HORSES AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

All information in this article is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

Horses are very special animals. They do a lot of healing on their riders, and on all human beings. They also help protect the earth in unusual ways.

FEEDING HORSES

Food. Hay. Fresh hay is often the best food for horses. Old, dried out hay is not as good. Beware that some hay is not of good quality, so try to find a high quality hay for your horses.

Vegetables. Horses love two or three raw carrots daily. Horses usually do not need cooked vegetables. However, at times they may need a few if they are not well, just for a short time to replenish certain minerals. These might include cooked carrots, onions, celery and a few green vegetables.

If possible, give a horse a choice of food. Just put several kinds of hay and several vegetables out for the horse, and allow the horse to choose.

At times, alfalfa is good for horses, but only in very small amounts. Do not give horses animal products, fruit or sweets of any kind.

Treats and snacks. Be careful with treats and snacks. Most are harmful and junky. For a snack or treat, give your horse a nice organically grown carrot.

Water. The type of drinking water is quite important for horses. If you have access to different types of water, give your horse(s) a choice of water supplies as well. Many horses are ill from their water supply!

If you are suspicious of your horse’s water, look for a local spring to obtain better water. Another, more expensive alternative is to truck in water for your horse. But pay the extra money only if it is good water.

NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS

A properly designed nutritional balancing program administered by one of our Approved Practitioners is a wonderful gift for your horse. Any of these can help you with it, but be careful of imitators who say they do nutritional balancing when they do not!

On a nutritional balancing program, horses need just a few very targeted nutritional supplements. Giving more supplements to a horse is almost always a bad mistake, and can kill a horse. Never just load a horse up with supplements. It is never necessary, and almost always quite harmful.

Supplement programs for horses. When I design a supplement program for a horse, it will contain the names of the supplements used for human beings, followed by a multiplier. This is the easiest way to design the programs.

The multiplier. A multiplier is used because horses need between 6 and 10 times the quantity of supplements as do human beings. This depends mainly on the weight of the horse.

Making up supplements for horses. I use the names of the Endomet products in the recommendations. The procedure is that the owner needs to check the main ingredients and write them down. Then multiply the amounts by the multiplier to obtain the doses for the horse.

Then look in a feed store for the main ingredients and mix them together in the right amounts for your horse. You might even find a product that has what you need, already combined into one product – but this is less likely. Buy the right powders and mix them together properly.

Each day, measure out the day’s powder, preferably with a plastic measuring cup so you can measure it quickly and easily.

How to give supplements to a horse. Here are some ideas:

1. A great way is to mix the powder with a little carrot juice in a large syringe and inject it into the horses mouth. (no needle on the syringe, of course).

2. Mix the powder into a treat like molasses. Most horses will then eat it.

3. Mix the powder with a little water with a little sugar or honey in it, and then pour it over the hay. Just make sure the mixture is thick enough to stay in the hay and not run off.

I know this is a some work, but your horse is worth it! Some day, I hope we will have pre-packaged powders for horses.

Less taurine for horses with a four lows pattern. It is possible for a horse to have a four lows hair mineral pattern. It usually occurs in an older horse who has been mistreated by either wrong feeding, too much exercise, or some other problem.

One note is that for horses with a four lows pattern, give less taurine. Horses do not need a lot of taurine, because they are mainly vegetarian animals.

Other supplement notes. Horses do not need vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acid supplements, as a general rule.

Horses usually need some calcium, magnesium, kelp, zinc, and selenium.

WARMTH

Horses like a warm environment. They can survive in a cold barn, but it is very uncomfortable for your horse. If at all possible, heat the barn, please. You will have a much happier and healthier horse. Red heat lamps are the most efficient way to do this, and the horse will enjoy the energy of the lamps, as well, even if they are not shining directly on the horse.

VENTILATION AND CLEANLINESS

Horses are prone to respiratory problems. Please make sure the barn is well-ventilated and always clean. Sorry for all the manure, but it is the way we are.

EXERCISING AND RIDING YOUR HORSE

Most horses love to be ridden, as long as the person is not over 200 pounds, and as long as it is not overdone. This is important.

Sweating. Never let a horse start to sweat. This is an indicator that the horse has ridden or exercised too much. Always let the horse rest for at least one hour, in this case.

Pushing. Do not “push” the horse to do more, in preparation for a race, for example. This does not work and will damage the horses hoofs and other areas of its body. You will not have a horse if you keep it up.

DETOXIFICATION PROCEDURES

Most of the human detoxification procedures are not needed for horses – thank heavens. However, a few are helpful:

1. Red heat lamps. Most horses love red heat lamps. They are also excellent for horses health. About four of them are needed for a large horse.

The reddish heat lamps also help keep the horse warm, which is very important. Horses love the temperature of their stalls to be at 60 degrees F. or a little warmer. Please remember this.

Here are some ways to mount the red heat lamps:

1. Place them around the stall, facing the horse, and higher than the horses body, angling downward. This way your horse will not smash a bulb if he accidentally bumps up against it.

Always protect the bulb, in addition, as a horse could hit the hot lamp with his head, or by jumping up.

2. Buy a lamp “electrical unit” from one of the companies that sell saunas to human beings that are listed on this website. Click here for this page. Mount this in one corner of the stall, again above the height of the horse’s body. Make sure the lamps are protected, as well, by a sturdy guard. Add a second guard, if needed, to prevent a horse from hitting and damaging it.

3. Make your own light box. Enclose four lamps in a sturdy wooden box in a square or diamond shape. Place heavy-gage hardware cloth over the front as protection. Then place the box sturdily in a way the horse cannot hit it by accident. If possible, allow the horse to decide on which part of the body the light will shine.

HAIR MINERAL TESTING FOR HORSES

Testing the hair is wonderful for horses. Otherwise, you are just guessing on what supplements they need, and perhaps what is going on with their hay and their water.

Sampling the hair. First, always take the sample from near the brain of the horse. This is critical for accurate results. The mane on the head is good.

Before sampling. Rinse the area with a little alcohol. This is better than using soap and water, which will wash out some of the water-soluble minerals.

Cut the sample as close to the horse’s skin as possible. This will give you the most up-to-date results. Then cut off all hair that is more than one inch long and throw away the long ends. You only want the “new hair” that is closest to the skin. It will leave a small bald spot, but that will soon fill in, and your horse does not care!

Which lab? The lab must not wash the hair at the laboratory. Washing the hair damages the hair and skews the results. I only recommend Analytical Research Labs at this time for the best lab testing.

Ideal values. This is a research subject. Here are the current ideal values we use. All measurements are in mg% (milligrams per one hundred grams):

Calcium 155

Magnesium 68

Sodium 158

Potassium 358

Iron 40

Copper 0.7

Manganese 1.2

Zinc 12

Chromium 0.3

Selenium 0.03

Phosphorus 25

Lead 0.02-0.04

Mercury 0.15-0.18

Cadmium 0.005-0.008

Arsenic 0.006-0.01

Aluminum 40-60

Nickel 0.011-0.05

Patterns. Most of the hair analysis patterns for human beings apply to horses, as well.

Different ratio ideals. Use the visual patterns for interpretation, because the ratios, of course, are different than for human beings.

Other hair analysis notes. Horses are unlike most animals in that they can be fast oxidizers, slow oxidizers, or they can live in a four lows pattern. (Most other animals are either fast or slow oxidizers, but are rarely in a four lows pattern).

OTHER TOPICS

Veterinarians. Horses do not like to complain. However, please keep the vets away, if possible. Too many are drug-happy and shot-happy.

A horse on a nutritional balancing program should not develop a lot of disease, and should not require vaccines at all. It also should not need de-worming with toxic products. A little garlic may be needed for this purpose, and this is all.

Horseshoes. Most horses like horseshoes. Find someone knowledgeable to put them on and check them occasionally for breaks, loose nails and the like.

Other articles on this website about animals are:

Cats And Nutritional Balancing

Cows And Nutritional Balancing Science

Cow Cases (Cows 2) And Nutritional Balancing Science

Deer And Nutritional Balancing Science

Dogs And Nutritional Balancing

Lambs, Sheep And Nutritional Balancing Science

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