Horse Hair Analysis and the performance horse
Many performance horses are asked to push through minor physical injuries. It is not uncommon for recurring leg swelling or body soreness to be treated with non-steriodal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as Phenylbutazone (bute). The effectiveness of these treatments will be short lived if the real issue in a mineral deficiency.
Electrolyte minerals, copper, manganese, chromium, selenium and cobalt are crucial to the growth, repair and function of muscles, tendons and ligaments. Inadequate supplementation may lead to recurring physical setbacks resulting in expensive treatment protocols (i.e. Bone Scan, IRAP, Shockwave, joint injections). Proper nutrition is the most critical ingredient to allowing your horse to thrive.
Horses with improper mineral levels or metal toxicities commonly display one or more of the following:
- Tendon/ligament issues
- Chronic body soreness
- Ulcers
- Colic
- Tying-up
- Irritability
- Nervousness
- Lack of stamina
- Aggression
- Allergies
- Scratches
Rarely does a horse possess the mental and physical talent to consistently achieve top level success in competition. With the increased popularity of futurities, maturities, and derbies, young horses are pressured into being more finished earlier in their career. Many of these horses become irritable, nervous or aggressive. While this may seem like strictly a mental fault, it may be due to a mineral deficiency.
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Thank You sooo much for your article on vaccine reactions in horses. My beloved Cassidy (3/3 haflinger mare 20 yrs old) died this past Monday and the cause was baffling until I read this article. She had been vaccinated 10 days prior. The day after vaccinations she aquired accute laminitis followed by colic and then kidney failure. Her pain and discomfort was too much for her & I to bear so I had to put her down. I have been one of those crazy nuts that had to follow the annual vaccine schedules without knowing about any fatal outcomes. I have 8 other wonderful horses to which I will now be better educated. My only wish is that I would have read this sooner so I could spared her this horrific death. Thanks again Dr. Mark. Wished you lived in western New York. 😦