Cavallo

Before I start ripping into my horse magazine's weirdness, I will say I was very impressed to see a correction on the last page in fine print. They write that 16 years ago they made a mistake. They said that the protein in grass causes horses to founder. Now they know that it's the fructan, and they'd like to stand corrected. Wow.

I've thrown in a couple of photos of horses that caught my breath, eye candy. These horses could be complete conformational crap in their own barns (and you can see the hooves, ugh). But wow, the photographers captured the "cream- side" of them, as the Germans say.  Makes me always wonder, what Mag could do if he were at a show. He'd love it, intrinsically, trained or not: )

The most ridiculous article yet came out this month. A three page layout of photos of what they consider to be ugliness in the horse world. Seriously. Three of the photos were of Appys with pink skin patterns on their faces. I couldn't believe it - they were criticizing pink skin. And two cremellos for their weird coloring. And an Akhal-Teke with a long back, they acted as if the horses are bred for long backs on purpose (they're not, are they?). There was a horse with its whiskers shaved off, and the caption, "In other countries, this is still legal." (They should have gone to Aachen, Germany in September to see all the bald-faced Arabs - in Germany.) There was a Tinker with its mustache, and Arabian foal showing a funky shedding pattern. There was a draft horse with a docked tail, a Shetland with extremely short legs, some Spanish horses with shaved manes, anything they could find that goes against their standard of beauty. I couldn't believe it, and didn't really get the point. It seemed to be, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but my goodness look at these horses!" I guess it was a sort of Fugly Horse of the Day article, but I don't think Fugly was against pink noses and shaved manes.

But the reason I have to write this post is their article, "How to help a fat horse lose weight."

The "Most important tips for losing weight" are 1. Movement (good) 2. Reduce sugar and starch (good) 3. Feed more protein (what?) 4. Feed flax oil (what?) and 5. Feed enough hay (good).

More protein? Specifically, they say, "In a grain-free diet your horse will lack the amino acids it needs, and to prevent muscle degeneration, you should feed protein, such as ALFALFA or Soyhulls. What? I can guess why they  might be confused about alfalfa, it is simply not available in Germany, unless you buy it in a feed sack (they look like crap to me, just brown stems, and when I found the pellets, my horse didn't want to eat them). I find it interesting that they don't mention Silage/Heulage, because that stuff has more protein than hay, and is available in every barn in the nation. No, Americans know what to feed a horse you would like to help GAIN weight - alfalfa.

Flax oil to lose weight? Help me out, isn't flax oil....oil? So, 100% fat? What you would feed a hard keeper? The article says essential fatty acids are healthy, prevent infection, so you should feed flax oil or ground flax. To lose weight. Is there any validity to that?

They also say to keep easy keepers together so they are all on the same diet, which is also good.

Just, hm!





The next page here has a full page ad for a grain free feed, and I'm so glad that grain-free is finally becoming a thing here. Not just "oat-free" like 10 years ago. EVIL OATS (I'm joking, oats are not evil). So, I'm looking at this fancy bag of feed, and they come right out and say, "No grain, just pasture!" Seriously, it's grass in a bag. With beet pulp pellets. I buy no-brand beet pulp, and no-brand hay pellets. I am amazed at how many companies are marketing this exact recipe for $$$ and a pretty package. This is a good thing, more good stuff in sacks! But my goodness, people, look at labels please, it's nothing fancy.

Oh, please don't think I'm against grain! I'm just not going to feed it to a 6 year young hot blood that I  sit on sometimes. If he were to go to the track, I'd pay the bill for his rocket-fuel grain, like the bag I received as a gift from the racetrack guy, that literally said, "For race horses in full training" on it. Thanks, but....*lol* (That bag was here a very long time.)

I always say, a kilo of carrots costs only 69 cents in Germany. A kilo of carrot flavored horse snacks can cost 4 euros! But I admit, I do buy mineral snacks that won't go moldy when forgotten in all the various jackets and saddle bags I use. I buy in bulk, 20 kilos for 30 Euros.

I love hearing about what people feed their horses, and how to save money to keep weight on in Winter. I was surprised to read a blogger say this week, "Since it's cold, I'm giving my elderly hard keepers an extra serving of hay per day." I'm like, "Serving? What is that? If you have elderly hard keepers, why don't they always have hay in front of them?" Ah, but maybe her hay is not in slow-feeders, and maybe her hay is alfalfa, and they scarf it all up in an hour. *shrug*

Here's a question for you. I've read twice now that eating from hay nets causes horses to breathe more dust than no net. Can that be so? I would think the net prevents a horse from burying its face in the hay, forcing them to breathe air outside the hay. Thoughts?

I just found an article on the magazine's website, "Are hay pellets a good thing?" and had to laugh at the first sentence: "Hay is as important to horses as whole wheat bread is to humans." *lol* Cuz ya know, I don't eat bread at all. But this is Germany, famous for its bread.

I need to also say I was floored when last month they came out with a list of things you don't need when lunging your horse. I forget the entire list, but side reins were on there. I didn't agree with their perspective that the lunge-line-through-the-bit-ring-over-the-poll-to-the-other-side was a massive leverage situation, though. I agreed that the Pessoa is not a good thing. I did not agree that a bit-ring-connector for lunging (?) is bad. I was so proud of this magazine for being so brave.





There was one ad that got my attention. My favorite German saddle maker, Sommer, has a new trail saddle out. Oh, my, if only I needed a fleet of saddles, this would be in it. I don't know what that strap is for, nor that pocket thing, but I've ridden in their endurance saddles and love them, and not tooooo pricey at 1890E.  Not that I'm shopping. It's just this darn magazine, with no ad-blocker, cuz it's paper.

As always, I write notes in the margins of the magazine, agreeing and yelling about things, then I dump it in TP's mailbox at the end of the month (the lady with the fancy arena, who drove a tractor by my house today for the first time, stopping to chat as I was working. She drives a tractor around?)

I'm gonna try to find out if there is a more scientifically accurate magazine out there, that isn't just about dressage or jumping. I do enjoy it, I guess it is kind of fun to try challenge it every month.