Tag Archives: Horse Care

The importance of giving your horse electrolytes in the winter

December 14, 2016 jena

Most of us horse owners recognize the value of electrolyte supplementation during the hot summer months. After working one’s horse hard, or coming back from a long trail ride, or even bringing horses in on a hot day, we can see the sweat marks that indicate a horse may need electrolytes to replenish the lost salt and potassium. However, electrolyte supplementation is at least equally important during the winter months.

Those of us who have access to an indoor arena are able to ride and work our horses year round. During periods of hard work, regardless of temperature, horses will sweat and lose electrolytes. By using a supplement such as Buckeye Nutrition’s Perform ‘N Win or Perfect Balance by Peak Performance, we can help our horses stay healthy by replacing valuable electrolytes lost.

A second reason to use electrolytes during the winter months is to encourage water consumption. Many horses’ water consumption drops dramatically during the winter, and this can easily lead to impaction colic. During the spring, summer, and fall, horses are able to graze and have access to fresh grass. During the winter, when fresh grass is not available, horses have to rely on hay for their forage requirements. The water content in grass is significantly higher, around 5 times higher, than that of hay. Therefore, horses are able to ingest a good amount of their required water intake just by grazing on fresh grass. Horses’ water consumption also declines when their water is cold. So, during the winter, we have a situation where our horse is not getting water from forage, and is not inclined to drink as much from water troughs or buckets. By adding a good, salt or sodium based electrolyte to their feed, we can help increase thirst, and improve water consumption, and hopefully avoid impaction colic issues.

When choosing an electrolyte, I tend to look for the ones that are low in dextrose or other sugars, and gravitate towards those that are sodium based. If you have a horse with HYPP, you have to be careful about potassium intake, so look for an electrolyte that is specifically designed for horses with HYPP.

Other ways to encourage water consumption include filling water buckets with warm water, or using heated buckets or water heaters if you are using a trough. Ideal water temperature is around 40 degrees. This year, I am making use of Eccotemp’s Horse Washer, which is a portable hot water on demand system. I do not have access to hot water in my barn, and after a few years of lugging buckets of hot water down to the barn every morning and evening, I decided to make life a little easier on myself. This system connects to my hydrant and to a propane tank. I simply turn it on, and have instant hot or warm water to fill my water buckets with.

Combining these steps with electrolyte supplementation will hopefully lead to a healthy and happy horse this winter. Most electrolytes can be added either to your horse’s feed or water. If you add an electrolyte to water, you should also remember to put a second bucket of just plain water up as well.

Click here to shop a full selection fo Electrolytes

Click here to shop the Eccotemp Hot Water Horse Washer

This blog was written by Grant – one of Big Dee’s Showroom Managers

Deworming Horses 101

October 3, 2016 Cassie Hupric

Deworming guide

Have you ever been in a tack store staring at the wall of dewormers wondering “what should I give again“? Hopefully a savior (in the form of a store associate) arrives to tell you what to give. Then one arrives, but they are full of questions you just can’t remember the answers to! What did you de-worm your horse with last? , How often do you de-worm?, Have you had a fecal sample taken? Since most of us have been there, here is an overview that we hope is helpful when planning your horses deworming schedule this year.

Let’s start with some basics –

What types of worms cause trouble?

Encrusted Small Strongyles – Most susceptible are young and older horses. The larva can embed in the intestines. Large numbers of small strongyles can cause weight loss, colic, diarrhea and overall poor condition.

Ascarids (roundworms) – Dangerous to foals and horses under the age of two. Once ingested the larvae move through the veins into the liver, heart and lungs. Larvae in the lungs will eventually get swallowed to develop in the small intestine. Because the larvae migrate through the lungs a young horse could develop respiratory disease, have poor weight gain and colic.

Large Strongyles (bloodworms) – These worms can be dangerous to organs and can weaken abdominal artery walls. Common symptoms – diarrhea, weight loss and colic.

Pinworms – Not as dangerous as the other worms listed here – these worms typically cause itching around the horse’s rectum and tail.

Threadworms – Dangerous to foals and young horses. Foals can become infected by nursing from a mare with the larvae. They live in the intestinal tract. Common symptoms – diarrhea and weakness.

Bots – In the warm seasons bot flies swarm around horses with the main purpose of finding a place on the horse to lay its eggs. After the eggs are laid – the horse can ingest them. Once inside the horse, they implant themselves in the mouth or intestines. While living in the intestines they can cause poor overall condition and mild colics.

Tapeworms – These are probably the least worrisome worm of them all. Tapeworms reside in the intestine and just live off of the food that comes to them. Mild colic and diarrhea are common symptoms of a horse carrying many tapeworms.

Now that we know about the worms… let’s find out how to treat them!

What types of dewormers are there?

Ivermectin Paste & Praziquantel – For the removal & control of large and small strongyles, pinworms, hairworms, threadworms, stomach worms, lungworms, ascarids (roundworms) and bots.

Moxidectin Paste & Praziquantel – For the removal & control of large and small strongyles, ascarids (roundworms), pinworms, hairworms, stomach worms and bots.

Fenbendazole – For the treatment of large and small strongyles, ascarids (roundworms) and pinworms

Pyrantel Pamoate – For the removal and control of large/small strongyles, roundworms and pinworms

Daily Dewormers – Pryantel Tartate – Provides continuous protection against large and small strongyles, ascarids (roundworms) and pinworms.

Many veterinarians recommend fecal exams every three months. The exam will determine how much your horse sheds parasite eggs. Horses can range from heavy, to moderate to light shedders. Some horses have a high immunity to the parasites while others don’t. Horses that are in the pasture with other horses have a higher risk of becoming infected with roundworms and strongyles. A horse needs to ingest the eggs to become infected. Horses that are kept in well cleaned stalls are less likely to become infected. There are other factors as well – age, environment, climate, etc.

Your vet will most likely come up with a proper deworming program for you that will last a year. After a year, you will need to reevaluate and come up with an updated program.

Horse Care, Team Big Dee's

The growing pains of eventing or How not to event – Jessica R.

September 16, 2015 Jessica Roslan

Stone Gate Farm August Mini Trial Schooling Day – Tackling the growing pains of eventing
or “How not to event”.

For those of you who have been following along with the progress of my 5 year old gelding Paladin – Despite a few growing pains we’ve had an enjoyable summer of eventing with lots of growth for both of us. The spring started out with placing 8^th in the starter 2’ division at the Winona Horse Trials in May. After a brief tendon scare that put us a bit behind in June we moved up to the Beginner Novice division at the Hackamore Farm mini trial in July and scored a 4^th place finish. Unfortunately due to the excessive rain the cross country course was shortened significantly and I was not able to get a good feel of his overall fitness to be able to go a full cross country course at our new level, but continued on with conditioning and entered the Stone Gate Farm mini trial which was held on August 2^nd. Despite Paladins bravery at Winona, I chose to school Hackamore since we were moving up a level and in doing so I learned that my young guy still needs more miles and more exposure to the various obstacles that are found out on cross country at the 2’6” level. For this reason I also chose to school Stone Gate on the Saturday before the event.

Schooling day was a pleasant and sunny 82 degrees and as always Stone Gate Farm offered an enjoyable mix of people, horses and dogs to greet us. I had a couple close friends who were going to be competing in the starter division along to school their horses and we had a pup and two husbands to serve as our ground people. I flipped on the mycoursewalk app and we all Continue reading The growing pains of eventing or How not to event – Jessica R. →

Giveaways!

Big Dee’s and Formula 707 Love Giveaways!

August 18, 2015 jena 6 Comments

Horse Supplements from Formula 707 — Enter to win this basket from Formula 707 & Big Dee’s

Giveaway time! Formula 707 has been making quality horse products in the USA since 1946! Legions of loyal user in the rodeo arena, in the show ring, on the track, around the ranch and on the trail.

Big Dee’s and Formula 707 have come together to offer an exciting basket giveaway!

Included in the $200 gift basket:

1 3lb. container of MuscleMx
1 7lb. container of Weight Gain
2 Restore Pastes (4 servings)
2 Performance Mx Pastes (4 servings)
3 Formula 707 chapsticks
9 Formula 707 samples
2 Formula 707 t-shirts
2 Formula 707 hats

Click here to enter the giveaway!
Check out these great items –

* MuscleMx – a natural dietary supplement to support muscle growth!

Building muscle can be a tricky business.

A horse’s body tends to add new muscle cells at its own pace, which is sometimes slower than horsemen would prefer. Even young, growing horses receiving plenty of exercise often need a little help to pack dense muscle onto their limber frames. And as horses mature—especially horses recovering from the trauma of injury, disease, or severe stress—growing new muscle becomes an uphill battle.

Feeding extra protein—even protein rich in essential amino acids—does little to correct the problem, since you can only push so many nutrients through a series of progressively constricted metabolic pathways. To continue to add muscle mass, a way has to be found to retool the metabolism to remain in, or return to, muscle-building mode.

This is the rationale behind MuscleMx: to encourage the body to do what it already knows how to do with remarkable efficiency. To accomplish this feat, we’ve combined four natural nutrients that work synergistically to encourage the metabolic reactions required for muscle growth and development.

Lysine, the most essential of the 11 essential amino acids, lays the foundation for the formation of muscle-building proteins. Gamma oryzanol, a natural plant extract, assists in weight gain and muscle formation in all classes of the horse. Creatine, a naturally occurring organic acid, helps supply energy to muscle cells by stepping up production of ATP, the body’s energy-transport molecule. And Ornithine Ketoglutarate (OKG), an organic salt based on the amino acids ornithine and glutamine, bypasses the inhibitory metabolic processes preventing new muscle development. For all horses challenged in the task of adding or simply maintaining muscle mass, MuscleMx is the real solution for real results.

* Weight Gain – Safe, effective weight gain for underweight horses

Use to achieve and maintain a healthy weight in horses of all ages

Some horses are hard keepers. No matter what or how much you feed them, they have trouble keeping on weight. Often the problem can be traced back to the first stage of digestion, the teeth. If the teeth have grown uneven, it’s just a matter of “floating” them back to a uniform height to facilitate mastication. For other horses, however—horses with good teeth and no other digestion-related ailments—failure to maintain a healthy weight can be a combination of genetics, age and workload.

Anyone who raises performance horses is familiar with the problem of keeping weight on their horses. Intense exercise and the stresses of boarding, hauling, and competing all take their toll. Feeding more hay and grain is not always a satisfactory solution. That’s because healthy weight gain is intimately tied to energy metabolism, which in turn is dependent upon the availability of certain nutrients. It’s not enough just to feed more calories if the calories being fed are not properly utilized.

Formula 707 LifeCare Weight Gain is a highly palatable, calorie-rich supplement specifically formulated to help all types of horses gain and maintain weight. Vegetable fat provides concentrated and easily digestible calories in a form that also increases a horse’s overall energy. High-quality protein provides all the essential amino acids a horse needs to rebuild lost muscle, and fiber keeps the digestive machinery working smoothly. Calcium and phosphorus have been added to assist in the important task of skeletal maintenance and, along with zinc and copper, energy metabolism.

Does it work? In informal studies, Formula 707 Weight Gain was shown to have a visible effect on underweight horses in just a few days, and a return to normal weight within weeks.

* Restore Paste– working horses need a balanced electrolyte to restore lost minerals after workouts
Human athletes have come to understand the importance of replacing electrolytes to restore minerals lost in a vigorous workout. Because the same is true for equine athletes, we designed Formula 707 LifeCare Restore to replace the sodium, chloride, calcium, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium lost in a liter of sweat. Use Restore electrolyte paste during intense workouts, when you are travelling, or when feeding isn’t practical.

* PerformanceMX Paste– A powerful iron-rich supplement for peak performance in equine athletes
Performance horses are burdened with demands that nature never intended. The nutritional demands of a performance horse can be several times those of a horse grazing in the pasture. Apple flavored Formula 707 PerformanceMx Paste provides quick energy and supplies nutrients that are readily available for the equine athlete, even under demanding performance conditions. The easy to administer oral syringe provides an energy boost when feeding isn’t practical.

Click here to shop Formula 707 products!

Good luck and thank you for participating in our basket giveaway!

Click here to enter the giveaway!

Horse Supplements

The Truth Behind Hoof Care and Horse Hoof Care Supplements

February 4, 2015 Cassie Hupric

Horse Hoof Care Supplements - Horse Care Healthy hooves are influenced by a variety of factors – some controllable and some not. Genetics, age, climate, environment, nutrition, activity, hoof care and breed, along with countless other factors, play a key role in how healthy your horse’s hoof is. Things like genetics and age can’t be controlled but proper hoof care is in our hands.

Proper nutrition is the start of healthy hoof growth. Your horse should have constant access to fresh water and free choice minerals. Since the horse’s diet is based on forage good hay should be given priority. In addition to good hay, a grain with essential nutrients can also be given. Healthy hoof care is an everyday thing – hooves don’t get time off. So it’s important to be diligent about caring for your horse’s hoof, inside and out.

Daily Hoof Care:

Check all four hooves & pick out any dirt/mud/rocks/other debris using a hoof pick. Be mindful of the sensitive “V” of the hoof, the horse’s frog, as it is more sensitive than the other parts of the hoof.
Make sure there are no injuries to the hoof or the leg.
If your horse has shoes make sure they are all securely on the hoof – no loose nails or bent ends. If there is an issue with the shoe, be sure to get in touch with your farrier. The longer the horse walks on a thrown or loose shoe the possibility for injury and soreness increases.

In addition to daily hoof care, you can use topical products such as hoof dressing to maintain the appearance and feel of hooves. The use of hoof dressing is ideal if your horses live in an area that is particularly dry or if the horse has a naturally dry hoof. Hoof dressing is also beneficial to those horse’s that have minor cracks and splits in the hoof.

Benefits of Hoof Dressing:

Helps to retain moisture to combat dry and brittle hooves
Conditions and brings out natural shine
Enhances texture
Prevents cracks and splits

If your horse needs a little more support than the above mentioned practices, a feed through hoof supplement might be a good idea. Like so many other types of supplements, there are plenty of hoof supplements on the market to choose from. One difference, however, is that is can take approximately 6-9 months of using a hoof supplement to see any change or improvement. This is because the hoof grows at such a slow rate that the new (and hopefully improved) growth won’t be evident for quite some time. In accordance with that, hoof supplements typically need to be fed on a continued basis and not just during certain periods of time.

Key Ingredients in Horse Hoof Care Supplements:

Vitamins: E, Biotin
Minerals: Zinc, copper and calcium
Amino acids/Proteins: Lysine, methionine and threonine
Fatty Acids: Omega 3 & 6

Big Dee's Tack & Vet Supplies