This message is from: JoAnn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> What a flurry of useful information this list has been recently! Thanks especially to Marsha Jo Hannah for the hay and weight guidelines, and Brian Jacobsen for the founder info :-) Now I know I'm not a crazy person for feeding all the hay I do (& it's still not enough), even though the other horses at the barn get only about ten pounds of grass cuttings and a five-gallon bucket of soaked alfalfa and ground wheat per day. Bobby's up to about fifteen pounds of grasses and hay (timothy) in addition to his wheat/alfalfa dinner, and he's finally starting to lose the skeleton look. Of course, the Haflinger and Dosanko (Fjord lookalike) at the stable do fine on these rations.
I will try to be helpful in some small way and pass on the information from an herbal catalogue I just received from A Drop In The Bucket <http://bucket.simplenet.com> about a product they sell called Broodmare Blend, which contains: Raspberry Leaf, Nettles, Dandelion, Red Clover, and Squaw Vine: "A blend of cut, dried herbs created to support and nourish the mare during pregnancy. These herbs have a long history of helping to tone the uterus, preventing miscarriage and lessen any hemorrhaging, as well in aiding in milk production. Many owners chose to use it prior to breeding for mares that have difficulty with conception and fetus retention. Especially beneficial during the last few months prior to foaling, and right up through weaning." They also have a supplement called Balance Her for leveling out hormonal influences for mares in competition, but it is strictly NOT to be used during pregnancy or lactation, despite its red raspberry ingredient. I just started looking at herbal supplements after putting my 22-y/o (nonFjord) gelding on MSM (not exactly herbal, but a somewhat alternative supplemental remedy) for his arthritis. It makes him feel well enough to be ridden regularly on the trails, and saved him from going back to the meat dealer, and eventually (2 months ago) allowed him to become my own horse when the stable owner and I came to a terminal misunderstanding (over manure mangement, of all things, but that's another story). Now, I'm also looking at what he likes to nibble on - okay, chaw - when we go out grazing (there is no pasture turnout for horses anywhere on this island). Does anybody know what the little white flowers with yellow centers are? They grow to be tall weeds (3-4 feet) that are fairly easy to pull out by the roots, and have sticker-seeds that are long (about 3/4 inch) with one forked end? I remember seeing these in Florida also. A friend from England said they may be a wild chamomile. The herbal catalogue suggests that chamomile is an anti-inflammatory, and since getting out to graze every other day or so, his lower legs are less puffy (it's not just the exercise, because he was turned out regularly in a dry lot before we moved to the new place). Bobby prefers this weed to any grass except St Augustine ;-) One more question - is garlic (raw cloves) all right to give horses as a treat? There are plenty of supplements with garlic as an ingredient, but I was wondering how much raw garlic a horse should eat. I've only given one clove (not head) to my horse, and he thinks it's the best thing since carrots. I once heard that it was used a long time ago for worming, but then again so were cigarettes, so I thought I'd see if anybody here knows the up-to-date scoop :-) Thanks, JoAnn in Japan
