Coffee Clutch with Dutch Henry: My Mare's Diet

Monday, September 22, 2014

My Mare's Diet

Howdy Friends

Recently a few friends asked about my feeding protocol for Kessy. I'm a simple fellow, and as in everything I do I like to keep feeding simple too. Sure years ago when I played in the Competitive and Endurance world I bought into feeding all this, and lots of that, all kind of seeds, grain, beet pulp, supplements, and on and on. But I soon realized what I reasoned to be the many problems with all that.

As I said last week in our Coffee Clutch, "Practices For A Healthy Happy Horse," – "Horses are designed to be forage eaters." It is my belief that, just as with we humans, most health issues can be traced to diet and exercise. The epidemic of ulcers in horses is just one ready example. My personal rule for all things equine is, "No shoes, no stalls, no grain, limited grass, and seeing everything from the horse's point of view."

Kessy's feeding protocol is very simple, and part of that protocol is housing. Exercise is key to good health and I include it in diet discussion. Kessy enjoys a Paddock Paradise habitat in the trees, no grass, a run-in, no stall.

We use the one inch slow hay feed nets located at several locations in her paradise to encourage movement. We feed tested hay and I weigh each bag. Kessy weighs 925 pounds; she gets a total of 20 pounds a day in her nets. I fill the bags morning and evening, exactly 5 pounds in each of 2 bags – the one inch nets keep her happily busy for the day and night. I hang the bags so they just touch the ground so she is eating in the grazing potion.

Kessy and her pals enjoying the day

Morning she also gets exactly half of pound of soaked timothy cubes. In that I mix, 1 teaspoon sea salt, her enzymes and vitamins ... I have used Advanced Biological Concepts for 15 years, they are totally organic and gmo free, and I'm happy to recommend them, and their support team. I feed their ABC-Plus Enzymes, their A and B mix vitamins and Rush Creek minerals. Minerals are free choice as well as Redmond salt. Water of course is always available and tub kept spotless.

Evenings Kessy gets exactly half a pound of soaked timothy cubes with her enzymes and one teaspoon iodine salt. Bedtime she gets a handful of fresh vegetables, and a slice of apple.

That's it, simple. I see no need for costly and crazy supplements that can confuse the digestion system and even the immune system. Kessy looks great, hoofs rock crushing hard, coat as glossy as a new penny, eyes glistening, attitude sharp. She's a happy girl, and that makes me happy.

Gitty Up ~ Dutch Henry

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Welcome to the Coffee Clutch

Welcome to the Coffee Clutch, a happy place to visit. I write uplifting stories about a wide variety of subjects from horses to birds and nature, to love and family and friends. Sometimes I'll post excerpts from stories I've written for Equine Publications. Sometimes I'll post about writing itself. Coffee Clutch got its name because I often write while enjoying my morning coffee in the barn with my mare Kessy, and all our critters. Join us here for fun conversation and stories I promise will make you feel good.

It's For The Horses

This is not a book about riding, or training horses. It is a book on my thoughts, ideas and suggestions on how folks might find the joy in doing things for the horse, with the horses’ point of view as the leading guide. My hope is to help as many people as possible learn to hear the horse, feel their spirit, and in that way help horses everywhere. Over the years I’ve met and worked with remarkable people and horses who taught me about their feelings, their joys, their sadness, and their spirit. As a horse advocate everything I do is from the horse’s perspective, including this little book. Every story, idea, suggestion and thought on these pages will be to suggest and share thoughts and ideas on how to maximize a relationship between horse and human—from the horse’s point of view.

Tom Named by Horse

The only man ever to offer Tom respect is Red Cloud. The only woman to give him love is Red Cloud’s granddaughter. Struggling with his own personal demons, Tom finds himself wedged between honoring that friendship and staying true to the depths of his conscience. Amid a backdrop of tumultuous social upheaval, he finds nothing prepared him, the woman he loves or Chief Red Cloud, for the changes about to thunder into their lives, sweeping them helplessly into the tides of human conflict and historical drama. Available on Amazon.

From The Banks OF Little Bear Creek

The Tom Named by Horse Saga continues. Three years after the death of Tall Dog, Tom Named By Horse and Soft Cloud have turned the little soddy, the lands granted them by Red Cloud, and the lean-to barn into a thriving horse ranch, fulfilling Tom’s dream. The Plains Indians Wars, or Red Cloud’s war, is mostly behind them, and the lands have had their transformation as Red Cloud’s vision had warned years earlier. Trailing horses from the ranch to Denver city has become an annual event for Tom, Buck and the rest, and this is the story of that trail. In the spirit of a good old John Wayne movie, vengeance, cattle and horse thieves, a dirty sheriff and corrupt mayor, and a wedding make this year’s drive a ride you’ll want to tag along on.

Monday, September 22, 2014

My Mare's Diet

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