Natural Horse Care in an Unnatural World

Today was the big day. Kobeejo came home!! 😀 The hospital people were sad he was leaving, as he was everyone's favorite, but happy he was going home. He was known as "the famous Kobeejo" up there, which is ironic, because when he used to show, he had the moniker. Dr. Minuto, the Resident in charge of Kobeejo, walked out to the trailer with us. As usual, he got right on. Once he was home, he was all wide-eyed with head as high as it would go, ears propped forward. I think he was in awe that he was home. I placed him in his stall and he immediately tried to come back out. He ate no hay on the way back and he was not interested in the hay in his stall. He just wanted to know that he was not the only horse there as all others were outside. He was weaving and anxious, as you can tell by this video . So, I took him outside to see his friends in their paddocks, grazed him for a bit in the field, and once a couple horses came in, I put him back in his stall. He was still a...

Usually, the vet calls me every morning with a progress report on Kobeejo. This morning, as always, I kept waking early, waiting for that phone call. By noon it had not come, so I climbed out of bed, knowing I had a long drive. I drove myself up to see Kobeejo, as my usual rides were not available. My mom came with me, which helped tremendously. I am a nervous long-distance driver. Fortunately, the traffic was light. Having my mom to talk to made the trip quicker and easier. I took the highway all the way up, but perhaps tomorrow, if Wendy is not available, I might take I-84 to Rte 20 and follow that way up. It's only 6 minutes longer. Not a big deal and I can avoid the tolls and traffic of I-90. We arrived a bit after 2pm. There was a trailer parked in the unloading area and the parking lot was packed! Busy day, I assumed the vet had not called due to emergencies (and I was correct). We had to wait a bit longer than normal in the waiting room and there were more people there...

photo copyright Christine Church all rights reserved Grass! That green stuff (or brown, depending on the weather) everyone associates horses eating. Let me give you a scenario; You look out at your green one-acre field and see your three horses out there, heads down, picking at the grass. You wonder, however, why they have lost a bit of weight in recent weeks. After all, they have grass, right? It's all green out there and some looks pretty tall. I can tell you right now, your pastures are overgrazed! You NEED to start supplementing with hay right now! photo copyright Horse Journals I can't tell you how many times I have heard people say, "I don't need to throw hay out there. He/she has grass!"  Ugh. 😧🙄 Upon easy inspection, however, it is plain as day that the "grass" is mostly weeds that horses don't eat and the edible parts of the paddock or pasture were eaten to a nub (see photo above). Don't forget, horses on their ow...