| Archive for It's About The Horse The Free Forum for those Doing Parelli - and a whole lot More! "Anything forced and misunderstood can never be beautiful." Xenophon (430-355 B.C.), |
| learningthedance |
Kathryn A. Watts and Christopher C. PollittNew report just released."Equine Laminitis - Managing pasture to reduce the risk" You can purchase the publication for $25.00, or you can download and print off a free copy here. https://rirdc.infoservices.com.au/items/10-063 Packed full of great information. |
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| alexwein |
Wow, thanks! Very informative report. Thanks for posting it! | ||
| Clarissa |
Thanks for posting that link LTD. I knew the book was coming out but wasn't sure where to find it.
There is a part well down the pages where Kathryn talks about how poor the Aussie soils are & why our horses are so deficient in many minerals. It is also a reason why horses here wear their feet differently to other parts of the world. I know some will contest that statement, but after seeing or working with 100’s of brumbies & free/wild horses & their feet, I have come to the conclusion the average wild horse here will never have “mustang roll/hard” feet. They are more likely to grow long toes & break off or split & flare. It is unusual to see wild horses here with ‘good’ feet. That would be due to 3 reasons being poor genetics, lack of minerals & poor soils that don’t accommodate good/proper wearing of hooves. Well that's the way I see it anyway. The sugar/starch content in our grasses was very interesting to note. Still we rarely need to restrict grazing, again because of our poor soils, hence deficient grasses & crops including hay. 
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| Newfman |
Actually, Chris Pollitt would contest that I believe. According to him, there are Brumbies that that live in areas that are more like grasslands, with plenty of food and plenty of water and access requires very little travel. These horses have long chipping hoof walls, with cracks and all the nice things we commonly see on poorly maintained, barefoot, domestic horses. The Desert Brumby on the other hand, that has very little to eat but scattered tufts of dried grass and desert plants, and gets their drink of water every three days or so, from various springs as far as 30 kilometers away, have some of the most incredible "mustang" type hooves you have ever seen. They captured a 'grasslands' brumby, settled it and transported it a few thousand kilometers to the desert. She had crappy feet, though i think they likley gave her a little trim so she could at least move. They released her with a small band of Desert Brumbies. 3 months later, they tracked her down and recaptured her. She had just about starved to death so they were lucky to have found her in time. So much for good diet. She was alone, and had a GPS tracking collar so they could retrace all of her movements. She put on many miles, and found the various resources that the herd had made use of. She had. . .beautiful "mustang" feet. Chris and Brian took her back to Queensland, rehabbed her, and now she is retired and lives on Brian's farm, munching on plenty of hay and grass. |
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| Newfman |
Here is another one.
So, your horse likes dandylions and clover? http://www.safergrass.org/pdf/Founder%20FodderWeeds.pdf Since one of my horse developed pasture associated laminitis (PAL) this spring, I though this would be a good article as well. D |
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| PasoBaby_CarolU |
BTW - there are wild horses here in swamp lands that have long, soft feet, that don't fit the "mustang roll" ideal at all. | ||
| Newfman |
You are absolutely correct. The same goes for Chincoteague, and many other parts of the world where the environment doesn't allow for the horse to develop a proper foot.
It isn't that they don't or that it does not work for them, it is because they can't. These horse just have to live with their hoof pathologies. I see the same things in pastured domestic horses. It makes me wonder why it is so difficult for people to understand. Some even say that those horses, like you mentioned, "evolved" to live in those environments, and that they need that kind of foot for "traction". 
Soon they will be 2 feet tall and have three toes again. |
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| Clarissa |
I want one..... but aren't they already making horses like that? Well 2ft tall anyway!  I guess some will soon have 3 toes too!
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| Newfman |
http://www.fossil-treasures-of-florida.com/three-toed-horse.html
So, would we charge by the toe? |