Now I’m going to be 100% real and honest with y’all right now. I typically do not wear a hat unless it’s a ball cap or beanie. I don’t like anything on my head that is too tight. Most hats tend to give me a headache or they are so loose I feel like they will blow off as soon as the wind blows.

I have a beautiful black cowboy hat that has been collecting dust in my closet for quite some time. I got it with the intentions to use barrel racing but it’s too tight and hurts when it stays on longer than a minute. Not to mention, even though it’s tight, I swear it would come right off in a run.

Anyway though, barrel racing is a thing of the past and not something I’ll be doing again anytime soon. These days most of my riding is a leisurely stroll down the trails on Freya. I always pass people on the trail wearing cowboy hats and get a little twinge of jealousy. I’d love to wear one and dress up in chinks. What cowgirl wouldn’t!

When American Hat Makers reached out to me with this opportunity, I couldn’t pass it up! I knew what I wanted to try but was worried too because of my past experience with cowboy hats. I shared this with them and listened to their advice on what size to get plus how to make it fit properly.  They were right too! When the hat came in, it fit perfect!

This is the cowboy hat! It’s called the “Austin” hat. It’s a firm straw hat with the cattleman shape.

I really like it because it’s very light and perfect for warm weather riding. It’s nice enough you can dress up and wear it out dancing or throw it on to ride. I like that it’s easy to clean off if you get it a little dirty.

I think my horse likes it too!

I have to mention too, some of the reasons I agreed to partner with American Hat Makers is because they make it so easy to exchange or return a hat if you don’t like it for any reason. They have a great warranty on their hats and they have many of them, not just cowboy hats. Also, they are family owned and operated!

Now for the great part for you! American Hat Makers was generous enough to give me a 15% OFF code to share with y’all! So do yourself a favor and head over to their website to see all the hats they have. I guarantee you’ll find one you’ll like…and probably not just one! When you find the one you like, make sure you use this code to get a nice discount too!

15% OFF w/ code: NCCowgirl –>> Shop Here

**They have a Memorial Day sale happening right now for 27% off!**

So Tell Me…

Do you wear a cowboy hat? If so, do you wear it for riding or for going out?

In order to do this I had to do a TON of research. I needed to learn all about mineral balancing, feed ingredients, proper feeding rates, etc. Too say the information was overwhelming would be an understatement. There is so much out there and some of it is conflicting. So many different opinions with very little studies being conducted.

I am relying solely on the word of professionals who know more about it than I do. That being said, I want to share with you some of the sources I pulled information from to build a nutrition plan.

Sources for Nutrition

• Dr. Kellon’s Blog – Dark Horse Sense
• ECIR Group aka Equine Cushings and Insulin Resistance
• Mad Barn Nutritional Posts
• Kentucky Equine Research aka KER
• Various Equine Colleges
• Scoop & Scale Podcast
• Feed Room Chemist Podcast
• The Equine Connection Podcast
• Horse Nutrition Groups on FB

These are just a fraction of websites too. I spent weeks going down the rabbit hole and collecting all the information I could and enjoyed it too! I love researching and learning. Why I didn’t follow a career path in that is beside me. I really should have!

I compiled all this information so I could share the important parts with you. Hopefully this will help your horses be as healthy as possible! I want you to be able to analyze your horses diet too. That being said, I really loved doing the research and creating spreadsheets. If you would like help with this, I’m going to be offering my services for a small fee! I’ll do the research and compile the spreadsheet for you!

Building a Nutrition Plan

• Step 1 – Gathering all the information for what you are currently feeding. This includes – hay analysis, water analysis (if you want to be real picky), feed tag lists and even grass analysis. Here’s a look at the latest hay analysis I had done. I also did a well water analysis to find out how much of all the minerals were in each. Specifically looking at copper, iron and zinc.

• Step 2 – Put all the information into a spreadsheet. Make conversions so all ingredients are listed in the same form. Here’s a look at part of what I put together.

• Step 3 – Measure your horse and use this horse weight calculator to get the most accurate weight. There are plenty of charts on the web that show how much a horse should weight based on height and breed.

• Step 4 – Now that you know what your horse weighs, you can determine if they need to be on a maintenance diet, cut back or fed more. You’ll need this information in order to get an accurate picture of what you’ll be feeding.

• Step 5 – Using your horse weight, find the recommended feeding rate per your feeds feeding label. Most will list out what a horse should get based on weight or level of activity. Now, tally up all the ingredients. This information you’ll use to determine where you need to supplement due to minerals lacking.

Diet Results

What I found is that my horses were getting too much iron and not enough copper and zinc. I knew this because all the research was consistent in saying 4:3:1 was the ration for iron:zinc:copper.

Knowing I wanted to switch them to a hay based diet, I would need to supplement additional “essential amino acids” if I wanted to maintain a well developed top line.

Putting together the spreadsheet, helped me analyze the cost of making feeding changes too. I was able to see what the cost of the current diet was versus the cost of implementing changes. While I want my horses to be as healthy as possible, I still have to be realistic about costs.

Now keep in mind, I’m only showing you a small glimpse of my spreadsheet. What you’re not seeing is the 10 different tabs that include NRC recommendations, research on mineral ratios, horse weight records, etc. Nor are you seeing a complete list of all the feeds and supplements I pulled data for. Just to give you an idea, I pulled feeding data for various Triple Crown feeds, all the Standlee hay pellet types, various hay balancers, various diet balancers, various supplements, etc. I now have a well built out template I can use to analyze my horses diet and change/add new products as I introduce them into the plan.

A Must Do

As mentioned before, pulling all this information and analyzing my horses diets gave me useful insights into where their diets were lacking. It allowed me to then research how those lacking nutrients affect their behavior and bodies so I would know if that was a potential cause of their problems. In some cases, I do believe it was and after changing their diet for a few months I saw improvements.

I would highly recommend if you have never analyzed your horses diet, you should! If you feed multiple supplements its even more important that you do because you could be created imbalances in certain minerals/vitamins. Not to mention, you could be wasting your money on supplements that aren’t needed or they are peeing out! I like to count my pennies and if you do too, gathering this information can save you a lot of money and keep from wasteful spending. And did I mention your horse will be healthier in the long run too because you won’t have created any imbalances!

GET HELP

As mentioned before, I LOVE doing this type of research and creating spreadsheets! Like riding a horse, I could sit and do it all day long. So if you don’t have the time, or maybe you just don’t enjoy it, reach out to me and let me help you! I’ll do all the leg work and send you a personalized spreadsheet of your horses diet, along with a cost analysis and any other useful information I find helpful for you to make the best decision for your horses diet!

With this being a new service I’m offering and likely going to have some kinks to work out, I’m going to start out offering this service for $30/horse. If you’re interested in getting a custom spreadsheet of your horses current feeding plan, email me!

Here’s a look at part of the campground as we were coming back in from a ride.

WHAT WE LOVE ABOUT CAMPING HERE

• The sites are gravel and level for the most part
• Trail access directly out of the campground
• Miles and miles of trails to ride
• The cleanest and nicest bathhouse we’ve ever seen
• Good size stalls for horses with extra shavings if needed
• Quiet and peaceful atmosphere
• No cell service and limited internet
• They have a dump station

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE

• Big hill to climb to the barn
• Stall floors are hard and uneven
• The creek crossing going into the campground can be tricky (have to go through it just right to not have the trailer hit your truck bed)

This picture can give you an idea of the steepness of the hill. It’s taken from standing close to the barn and looking down at the first couple of campsites. Fun to go down, not so fun to walk up.

THE HORSE BARN

As you can tell, there isn’t much we don’t like about this horse camp. It really is a great place to stay and if they would fix the stalls and add some stall mats, it would be even better. My horse struggled with the hard, uneven stall floors. Her legs would stock up pretty bad and she wouldn’t lay down to rest like she normally would at home. I tried to pad the stall with a little extra shavings but that didn’t help.

Aside from that, the barn is nice and the stalls are a good size. There are inside or outside stalls to choose from. You need to bring bucket hooks when you come though. There are hitching posts to tie to for tacking up or washing your horse off. They provide all the shavings, muck buckets and pitch forks. As mentioned, it is at the top of a steep hill so you’d either have to drive your tack up or bring your horse down to your camp site to tack up.

Horses are only allowed at the camp sites when tacking up. This is a good thing though. It helps to keep the campsites clean and nice.

CAMPING AREA

There are 14 sites all with water and electric hookups. One camping site has sewer access as well. Each site is pretty level but for some you might still need leveling blocks. All sites are gravel and stay pretty dry. Some are closer together than others. There are fire rings and picnic tables at each site.

The bathhouse and office are located in the middle of the campground which is a short walking distance from most sites. Here you have access to the internet if you need it. They also have a nice sitting area with a tv in the office for the husbands that don’t ride and want to watch football….like mine, lol.

I can’t say it enough but the bathhouse is the nicest one we’ve seen anywhere we have camped. There are 2 women’s bathrooms and 2 mens. All 4 are extremely clean and roomy. Each bathroom has a toilet, sink and shower. Each one is separate for single use with a locking door, which I really like. I don’t like the bathhouses that are like locker rooms. They have heat and ac.

There are 3 campsites and another barn at the entrance to the campground before you cross the creek. These are nice too but you do have to cross the creek and walk further to use the bathhouse.

All campers must unload horses in the designated area which I’m sure helps to keep the campground clean and nice.

THE HORSE TRAILS

There are miles and miles of horse trails here. You can either stick to the trail loops around the campground or venture across the road and ride as long as you want on the VA highlands trail. The first day we rode a short loop which took us about 3 hours. The second day the group group 8 hours.

On the trails you can expect creek crossings, mountain views, historic cabins, steep hills, lots of rocks, grassy open areas, narrow paths, etc. You would definitely want your horse to be in shape to ride here. They would also need shoes or boots due to the rocky terrain.

I will say though, if you’re someone who likes to ride from sun up to sun down, this is a great place to do that. You can ride different trails each day and not have to ride the same trails over.

Overall, this is one of the nicest places for camping with horses. We really liked it there and can’t wait to return. If you’d like more information or want to make reservations, please visit the Hungry Horse East Website.

Also, make sure to check out my list of other places to trail ride and camp. When I return this spring, I will take lots of pictures and update this post to include them. So make sure to check back in a few months if you are interested in seeing those!

So Tell Me..

Have you camped here and ridden the trails?

How It Started

I think it’s best if I begin with the trigger that started the rabbit hole I went down. Hyperethesia. That was the diagnosis given by the vet and something real I could research. It kept coming up in forums and articles that this “symptom” is common in horses with Lymes. The more I read on Lymes the more I was convinced Keira could have it. However, the vet tested for it and bloodwork showed no traces of it.

I didn’t stop researching though. One of the big changes horse owners were making was moving to a forage based diet. Many owners were saying their horses were doing better when they removed grain. Horses were having less gut problems (i.e. ulcers) and behavior was better. According to some vets, certain ingredients in complete horse feeds are considered anti-inflammatory. Since I was starting to get desperate, a forage diet was a change worth trying.

Diet Changes for Gut Health

Therefore, I started switching all my horses to a forage diet with only a ration balancer given as “feed.”

After doing weeks of research, I learned that forage diets lack certain vitamins and minerals. This is especially true in winter time when grass is dead. I didn’t want to create a deficiency problem. Therefore, I had to analyze everything I was feeding to make sure I was hitting the NRC recommended amounts.

So to do this I:

• Had my hay tested (equi-analytical is who I used to do this)
• Tested my Well Water – ( I’ve used this company for years)
• Pulled the Guaranteed Analysis for each product I was feeding (hay pellets, ration balancer, supplements, etc)

I took the information I gathered and put it into a spreadsheet. Then I started converting it all to the same units (grams, mg, IU, etc). After that, I added up the totals of each nutritional component to see where I needed to balance things out. For my horses, I need to balance out high iron in the hay with more copper and zinc. In winter when the grass is dead, Omega 3 and Vitamin E are lacking. Therefore, I knew to add these into the diet as well. Salt is another important component I needed to add.

So this is where I started. Through all the research I did, I learned that vitamin and mineral deficiencies could cause some of the issues Keira. However, it takes time to see if the diet will make a difference. I patiently waited a few months to see what changes might happen on the new diet.

When All Else Fails, Do a Gut Check

From November to end of January, I fed the new diet and started to see small improvements in Keira’s appearance. Her feet were growing out better and thrush was starting to clear up. Her coat was becoming softer and not so rough feeling. She wasn’t walking with the head tilt as much, but she was still grumpy. Her body was showing change but her mind was the same.

As luck would have it, a friend posted about a gut product on FB. I had heard about before on the Feed Room Chemist Podcast and was intrigued.

Sidenote – if you haven’t listened to that podcast you should!

My gut (haha) told me I needed to learn more about this product and give it a try for Keira. I knew that it was given to horses with ulcer symptoms and hind gut dysbiosis. Both of which could explain Keira’s grumpiness.

Some symptoms related to hind gut issues:

• Poor coat
• Flank sensitivity
• Hard time holding feet up
• Excessive gas
• Grumpy
• Tiredness
• Stiffness especially in the hind end

Plus many more. Again, all symptoms that can mimic other illnesses or problems. And again, all symptoms Keira had, so why not give this product a try. So I did and FINALLY I started to see bigger and better changes in Keira.

Changes in Keira

After 2 weeks of taking the hind gut reset, she was less stiff and more relaxed. Her coat got even softer and shiny. Her mane/tail started to feel softer and not so brittle. The copper color hair strands started to return to black. Her grumpiness started to go away and I could touch her without being kicked at. She even started to yawn when I would brush her! She actually started to have a calm happy demeanor about her. I didn’t see her laying down as much in the pasture and she was standing normal versus slightly parked out.

I am 100% convinced this horse had hind gut dysbiosis! Looking back I started to realize all the “triggers” that could have caused it too.

• The stress of moving to a new place (I think this started before I bought her)
• 2 rounds of antibiotics
• Weeks on Bute
• Stress of traveling
• Stress of training

I only wished I had tried it sooner! This product works and has been a game changer for her!

After being on it for 4 weeks, she’s much more pleasant to be around. I now plan to give her lifeline+ and Gastro phix for another 30-90 days. I want to make sure her entire gut is good and stays that way. IMO, these are superior products for that.

So Tell Me…

Has your horse had gut problems? If so, what did you do to help the gut?

More Backstory

In the last post, I shared my experience with colt starting and ended it with a cliff hanger of Keira getting hurt. In case you missed it, she ran into the gate and the latch caused a large puncture wound in her shoulder. She was put on antibiotics then given the summer off.

Fast forward to fall and we started working on the barn. We started the process of opening up the area behind the stalls so that we can eventually remove the windows and add doors so the horses have 24/7 access to a small lot and their stalls. Well, as my luck goes, somehow Keira cuts the top of her hoof above the coronary band on the metal at the bottom of the outside wall. It’s a pretty deep cut in a bad place, so as a precaution I start cleaning it daily and give her a round of antibiotics. Not to mention, some days she acts lame on the foot and other days she’s fine. I should also mention this is the opposite side of the shoulder injury and the front foot.

With her seeming off, I decide it’s best to not push her too hard and just give this injury time to heal. However, I still am spending time grooming her and doing some of the groundwork basics. During this time, she’s still pissy when I’m grooming her or trying to trim her feet. It’s mainly when I brush her or am near her front end and sometimes when I brush over her flank area. She doesn’t act like she has ulcers. I can brush the girth area and I can even put a bareback pad on her and do up the girth. None of that causes a reaction. So I’m starting to think maybe it’s something internal.

Now, I forgot to mention, from the time I brought her home, I’ve have this nagging feeling something is off. I just couldn’t figure out what was causing that feeling. Part of me thought it might just be lack of training and the other part thought maybe she has some internal problem. I’ve brought up the bad attitude to the vet multiple times and 2 vets said it’s just her being young and possibly hormones. If I’m lucky she might grow out of it as hormones level out. So I continue to give it time.

1st Things First

Another couple months pass by and her attitude starts to get worse and the lameness is intermittent. I tried bute and it would get better but then return. So I thought, why not try the chiro. Donna has been my equine chiro for many years and is good at figuring out problems.

She comes out and starts adjusting Keira. All seems normal and fine until she gets to her neck. As soon as she starts trying to adjust Keira’s neck she starts rearing up. Now she’s done this to me in the past too and I chaulked it up to lack of training. However, Donna’s opinion is that there is something going on in her neck.

2nd Opinions

So I make an appointment to take her to Denali Equine to get looked over. Dr. Workman is one of the best sports vets I know and has tremendously helped Gracie and Freya, so I knew if something was wrong she would find it.

Now keep in mind, you have to trailer into her vet practice. She doesn’t come to you and Keira has only been on the trailer 1 time. That was the previous year when I brought her home. I know an hour long trailer ride plus going somewhere new was going to be tough and stressful but something she was going to have to do.

So we went and surprisingly, Keira did great in the trailer. Of course, we spent a couple weeks practicing loading and unloading at home until it was time to go. But the hour long trailer ride didn’t bother her at all. She didn’t seem nervous and displayed no bad behaviors. However, when we get to the clinic and unload, the new experience was a lot and she was a ball of nerves.

Despite her constanting looking all over and not wanting to listen very well. Dr. Workman was able to thoroughly look her over and take some x-rays of her neck. Other than some arthritis already, her neck looked good with no past injuries or problems. Nothing to explain why she gets angry when you touch her there or tries to rear. So the diagnosis was hyperesthesia which means sensitivity to touch. The solution is to give her a high dose of Vitamin E and magnesium and see if her attitude improves in a couple weeks.

Searching for More Answers

A couple weeks go by of being on both and there is slight change but nothing major. She’s still just as moody but now her coat is starting to look worse, her foot isn’t healing that well and I just have a sense of there’s still something wrong. I can’t put my finger on what it is so I start researching all the symptoms starting with the hyperesthesia.

The first thing that come up in a google search as possible things related to this symptom are Lymes disease and EPM. Both of which could be possible for our area. Not to mention, the ticks in the woods of my pasture are horrible! I’m constantly finding small ticks on the horses and pulling them off. It isn’t a stretch to think Lymes could be a real possibility since some of symptoms fit too. Such as these:

• Shifting lameness – yep I was seeing this
• Stiffness – she would not track up in her hind end and looked stiff
• Lethargy – she was tired all the time and constantly laying down
• Irritable mood – YES
• Difficulty swallowing – I thought so and actually had the vet come and check her teeth were ok.
• Head Tilt – when she is walking she tilts her head to the side
• Unable to hold her feet up – she acted like she couldn’t and would pull away or try to lay down
• Dull coat – her coat looked horrible and felt rough

Now keep in mind, some of these symptoms are the same for EPM too. Heck they are the same for vitamin and mineral deficiencies too. So, the only thing I knew to do was start the process of trial and error and see what would help.

Stay tuned for the next part of this story to hear what about the things I tried and what finally worked!

Groundwork Basics of Colt Starting

As I mentioned in the previous post about Keira, she came to me as a barely touched 2 year old with no training and only knowing how to give to halter pressure. She would stand tied, let you put on the halter, and would walk but stop and not move at times. I believe most of what she knew, she learned as a weanling. So first thing first was teaching her the basic groundwork exercises.

Here’s a list of all the things we worked on during those first couple of weeks:

• Backing up with halter pressure
• Giving to pressure and starting to read my body language
• Standing to be fly sprayed
• Standing without kicking or biting for me to brush her
• Learning to pick up all 4 feet and hold them up
• Yielding her hind quarters
• Yielding forequarters
• Standing to be hosed down
• Lunging on a lead

Just to give you an idea of what these early days of colt starting were like, I’m going to share quotes out of the diary I kept of her training.

“Today, I worked more on teaching Keira to pick up her feet but she’s still trying to lay down and bite me.”

“Still trying to kick my head off when I go to pick up her back feet with the rope.”

“Keira seems to really like being around me and seeing me until I ask something of her.”

“Lunging is another thing that brings out Keira’s crazy side.”

“Does she have ulcers or is this pain from a hidden injury?”

What I Can Remember

When you hear colt starters say, training a horse requires a lot of blood, sweat and tears. They aren’t lying. The early days of teaching a colt knew things is hard, like really hard. It requires more patience then a buddist has and isn’t for those that give up easily. It’s also not a linear experience. One day your horse is perfect and the next they are bat shit crazy! Welcome to colt starting!

That picture is just a glimpse of some of her antics when trying to lunge. You can watch the full video on my Youtube Channel.

Keira was no exception to the rule and I had to be very mindful when around her. She tested my patience daily and reminded me how to be grateful for good sound horses! Despite all the blood, sweat and tears, she was a quick learner and was willing to do what I asked. That didn’t mean she did it sans attitude, oh no, she still would kick out, paw, and rear. However, each week she did get 1% better.

Despite 1% better, progress wasn’t happening like I wanted it too though and I reached a point of feeling stuck. Nothing I was doing really moved the needle on her attitude. She still would try to bite and kick when brushed. Plus, she still kicked out, bolted and reared on the lunge. So I knew it was time to get professional help.

Lucky for me, there is a great colt starter 30 mins down the road and he was in a slow period (aka winter and coming back from a horse accident). Normally, he wouldn’t travel to other farms for lessons but since he couldn’t train horses at that time, he made an exception to come to my farm to help me. I remember the first thing he said when he got a good feel for her was, “you sure picked a hard one to start.” Of course, that is just my luck.

This trainers name is Richard Schouten of Remount Horsemanship. Truly an exceptional horse trainer and full of knowledge he’s willing to share!

I worked with Richard for most of winter until he healed from his injury and went back to training horses. During those months, he showed me how to handle her outbursts on the lunge and get her started under saddle. At the time, he thought her behavior issues would get better with more training and handling. She was showing progress and each day that passed she was getting better. It just wasn’t happening fast.

Then a set back happened when she ran into the gate and gashed open her shoulder. I thought for sure she broke her scapula with how hard she hit the gate and how deep the wound was. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case but she did tear the muscle pretty bad and would require time off to heal. She was put on antibiotics to prevent an infection and given the summer off.

Timeline of Events

August 2023 – I purchased her.

Sept/Oct – I work with her myself.

Nov-Feb – Richard starts helping me.

March – Keira gets hurt.

This timeline is going to be important as this story goes on. So stay tuned for the next part of the training journey with Keira.

So Tell Me

What were some of the frustrations you’ve experienced when training a horse?