Re: RC: antibiotics and digestion

[Lif Strand <fasterhorses@gilanet.com>]

At 09:36 AM 9/29/00, Michelle Fink wrote:
> She's a
> ribby but has a little hay belly & is well hydrated.  I am
> blanketing her at night to help her conserve energy.  Anything else
> I can do for her???  

Michelle - I'm not familiar with the horse in question.  How old is
she?  What kind of exercise is she getting?  How tall is
she?  900 lbs might be a fine weight for her - maybe it's just the
distribution that's wrong (kind of like with me.  I don't mind what
the scale says, I just wish some of it was distributed 
differently!)

If your mare isn't getting exercise because of injury, I wouldn't be
trying to put much weight on her rat this time - you don't want to risk
"Monday Morning Sickness" (tying up).  You didn't mention
if her teeth have been looked at recently.  If she's older, she
might be missing some molars.  She might benefit from soaked hay
pellets + beet pulp more than the Equine Sr.  I know some people
swear by that product, but I've had such good success with hay pellets +
beet pulp along with grass/alfalfa hay that I don't feed horses any grain
or complete feed at all any more unless they are really working
hard.  Of course there's the worming issue.  That belly you
mention might indicate a need for worming.  You might give that 5
day Panacur treatment a try.

As for probiotics and aloe - without a diagnosis of a problem, aren't you
potentially fixing something that isn't broke?  Lif

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