This message is from: Marsha Jo Hannah <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Don & Jane Brackett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > the Fjords are determined to find any blade of grass available and > in the process, I assume, eating dirt. How much of a problem can this > be?? [...] I have noticed the fiber type supplements in the feed > store, does anyone use this as a preventitive??
I used a psyllium supplement for a while. My equines get fed hay on rubber mats, either in their stalls (used like run-in sheds) or out in the corrals, which are gravelled. Of course, gravel gets tracked into the stalls, and hay gets shoved off the mats onto the gravel, then they vacuum every crumb of hay---I was afraid they were ingesting the "gravel fines", essentially sand. I never had a problem with colic, but decided to give psyllium as a preventative. My vet allowed as how I was wasting my money. Her claim was that such a small volume of fiber couldn't do much to move sand in a horse's huge digestive chamber. She said that the only way to remove sand buildup was to stall the horse for 6 MONTHS (to keep it from picking up more), and to feed something like oat hay pellets, which CAN successfully move sand. Shortly thereafter, I read a magazine article on how psyllium wasn't all it was cracked up to be. It said the psyllium doses for horses had been extrapolated from what works on humans (Metamucil) and pigs---which have a much different design of digestive system than do horses. So, when I used up the psyllium that I had in-house, I discontinued it, and still have had no problems. > kissing your fjord?? I'm not much into kissing (horses or humans), but I do admit to blowing in equine ears. Especially the densely-furred tips.... Marsha Jo Hannah Murphy must have been a horseman-- [EMAIL PROTECTED] anything that can go wrong, will! 30 mi SSE of San Francisco, Calif. -------
