joint supplement & he's been doing great with it! It fills in any vitamin or mineral gaps that may be present as well. Ben loves the taste & very much enjoys eating this green powder!

His next supplement is his Vitamin E with added SE. Ben gets a total of 4,500 IU's of Vitamin E. Again unless your horse is grazing on lush pasture for a minimum of 12 hrs per day they are not meeting their vitamin e requirements. In order to survive they need a minimum of 1,000 IU's & more if working or nervous system issues or age. I went ahead & added the Selenium portion to his vitamin e as they compliment each other & our area is deficient in SE. His feed also does not contain any selenium. So he is given only 1 mg a day.

Another favorite is his Astrid's Oil! This product has helped transform & recover him from his ulcer history. That's nice to here & write that it's history! Astrid's Oil is again cold compressed oat oil that supports the entire horse from the inside out & gives your horse what it lacks. That's the best way for me to describe it based off of what I have seen it do after 4 months of use! Love it & cannot recommend it enough for all horses!

Flaxseed is another product I have added to Ben's feeding regimen. I chose to ground whole flaxseeds myself daily & keep in fridge until fed. This is the best way to give flax & most cost effective. Ben receives 2 cups daily split between 2 feedings. Some of you might be gasping 2 cups! Yes 2 cups..... again much research you can feed up to a pound of flax safely. It's when you go over a pound (not a cup) that it can cause issues. Ben eats 1/2 pound a day. He loves the taste & it has no added ingredients like many other products that are flax based.

The last supplement he gets is of course his Assure Plus for sand removal. Again this is the best & most recommended product for removing sand. It is proven more effective & has the added benefit of pro & prebiotics.

With bug season quickly approaching & Ben switching to a more natural approach to life (which is proving its worth very nicely) I have decided to try garlic. I know some of you say yay some of you say neigh. Yes I have read literally every piece of literature about garlic prior to my decision to use it. I have also check with trusted friends who use garlic & both his vets including the specialist that saw him at the hospital for his ulcers. Every single person has given garlic the green light to go. So with that I bought Springtime Incs. Bug Off Garlic! Ben was a little wary of the new taste but seemed agreed with its aroma straight off the bat. After a sprinkle on some carrots he seems to rather enjoy eating it to my surprise! So since he has been on garlic for only a few days I cannot give my full experience with it yet until bug season has been in full swing & its had time to fully get into his system which takes 2-4 weeks alone (hence start early).

So this is where things are currently at to keep Ben happy & ulcer free! Let's not forget along with these things he also receives 24/7 turnout & 12-16 pounds of alfalfa hay a day & free choice grass hay always available. Making changes for your horse is very important when first diagnosed with ulcers. I am happy to say I finally found the perfect program for Ben & he is thriving on it! He has never been so happy!

Making the Heathier Switch

As many of you probably already know & read, Ben had made some big changes with his feeding management. For a refresher for those who don't remember here it is.... Ben was eating 9 quarts a day of Cavalor feed. Two quarts Fiberforce & 1 Quart senior three times a day. His weight never really came back from when he was sick with his severe ulcers. Anyone that knows Ben knows that his weight fluctuates at the drop of a hat. You don't know a hard keeper until you met Ben! He did just ok on the Cavalor & sometimes looked decent & sometimes did not. He was able to stay ulcer free while eating it, but certainly didn't thrive on it. So after trying numerous ways to get him to gain weight without increasing his grain which is a big NO especially for ulcer prone horses (which lets be real is basically all horses..) I finally made a huge leap or at least it felt that way. I was finally able to purchase the much awaited Astrids Oil after I had been legit stalking it since Ben was diagnosed with severe ulcers. It has only just as of December become available for those USA folks! So I began the oil & within 3 days noticed some pretty amazing changes. Now not quiet 2 months on the oil & he's gained at least 50 pounds of weight & muscle. The oil is cold compressed oat oil. So after seeing these amazing results rom just oat oil the wheels in my brain began spinning drastically. If Ben was improving so much from an oat oil imagine what he might do on whole oats as a main part of his diet..... 

I had also been stalking the Crypto Aero feed since the summer, but due to again limited availability I would have had to drive 2 hours just to buy it. Trust me I thought about it too! So I had to just sit back & wait. Well again just recently the feed store that I had already been buying Ben's cavalor feed begn carrying the Crypto Aero feed! You know the emoji on your phone with the hearts as eyes? Yea that was me when I found out it was within the reach of my grabbing fingers. So after many lengthy conversations with the Crypto feed owner I decided to take a leap off a cliff is how I like to put that one. I was excited but nervous because Ben looses weight if the wind blows the wrong way (he always has even as a youngster!) I went ahead & began the transition to the Crypto within a week. Now over 2 full weeks into the change I am astounded at the results. He does not need this feed soaked & able to chew it perfectly fine. He has not lost any weight which that alone is amazing. He is eating the higher amount they recommend at 6 pounds a day (due to his hard keeper nature) but after 4 full weeks you revaluate & make changes at that time. Why 4 weeks? Their body & GI tract are basically going through a detoxing program from eating soy, corn, wheat scraps, fillers, overload of sugars, & overload of GMO's. The GI tract is being built up again to restore its normal state that it once was. I also decided to put Ben on the supplement that compliments the feed. Crypto Aero Plus is an al around vitamin & mineral supplement that supports the entire horse inside & out. Ben loves the flavor & I must say it tastes pretty good! (not that I've eaten it...)

I have been doing a ton & I mean a ton of research into why whole food diets are better for horses.... The main reason is that its what horses are supposed to eat!!! Why is it that horses have so many metabolic issues these days & GI issues as apposed to years & years ago before "fortified bagged feeds" became the norm? Isn't this a clue & wake up call that we are the ones screwing up horses??? We need a serious change in how things are done. Whole foods & letting horses live like they were meant to along with 24/7 hay access. No I am no expert nor do I claim to be one, but I can tell you the differences & I don't mean minor ones at making & implementing these changes to Ben. He is a completely different horse than a year ago & even before that. He's moving so much better, he's gaining weight & muscle, he's happier , he's extremely ridiculously shiny (LOL), his overall demeanor is alert yet has an apparent calmness & tranquility about it. He is just plain happy inside & out finally. 

Your horse may "appear" to be doing great & even look shiny & healthy but I'm sure there's something (there always is!) that isn't where it should be. Like feet aren't great or GI issues, or overweight, or shiny but bleached out, or too much energy or not enough energy. All these things are signals. Ben looked awesome when his ulcers began he was borderline being too heavy actually & had a great shine & things "appeared" great but low & behold his GI tract was plotting a war against him.

Ben's new healthy regimen will be Crypto Aero, Astrid's Oil, Crypto Aero Plus, & Assure Plus (for sand removal). That simple & that's it. He will continue with his alfalfa at 2 flakes per day (around 12 pounds) & free choice grass hay in slow feeder nets (nibblenets), plain salt block, Himalayan salt lick, Redmond Rock salt lick, 24/7 turnout, & his awesome little solar tank that keeps powering through to ensure water is always available despite any weather conditions!  

Here is a before & after photo top being today & bottom before the new changes!

1 Year Later

This day last year went very differently. Today it was a warm pleasant spring like day filled with a shinning, dapples, & happy Ben. Last year however played a different tune. It's hard to forget. It was warmer but there was an unforgiving rain that seemed to pelt you into the hole that I had seemed to be hurrying myself in. Not knowing what the outcome would be as we traveled an hour up north. The emotions that swirled through my mind & my most precious son quietly traveling in the trailer behind us. He was grinding his teeth that morning after his fast & he was beat down from his gas colic just a few days before. We arrive at the hospital & though it's big & the surrounding areas were as pretty as a picture it's not a place you want to be at, not for why we were there. The office had a warm feeling especially after being soaked from the rain. It was almost time for Ben's exam the one we had been waiting for since my deduction to take him. What it would reveal was yet to be determined. They unload Ben from the trailer & take him to a holding stall until the room was ready. He began his ever too familiar pattern of circles without hesitation. He had come to hate stalls & any confinement for that matter. He had come to feel trapped like he couldn't escape something & it was his way of coping with it. Not too long after we were called in & Ben was already there waiting quietly. They began the hundreds of questions & began the initial exam. Shortly after he passed that he was sedated & the much anticipated scope had begun. Now I'm no expert at gastroscope but I knew it wasn't normal. I had figured he had ulcers all along, but not to the extent I saw on that little screen. No wonder he was loosing his mind & his body all at the same time. His stomach was in a constant state of burning with no escape. After the gastroscope he was then shaved for his ultrasound. It revealed nothing major other than signs of colonic ulcers as well which led the vet to then run the succeed test to confirm. Boy did it confirm alright. He was poked & proded & ultrasounded on the outside & the inside. Everything checked out fine except for the fact that he had severe ulcers burning his entire GI tract. Relieved that nothing else had been found I couldn't help but still feel upset. His ulcers had been causing him so much anguish for a long while. I was scared that if this treatment didn't work where would we go from there. 

It was time for Ben to wake up from his sedation & for them to come up with an extensive treatment plan. As I waited for the medications & Ben to be ready to be trailered back home I was surged with so many emotions I couldn't quiet express how I was feeling. It's almost like I was in a daze. Being thrown so many curve balls all at once & trying to catch them all at the same time. Once the medications were explained I was even more overwhelmed. So much information had just been handed to me & I was trying to think how I was going to make it all work. The soakings were 5 times a day between the first two medications alone. Ben was ready to go & they had given him a dose of his sucralfate for the trailer ride home. He eagerly started munching his hay starving from his fast the night prior. I made many phone calls as so many people wanted to see how he was & what we found on the ride home. After the calls I just sat there trying to grasp everything & hoping things would start to look up & he would be healthy once again. It was hard to picture that back then. He had been sick for awhile & each time hit him harder than the last & no one knew what was wrong with him. My instincts told me ulcers, but I never knew they could cause all the harm & chaos they did. I wasn't totally blindsided but I wasn't fully aware either.

Fast forward to one year later exactly & I feel like I just now finally got my Ben back. Yes it took that long. Yes he has been doing well, but I hadn't quiet figured out a perfect plan for him though I tried many different things. He is back to being my Ben 100% & then some. He's happy he's got a great appetite, he's moving well, he's put on tons of weight & condition, & I finally feel I have him in he right place. I feel it in my instincts. He's on an extremely healthy food free of GMO, wheat,soy, & any other crap they put in horse feeds now a days & call them healthy. He's on Crypto Aero wholefood. Asitrids oil has been nothing short of astronomically amazing for him from the inside out & gave him that extra glove to catch those curve balls. He's on a great stomach/hindgut/sand support supplement Assure Guard Gold & he's on high levels of Vitamin E & joint support. He's never been happier & neither have I. He had been through hell & back & seeing how he is today brings nothing short of tears of pure joy & happiness. Crazy how different one year can be. I'm just glad this one is different than the last. 

The "I think my horse has ulcers"

Just as the title states this blog is for the people that have that thought in their head regarding their horse. It's mind blowing to read through posts on the internet with so many people who state "I think my horse has ulcers" & what do they do about it? Not what you should be doing..... I don't understand why people have this idea in their head that ulcers are not a big deal...what you can't see won't hurt right? WRONG! I along with many other horse owners have gone through just how bad ulcers can truly be & the havoc they can wreck in your horses & your life. Sure you may try this supplement & you may make a few minor adjustments & you may get lucky that those things might actually work.... but have you really truly completely healed the problem or have you masked the symptoms enough to where you "think" everything is just fine..... Scary thought... Ulcers are not an easy 1 2 fix & wham you'll never have an issue again. Ulcers are almost always a secondary condition to a primary cause & it's your job to figure out both. Is it easy? HECK NO! It's extremely hard to figure it out & even harder to keep it all under control! Ulcers are never easy or cheap & trying to "get away with" the lazy route will get your right back to where you started quicker than you thought.

I recently read an article written by a vet & that vet made a very bold but in my opinion very true statement. He wrote "there are two types of horses, those that have ulcers & those that WILL have ulcers". We create a lot of horses problems these days by our feeding & management. Years ago horses never had half the issues they have now & I don't even mean just ulcers! Getting horses back to the basics with how we feed them & how we manage them is key to their success & your long term healthy, happy partner under saddle. Many things nowadays are for the convenience of the horse owner not what the horse truly needs to thrive. So why is it half of you reading this probably have a little thought in your head maybe my horse has ulcers & you just push it to the back & not do anything about it? Why is it not a big deal? Ok you haven't had a major issue ....yet.... but how lucky do you feel in a few weeks, months, or even year? 

Depending on your horses pain tolerance level & how well they hide things it can be hard to tell if there is a problem. Sometimes horses can be screaming at you & no one seems to listen, but instead play it off as "bad behavior" or "poor training". Nine times out of ten a behavior issue is the result of a physical/ medical issue not a "training issue" or "bad behavior" issue. Yes some are training & behavior, but you need to look at everything. Has your horse recently moved to a new barn, changed field mates, food changes, trailering, competition, more riding, pain somewhere, suddenly behaving badly even if it's as minor as a head toss or tail swish, not eating as much, touchy when being groomed, moody, anything at all? Any & all of those things can cause ulcers & in as little as 5 days. Yes 5 days is all it takes for an ulcer to form....Let me guess my horse is in perfect weight & condition & super shiny so clearly there is no ulcers right..... NO.... they may "appear" perfect on the outside but their insides might be screaming & burning.

The ulcer grade scale runs from 1-4 with 1 being the least severe & may show little to no symptoms depending on the horse & 4 being the absolute worst & hardest to treat. Bleeding is usually for grade 3 & up ulcers. Ok your thinking well I will just try some supplements & maybe a round of ulcergard & I should be good to go.... sure if your lucky & have maybe 1 ulcer at grade one... but if not then no your mostly doing more harm then good. Treating a horse blindly for an injury such as ulcers is like putting a blindfold on & aiming for a small target in a big field maybe you will hit it just right or you will miss altogether. Scoping is the best option. Is it fun for you or the horse no. Is it worth it yes. You will know exactly what you are dealing with & HOW to deal with it. Ben needed 3 medications to treat his ulcers. He was on Gastrogard prior to scoping & he still hit rock bottom! Gastrogard does NOT treat the entire stomach so depending on where your ulcers are you may be doing nothing! Ben had them coating his entire GI tract & while the Gastrogard helped it was not enough so we still had a problem! Gastrogard & Sucralfate do not reach the hindgut so they will not treat the hindgut/colonic ulcers. Ben was on a separate medication for his colonic ulcers. He was also treated for 6 months with extremely slow tapering doses of all the medications. You can't just throw ulcergard at them for a month & call it a day more like call it an even bigger problem because now you haven't tapered off & created gastric rebound effect yay!

This blog is based off the experience I have gone through, my opinion, & the countless hours of research I have done. If you don't agree or believe it stop reading & google things for yourself. Open up your eyes & your horse will thank you. No not every single horse has an ulcer problem & i'm not trying to say you ignore your horse or anything of the such. What I am saying is monitor your horse & if you find yourself even possibly thinking there might be an ulcer don't put it off to the back of your mind, but instead make some changes. Take a look at things & change them! Management & diet explore those avenues. Have a vet check your horse for any pain issues, make sure your tack fits properly , run some blood work , make sure the teeth are level & your not having sudden problems. Run a succeed equine fecal blood test! It's cheap easy & will give you an indication if there is an issue. It's not 100% because it's to be used as a part of other diagnostic tests & overall well being. Your horse may still have a problem despite negative results because you ran that test for a reason right?

Positive Changes for 2017

Once again I have been slacking on the blog writing, but to my defense I made changes & wanted to give a better opinion on them! So where to being now? I ran this months Succeed Fecal Blood Test & it was picture perfect negative! I had switched his GI supplement to Ritetrac to see if I would notice any better improvements, but I did not & therefor saw no reason to continue with a supplement he showed no improvements with. He was on it for a little over two weeks & if there was going to be a change I would have noticed something. So I went back to my tried & trusted Assure products. I did however step up to the highest support level called Assure Guard Gold. I am even more in love with this product.... why? Because it supports the major 3 areas needed! The stomach, hindgut & sand removal all in one supported everyday! Ben loves the pellets & it's easy dosing & I know he's getting the highest level of support! I recommend any of the Assure products to any horse. They have all different levels of support for whatever your needs may be!

Another change that has made a complete 180 so to speak is adding Astrid's Oil to his diet. What is it? Cold compressed oat oil is what it is! Why is that so amazing because it gives the horse what it lacks & needs support in. For Ben he needed weight/condition & always could use some added GI support! He has packed on pounds & muscle like nobodies business! He has been on the oil for 22 days & I am extremely impressed with what I see. He is gaining weight, muscle, overall happier/calmer, getting up better, appetite increase, water intake increase, & the shine on him was always good but now you need your sunglasses to look at him! This is the only oil on the market that is like this & it only just became available in December. I highly recommend all horse owners look into it & highly consider it. I cannot even do a description justice on what this product can do for your horse. The oat oil contains all the benefits of feeding oats without the starch content if that is a major concern. It's extremely high in polar lipids which have amazing benefits & properties one being strengthen the GI lining over time & decreasing/ helping prevent ulcers! Just google Astrid's Oil & prepare to be amazed!

With Ben turning 28 I am very into making sure he stays healthy & happy. Yes I have been doing that all along, but after much research into nutrition recently & I mean a lot! LOL I have decided to change Ben's feed from the Cavalor Fiberforce & Strucomix Senior to the Crypto Aero feed instead. Why if he's been doing so well? Because research has proven to me that is not the healthiest support for horses that's why. The Crypto Aero has no fillers, no preservatives, no GMO's, nothing but wholefood. A diet the horse has evolved on. Bringing back the basics. I do feel a lot of issues horses face & deal with today are a result of the feed. You eat healthy why not your horse too? Google Crypto Aero feed & again prepared to be amazed...... I just started this feed the other day & he loves it but I cannot give a full review on it just yet until at least next month!

Ben's solar trough has been some of the best money spent ever. Those that criticize about the price won't understand until they have tries it just how amazing that trough is! It has now been in below zero, extreme winds, snow, ice, rain, you name it that trough has powered through it all. Not one speck of ice, not one frozen float, nothing but full water access that is a comfortable water temperature for your horse. Never worry about ice again or a dehydrated horse! BT Solar Suntank is worth their weight in money hands down.

Ben has been doing very well lately & I intend to do my very best to keep it that way hence why I do so much research! I feel like I finally found his support system to a healthy Ben & a happy Ben! With 24/7 turnout, Crypto Aero feed, Assure Guard Gold, Astrid's Oil, Vitamin E, Smartflex Senior herb free, & free choice grass hay & alfalfa in moderation! That is the ingredient for a healthy, happy senior!

Solar Water Trough aka BT Solar Suntank

So I have decided to make a blog just about Ben's new solar water trough simply due to the extreme attention it has received. I touched onto this subject in my previous blog, but wanted to elaborate more about it. So Ben's solar trough is called the BT Solar Suntank. It is made from a company called Pine Ranch Products located in Utah. The suntank was named in the top 10 horse products of the year & has an article about them. The suntank comes in 2 sizes currently, a 25 gallon auto or manual fill or a 42 gallon auto fill. The difference between auto & manual fill is the manual fill (what Ben has) is filled by a regular hose. The auto fill can be used as a manual or auto fill so it's nice if you plan to at some point have automatic water system in place. The 25 gallon is guaranteed to not freeze down to 20 below & the 42 gallon is guaranteed all the way down to 50 below zero. So if your in an extremely frigid climate you may want to consider the 42 gallon simply due to the fact that it has a lower threshold for the cold temperatures. I chose the 25 gallon manual fill because I can easily keep up with making sure the water level stays up & it typically doesn't get colder than 20 below here (though we do go below zero occasionally).

The suntank has a float that sits atop the water & the horse has to push it down to get to the water. Now I admit I was panicking over the float thinking Ben would never figure it out & become dehydrated. Silly, silly me clearly..... I did as the instructions had said by leaving the float off for 3 days so he knew it was his water source & then add the float with some treats on it. The idea with the treats is that when they go to eat them they will push down with enough force to realize the water is easily there & accessible. As much as I stressed over all of it Ben accepted & very easily & quickly learned to use it! I should have known... So if your nervous about the float don't be because it helps keep the water warmer & your horse will learn no problem! The only thing the company advises with the float is that on very cold days you have to oil the float in corn oil to prevent it from sticking to the side of the tank. The float also still functions if snow is on it your just advised to clean it off when your there.

The solar panel to the trough is enclosed in shatterproof Plexiglas window that must face the south in order to generate enough heat. Now your probably thinking what about cloudy days? The panel is a passive solar panel so it will still absorb what it can despite the clouds. Now if your horse is rough & tumble then you will want to keep the solar area out of direct contact with your horse. Ben is easy on everything so I wasn't concerned with that. Beyond the float & solar front the tank is enclosed with a lot of insulation which also aids in warming the water & preventing freezing. When it snows you must clear any snow away from the solar panel & you can even put the snow on the ground in front of the trough to help attract even more sunlight to your tank. 

I know some of you might think that these suntanks can only be used in the winter since it warms the water right? Wrong..... The company sends you a summer shield to cover the solar panel & has you change the direction of the trough to north during the hot months. The suntank actually will keep your horses summer water cooler, bug free, & algae free! So these tanks can be used year round which is a major plus since they are an initial expense. Yes the suntanks are up there in price, but when you account for your added price to your electric bill if you use a heater to heat your troughs, or a vet bill, or honestly anything horse related it's not as bad as it seems. Water is an essential part of life so why is that not worth having it fully accessible & not a block of ice? let's face it you can be extremely diligent with keeping your trough not frozen, but there are those days where you just can't keep up & in a matter of mins an ice layer is beginning to form again! Sure your horse may break the ice or "not mind" but i'm sure if given the choice between lukewarm water even cool water or ice cold water they would choose the first option. So keep this in mind when your running the figures in your head. Also another thought to keep in mind is this suntank is something that is going to be heavily used every single day 365 days a year so it's not like your spending a lot on something that will only be used occasionally!

I have personally be using the suntank for only a week. In that week we have had sleet, rain, & temperatures consistently in the 30's even dipping into the 20's every evening & it has held up like a champ with no ice or freezing cold water! The bigger test will be snow & even colder temperatures which according to the weather station is sadly approaching next week. I also compare regular water troughs to his suntank & do notice a big difference between the two. The company was very friendly & easy to work with. They had a few delays with the holidays & weather related issues but I received the suntank in 3 weeks even with those obstacles. It comes with a set o instructions & frequently asked questions which I found to be very helpful. The tanks are preassembled & ready to go. No electric no cords nothing at all. They include the summer shield for the hot months as well. The tanks are not overly heavy either only 43 pounds with no water added (25 gallon one).

So bottom line is if you are looking to save money on your electric bill due to heater costs, not a fan of electric, can't keep up with the ice, or simply don't want to deal with the ice then check out the BT Solar Suntank. Pine Ranch Products the makers of the tank will easily answer any & all questions you may have. This is not a new product & has been around for over 7 yrs. This is the only company I have come across that makes this type of product other than the DIY versions out there. I will give more updates as to how it holds up with time.

A New Year

Hey everyone sorry I have been bad about keeping up more recently with this blog. I have had a lot going on & have changed a few things with Ben & wanted to give them time to show something before writing anything about it. So where to actually begin? December I ran Ben's succeed test again & it was keeping strong at negative all around! I have also made a few changes with winter blowing in the back door to ensure Ben gets through with no problems. I had changed out his Flaxseed oil to stabilized ground flaxseed (Omega Horseshine) instead & have seen some very nice positive changes with that. His coat looks amazing & his weight is as well. The oil was great, but messy & because of it's sticky nature I wasn't quiet sure he was actually receiving the required amount due to that. So after my usual quest for knowledge I settled & am very pleased with the Omega Horseshine! Next on the change parade was adding back his vitamin E. Horses require vitamin E supplementation simply by the fact that hay & grain do not have adequate amounts in them no matter how high the quality of either one. Surprised? Look it up..... unless your horse is grazing on quality grass a minimum of 12 hrs per day then they need to be supplemented. Again surprised? You wouldn't be if you simply researched or asked your vet. Vitamin E is essential for proper nerve & muscle function so If you've been having some issues you can't quiet figure out maybe have your horses vitamin E level checked it's most likely deficient. I use a product called Elevate & give Ben 5,000 IU's daily. I chose a higher dose for him since he is older & could use some improvement in his nervous system in general. I tried a lower dose at 2,000 IU's but didn't see much change but once switched to the higher level I did.

Surging  forward to our next change is hoof health. Winter is not so kind to feet with the hard ground & the constant back & forth of moisture. It's just asking for problems. Ben has been battling a minor case of thrush in his frog for awhile & with him out & always exposed to the elements I needed a little extra help other than the usual topical. So with much consideration & research I chose a hoof supplement. He has been on Smarthoof ultra for 2 months now & I have notice a difference. He is much more comfortable on hard surfaces & his feet are looking improved. They were never bad before just to clarify, but I see a difference & so does his farrier so we will continue with it. Which leads us to joints. I did the Adequan series with Ben a few months ago & was pleased with the results. As winter & it's unforgiving cold blew through I noticed Ben was again having a harder time rising from a good roll. So back to the research board & talking with a company about their thoughts as well we chose a solution. I decided to put him on a broad spectrum joint supplement again. Now these can be hit or miss depending on your horses particular needs. What works for one may simply not work for yours so trial & error is inevitable. I put Ben on Smartflex Senior Herb free. I do notice an improvement since starting it. He has only been on it for a month. After rolling it's easier for him to rise which is our goal. I will continue with this until I feel he needs something higher or different. I tried just the Adequan, but with his age & riding history he needed more I felt. 

Our last two changes which are the biggest & most important I feel like are his water & stomach support. I will start with the Stomach first. His Assure Guard was working just fine his test negative & no real obvious issues apparent. I changed it because I felt in my own gut he needed something more, something higher level. So we all know what that means back to my hours of research on finding just the right solution. I came to a supplement called Ritetrac. After speaking with the company, & those who have personally used it I was looking forward to it's arrival. Since only having Ben on it for not quiet two weeks I can't give a huge review on it other than I do notice he seems happier than before & eats it fine despite the 1/4 cup of powder twice a day. So I will leave it at that & revisit later on. Next & last is the water & old man winter...... We all have this issue of cold weather & frozen water. So we tried an electric heater because that seemed to be an easier solution. Well it appeared to work fine & I didn't feel any issues with it, but Ben did. We had it set up for only 24 hrs & Ben felt a stray current in the water & wouldn't drink from it. I did not feel it, but horses being highly sensitive in nature sense a lot we don't. So I quickly unplugged that & had to show him it was ok to drink from his trough again. So if your using electric heaters make sure your horses are drinking & there is no stray current. They need to be grounded properly & even with all that they can have issues & if the power goes out all will freeze over regardless. So where did that leave us in our battle of the ice venture? Solar power. Again much research & reviews I chose a small company based in Utah that makes Solar powered water tanks. Perfect solution! Was it expensive? YES! But honestly I've paid much higher vet bills than what that trough cost & water is essential for life & something they use every single day multiple times a day! How can you put a price on something that will be heavily used daily, needed for survival, & no more ice hassle? Anything with horses isn't cheap & when you try to say that it's way too much money think about how much that saddle cost or those boots or your shows or lessons..... or even your most recent vet bill. The solar trough aka BT Solar Suntank is an insulated 25 gallon bucket with a solar panel on the front that must face the south sun in order to generate enough heat to break the ice forming. It has an insulated float that is on top to insulate the surface water. The horses must push the float down & the water comes out. They learn it very easily & quickly. I had much paranoia about this but in the end had no reason to. It comes in 2 sizes of 25 or 42 gallon tanks in either manual fill or auto fill. From my order date to arrival date it took 3 weeks. That was partially due to the holidays when it was ordered so that delayed it's arrival a bit. I have been very happy with it so far since it being up for a week. The water is a comfortable temperature & we have had temperatures in the 20's & it held up like a champ! I also have been comparing it to other troughs to take note on how well it's working. I will again be giving a better review once we have had colder weather.

That is the changes I have made in the past 2 months which is a lot I guess, but after his most recent massage & farrier visit it's all proving it's success. We survived our first snow outside well I guess me more than him! He was fine I had to keep telling myself he was. He spent half of it outside & half in his shed at his own preference. He enjoys the snow & rolling around in it. I'm hoping we continue with improvements with our new regimen & hoping for a healthier year. It has been a year next month since He was diagnosed with Grade 2 & 3 gastric ulcers with bleeding & colonic ulcers with bleeding. I always swallow hard at the thought of it all.

                           The BT Solar Suntank 25 Gallon Manual Fill