July 25, 2003

And That's The Way It Is

I have enjoyed writing this column for more than three years. I must thank Sue Nerud for giving me the opportunity to do this.

My interest for doing this column comes from years of practicing veterinary medicine and even more years of selling hay to the equine market.

I sold my practice a number of years ago. It was my 20:20 hindsight that drives me today. I realized that æ of my time treating horses was for nutritional screw-ups. As a veterinarian you are treating sick horses or are trying to sell a client on a vaccination program. All are important practices for a practicing veterinarian. But working on equine nutrition I spend more time caring for healthy horses.

Walking around with syringes in my holsters trying to keep my cash flow profitable isn't nearly as rewarding as helping people feed and care for their horses properly. Some days are a little frustrating when clients rely on what they heard over the back fence and believe it as a scientific fact.

I have generated some good discussions about my professional opinions of how horses should be fed or treated. I believe there is a place for tough questions and many good answers. I would like to summarize some of my ideas from the past few years, like it or not.

Water, H2O or di-hydro oxide, why is it so hard to get an adequate supply of good clean water to horses. After chewing on dry hay on a hot summer day, can you imagine how good a drink of clean fresh water would taste? Is there some relationship between the size of your water bucket and the water needs of your horse? Please consider an automatic waterer that is easy to clean often.

Is there something about manure and urine that makes hay taste better? The idea that horses would rather eat off the ground can only be based on the fact that is where grass grows in the wild. Rather than stretching the neck muscles when they want to eat, wouldn't it be easier to eat closer to where they normally hold their head?

I'd like to find that salesman that sells junky grass hay to horse owners and has convinced them that his product and lots of sweet feed is the perfect diet. He has to be one of the most successful salesman of all time. Forage is the biggest and most important part of your horse's diet and should be given highest priority. Alfalfa was developed in the middle ages for horses not cows.

What is nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen? It's the air we breathe with a little man-made junk thrown in for flavor. Your horse's lungs so appreciate fresh air, usually found outside.

There are some very nice horse facilities in my area from a people point of view. I do not deny that I really enjoyed working on a horse in a nice warm barn in the winter time. But you know what a horse told me one time about a warm, stuffy, smelly, cramped stall with no feed or water? The next time you talk to your horse ask him if

he would rather be inside or outside on a sunny summer afternoon. In fact, next winter I would ask the same question. I believe that your horse will agree to be inside for the times you spend with him but when you are not there give him a chance to show you what he would prefer.

I do enjoy what I do. I do enjoy seeing and working with healthy horses. I see the future for good equine nutrition as very bright. I have enjoyed the opportunity to ventilate and relieve some frustrations in this column. And I believe in what I do.

I always look forward to your questions and comments. I will leave you with my telephone number and e-mail address for you to contact me if you have any questions in the future. 320-286-5040 or idleacres@cmgate.com or www.idleacres.com soon I hope.

I will bring this series to a close. I would like to leave you with Walter Cronkite's closing statement, "And that's the way it is."