By: Natalya Gryson By far the hardest thing for me about buying and selling horses is the pre-purchase exam. It’s hard not to get bogged down in veterinary lingo and lose sleep at night over a skin tag or an insignificant radiological finding. What does “perfect xrays“ mean anyway and do we ride x-rays? Are the x-rays going to be what greets us at the stall door or the pasture gate every day and willingly participates in our riding learning journey? No, they are not. For me, perfect x-rays means none of the findings are significant in the way that they are likely to get in the way of me achieving my realistic goal with this horse. There are no guarantees with horses, textbook perfect x-rays or not. Here are a few tips for how I stay sane enjoying my horse during the day, sleeping easy at night, and letting my horse enjoy her life as well without breaking the bank.
An ounce of prevention My recipe for affordable daily prevention , which starts from the moment I buy my horse no matter how young, is Hyalun Pro by Hyalogic , Curamax by Terry Naturally Animal Health , and probiotics by Vital Planet. In my experience, the two most common career enders are soft tissue injury and degenerative joint disease. I protect against both of these with daily oral high molecular weight hyaluronic acid. Oral HA not only supports joints and connective tissues, it also benefits your horse’s skin, eyes, and digestive health. Another major player in soft tissue injury and arthritis (djd) is excessive inflammation. A healthy level of inflammation helps the body repair and heal, but excessive inflammation in the body only compounds your horse’s stress and discomfort. Curamax by Terry Naturally Animal Health contains clinically studied, enhanced bioavailable curcumin and uniquely standardized boswellia. Both curcumin and boswellia are powerful at reducing excessive inflammation by blocking the pathways in the body by which the process of inflammation begins. Studies have shown together they create a powerful natural medicine which benefits respiratory health, cardiovascular health, digestive health, mobility and flexibility, and cognitive health. And last but not least, what we all know might be the most fragile system in the equine body - the digestive system. A healthy digestive system is dependent on a strong microbiome - a diverse population of healthy bacteria to breakdown food stuffs so nutrients can be absorbed into the system and waste can be excreted. A population of appropriate strains of bacteria are important for breaking down what your horse eats and also protect against the growth of the wrong kind of bacteria which can negatively impact your horses health. Common practices such as deworming, antibiotic treatment, and even chemical pesticides present in commercially processed foods can damage diminish your horses healthy microbiome. Vital Planet’s patented delivery system carries the probiotics safely through the stomach acid in the foregut and delivers them to populate microbiome of the hindgut. These products help me sleep soundly at night knowing that my horses are lightly less likely to develop the problems most commonly seen in sport horses. And if they do develop, that they are likely to be less severe and easier to resolve because my horse’s body is receiving the support it needs to heal itself. Let go! Working hard to be the best partner you can for your equine doesn’t end when you leave the barn. For most of us, it includes home study and sport specific strength training and stretching. It is true for our horses as well that athlete development doesn’t end when you walk out of the arena. I am a big believer in equine bodywork from a knowledgeable practitioner. I also believe in the importance of the equine athlete being able to move freely daily. In fact, movement is the easiest and cheapest way to reduce inflammation, which is the most common cause of physical ailments. So I encourage people to let go of those turnout fears and let your horse go out and enjoy some unstructured outside time! Someone asked me once, “So what do you do after you purchase a $50K+ horse … Wrap them in bubble wrap and never take let them out of their stall?” No!! I employ a little prevention, do my part to be a good partner for my equine, enjoy the ride, and let them enjoy their life too!! Works Cited: Hyalogic® (2021, June 10). Blog. Hyalogic®. https://hyalogic.com/blog/. Lemerond , T. (2021, May 28). Boswellia: An amazing gift for your health. Terry Talks Nutrition. https://www.terrytalksnutrition.com/health-articles/natural-relief-for-asthma-copd-and-allergies/. Lemerond , T. (2020, March 13). Curcumin: The all-in-one-solution, part 1. Terry Talks Nutrition. https://www.terrytalksnutrition.com/health-articles/curcumin-the-all-in-one-solution/. Vital Planet, LLC. (2022, Nov 20). Vital Planet. https://vitalplanet.com/.
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