what does "wholistic"
really mean?

general approach

feeding
& nutritional therapy

exercise physiology
& sports medicine

internal medicine

physical therapy
& rehabilitation

"prehab"

manual & movement
therapies

osteopathic care
of the spine

homeopathy
& homotoxicology

medical intuitive evaluation

energy medicine

Anima Herbal Solutions

FEEDING & NUTRITIONAL THERAPY

With the exception of gross underfeeding in poorly managed horses, obvious nutritional deficiencies are uncommon in horses these days. In fact, the most common nutritional problem in horses that are responsibly managed is overfeeding, particularly of high-calorie feeds and vitamin/mineral supplements.

There are numerous health consequences of feeding too many calories and/or overfeeding certain vitamins and minerals. Some are obvious (e.g. obesity, laminitis, exercise-related muscle problems, behavioral problems, colic, developmental orthopedic disorders in growing horses). Others are less obvious (e.g. altered metabolic or immune function, increased risk of illness and injury, delayed healing, and premature aging).

There is a lot of hype and confusion about feeding horses. It seems that everyone has an opinion on how you should be feeding your horse. With the seemingly endless array of feed and supplement companies all vying for your business, and the various horse experts endorsing one product/program or another, no wonder there's so much confusion!

My approach to feeding horses is to get back to basics. Let's consider what the horse's body is designed to run on, and figure out how we can get as close as possible to that ideal, while still meeting the horse's individual needs for activity, recovery, weight reduction, etc. - without sending you broke!

In most situations, we'll be able to evaluate and modify the horse's diet just "by eye." Sometimes, though, that "devil in the details" requires us to be more precise. In those instances, I use computer software to more specifically evaluate and modify the ration for an individual horse. This degree of precision usually necessitates laboratory analysis of the foods (pasture, hay, concentrates, and possibly the supplements) being fed to the horse.