FEEDLINE……..  APRIL-MAY 2006        No 41

 Although the official date is 1^st January most horse’s birthdays are in April. It is not a bad month to be born the Mare gets the benefits of early grazing and by the time the foal is weaned the first flush of very rich grass is over. The weather’s good too with not too many freezing nights. Feed Steel Force Minerals to the mare and encourage the foal to eat Mum’s feed as well. Contrary to popular believe it is not possible to grow a foal too fast what is possible is to not feed it sufficient minerals. This can be a problem with a really milky mare. It is no use trying to cut her food down all she will do is milk off her back. Better to try to see the foal is not hungry and wean early, you then regain control of the situation. From quite early on try to feed a little oats especially if you do not needing to feed any concentrates on account of the grass, this encourages amylase production which will help in years to come when you might well want to feed more oats for competition. The intention is not to make an oat burner but likewise not to rear a horse that is intolerant to starch due to it upbringing. Keep feeding Steel Force Minerals to the foal after weaning and through to two years old. Just before weaning feed some Travel Mixture and for a few days after, this will avoid puffy knees. The bones of a foal are very labile so any increase in Mg loss due to stress is compensated by taking Mg back out of the bones this causes an interruption in the fixing of Calcium.

Just as a country cannot afford to maintain too large a standing army so the body cannot always rely on its existing immune defences to protect it from the onslaught of a particularly virulent or prolonged attack. In such cases it must mobilise civilians in a general call up, conscripting harmless Monocytes and turning them into Macrophages that possess enormous destructive powers. When the regular defences are breached the horse will start to feel ill. Prior to this anything dealt with by the regular army goes largely unnoticed and without symptoms. The speed of mobilisation is dependant on the general state of health, training, so to speak, takes time and resources, in this case energy so survival is much dependant on the existing regiments of Phagocytes fighting a rearguard action and there being sufficient Kamikaze Neutrophils that impede the invader by exploding mast cells and releasing histamine (inflammatory response) into the blood whilst keeping up a general alarm for reinforcements. Like Cromwell who took a rag-tag group of tradesman, land workers and itinerants and transformed them into the New Modern Army so the body, resourced by L-Glutamine and other amino acids, gets ready for all out war by preparing an array of deadly weapons and specialist units (Killer T cells) as well as millions of  foot soldiers. Detachments (Fireman) are formed to deactivate the enemy’s advanced viral air force and commandos that punch holes and then dissolve the protective jelly (the H-Barrier) that protects civilian cells. (This is an area where Echinacea assists) Other cells are devoted to raising the efficiency of training (Arun Powder helps here) making helper and scout cells. Suppressor cells (this is where Berberine Mixture comes in) must also be created; these act like chaplains stopping the whole thing running amok and demob officers. Catering for conditions after the war is important killer cells with long memories roaming the streets with nothing to do can cause problems, as in Iraq at the moment.  To help understand all the different references included on a report that accompanies a blood test following trauma or viral challenge we have now produced a layman’s guide on the subject. It is on the website or if requested can be posted to those requesting it.  

 D78 is a formula for rheumatic dogs. We make it up in powder form to be fed with a little prepared breakfast cereal of with the regular feed and a concentrated version for including in capsules. Each dog is different but it usually takes about 10 days if it’s going to be of benefit in more freedom of movement.  Recently we were pleased to hear of a Labrador who was started on D78 who suddenly went missing only to be found up on the bed- he had not been able to climb the stairs for months.

Feed one teaspoonful of Arbor-Vitae Tincture as a vaccinial antidote for a week before vaccination and for about a week after to horses that are known to react to flu vaccination. Cost is about £11 and it will help.

Times are getting ever faster in athletics, the marathon is now being run at almost middle distance pace and middle distances are almost sprints. The same is starting to happen in short and 100 mile endurance rides. Much of this is due to better training and far better facilities and we like to think a better knowledge of nutrition and the metabolism. This however only serves to highlight some of the incredible feats of horsemanship of the past that were achieved devoid of such knowledge, none more than that achieved by one William Cody. One of the most compelling reasons for believing the reports of William F Cody’s riding exploits is the ‘matter of a fact tone’ in which they are reported and the general lack of interest that readers of the hundreds of penny dreadfuls, books and albums had in his riding expertise as opposed to those of him as a frontiersman, army scout and adventurer.  Add to this the actual archived records of the time he was employed by the US Army and with the postal services and it is possible to be more accurate as to Cody’s phenomenal association with horses than other details of his quite extraordinary life. At one time Cody was the most well known man in the world much of that thanks to the journalists of the day that would today be making up stories about David Beckham. Brought up by his fiercely anti-racist Mother who smuggled escaped slaves over the Missouri border into Kansas, Cody, who possessed the nerve and the expertise to nowadays win gold at the Olympics for shooting and super fit from racing horses, would  ride 60 miles for a night out on the town and then back again in the morning. On one occasion he was recorded as having ridden a 360 mile round trip for the Pony Express Company non-stop using 21 horses. He was the forerunner of the modern day superhero, not all good but a product of his time and the indeed the most wonderful horseman.  Some years ago having visited his grave and locations of his exploits we had published a short résumé of his life and his attachment to horses. It can now be found by logging on to the Trinity Website.    

 You would be forgiven if, after being told about Noni Juice, you were sceptical. There does not seem to be a mal-condition that the salesman does not say isn’t helped by it. Indeed when recently talking to a top Swedish trainer he said he had dismissed the idea of feeding it as a conman in the area was selling it and claiming that it would do just about  everything. Lack of language subtlety failed to reveal if it was all the claims put upon the Noni juice or conman he really objected to but whatever, he had not tried it.  Sweden is one of the leading horse countries in the world so it attracts a lot of dubious people trying to cash in on the industry so he has a right to be wary and its not as if he is exactly struggling for results but it is worth mentioning why Noni comes with such a reputation. It contains an alkaloid precursor to the vital compound called Xeronine. Xeronine is itself an alkaloid that the body produces to activate enzymes and energise the body. Without such an activator, we and the horse would die, lack of it can give rise to fatigue, lack of stamina, undulations in temperament and many diseases. Morinda citrifolia (Noni) is considered the best source of Pro-Xeronine available. This and other properties in Noni make it a candidate for just about every problem of health and of benefit to every department of the body. Nothing is as good or bad as it first appears so we are self’s are wary of recommending willy nilly however  there does seem to be an advantage in feeding it to stressed performance horses and to tired people.

 The new agricultural waste regulations will start on the 15 May 2006. Farmers will need to stop using their farm tip/dump before then. You should also stop burning waste in the open air before the regulations come into force, particularly plastics and tyres. You will be allowed to continue to burn waste like crop residues (spoilt or moldy hay and residues from linseed, cereals, oil seed rape, peas and beans), hedge trimmings and other untreated wood in the open. If you use a drum incinerator to burn rinsed polyethylene pesticide containers, you will have another 12 months (until early 2007) before you have to stop doing this. The Agricultural Waste Regulations will mean that non-organic waste produced on farms will become regulated under the existing Waste legislation. (Manures and slurries are not considered to be waste when used as a fertiliser on agricultural premises). Up until now waste generated on farms has not been regulated and the UK has been told off by Europe!

There is some guidance on the Environment Agency website (www.environment-agency.gov.uk) on what the new regulations will mean and what options are open to you with regards to how to recycle or dispose of your waste. You will have 12 months (until 15 May 2007) to comply with the new rules.

 A new Therapists “Single Page” Notes on behaviour is now available it briefly sets out in categories the origins of various behavior traits and the current Standard formulae we recommend to help.