Hmmm... well I didn't get any pics of the chiro visit:-/ I always feel funny breaking out the camera for stuff like that, don't know why though. So sorry for no pics of that. I'm still kinda processing today's visit.Lester's left shoulder and right hip needed adjusting. She also said he was painful in all his joints and that sugar could be the culprit... his main feed doesn't consist of hardly any sugars and he doesn't get much of that anyways. But I give him sugar cubes and peppermints like there is no tomorrow:-o Could he really just be sore in the joints from sugar? She was working on another horse while I was grooming Lester and he got in a very cock-eyed position, lifting his hind leg up so I could scratch his no-no regions. While he had his leg lifted up practically over my head as I brushed him she made the comment "Could a horse with neuro problems really do that?" While I do think Lester does have some back/ neuro issues, could it all have been compounded by giving him too much sugar? She suggested never giving him sugar again- make all his treats carrots, apples, honey and other natural stuff- nothing with processed sugars. Also put him on MSM and an herbal supplement called Supple Horse which I have used in the past. Is that like the EPM or EPMS diet?
ETA: I joked with the chiro and said I would just have to buy him sugar-free peppermints and she said absolutely not, that those were made with the "Splenda" stuff and that is worse than the real sugar itself. She then told me that Splenda was first made to be Ant poison, WHAT?! But in small doses it doesn't effect humans as bad as the ants- paralyzing them to death. She then told me about Stevia Clear, a natural sweetener and she had some in her car and let me taste it- it was just as good and sweet as real sugar! I'm going back to black coffee until I can get a bottle!
12 comments:
Maybe he would like sugar-free candy :-).
Jen
Whaddya know!
why does it amaze us when our animals suffer sometimes exactly the same ways we do with processed things?!!
I wonder if the "Start to finish"
peepermint treats have much sugar?
I will look.
Carrots are my treat of choice,
STF peppermints second, then Black licorice sometimes.
I hope cutting that makes a large wonderful differance for Less!
It does sound a little like the diet some of our horses are on, one in particular for EPMS. I think if you tried it for a while it couldn't hurt.
Hmmm... the chiro has a good point re "could a neuro horse do that?"
You've mentioned Lester's leg lifting before (seriously, we need a pic!) but I didn't realize he lifted it THAT high.
Really makes a person wonder HOW neuro he is, if at all.
Definitely give the no-sugar/reduced sugar a try. The "refined white" sugar in Les's fav treats is the worst but there are a LOT of naturally occuring sugars in certain foods so you may want to check and restrict some of those as well.
Maybe this is the silver lining to Lester's dark cloud! :)
Cdn- well I am bending over brushing his legs are belly when he's able to lift his leg "over" my head, lol, so maybe I made that sound a little too impressive! But still he is able to lift it pretty high.
I think the less sugar in all of us can't hurt so I will try it with Less. I hope he doesn't become too cranky though and go through sugar withdrawl!
that's really interesting that he might have a sensitivity to sugar. i have two horses diagnosed with espm/pssm after spending years treating for things like epm and doing diagnostics for various injuries and neurological disorders and it turns out the horses have a muscle metabolism disorder that can be treated with diet, as most of the sugar horses eat doesn't come from treats but from grain, hay and pasture. the idea is to lower the starch content of the diet, increase fiber and add fat.
it might be worth putting him on an epsm diet and seeing if it helps. it takes a few weeks to notice a change and 6-months to a year to repair the damaged muscle, but i am seeing an improvement in my horses already after just a month. one of my horses would freak out if girthed (even with a soft polo wrap) and the other couldn't get up and down to roll and had trouble (like almost falling down) when he tried to back up, and both are improving every day. there are tests that will give a definitive diagnosis, or you can just try the diet. if you are interested, there are some great resources online...
How awesome would that be if Less's issues ARE from sugar? That means you might be able to un-retire him! :-)
I am still laughing at the "Lester's bitch" comment down below...you crack me up!
What if this is the breakthrough that you have been waiting for?? What did the chiro say about trying light riding with Lester?
You will definitely have to try this new diet out and see if there are any changes.
About the Splenda...unfortunately a lot of the crap, I mean food, that we put in to our mouths is toxic to our systems. It is really quite scary!
That is interesting info from the chiro. It can't hurt to give her suggestions a try, that's for sure. Who knows - maybe you can start riding him lightly soon!
Either way, I'm sure the chiro visit will help him feel more comfortable and balanced.
so no more chocolate chip cookies - huh?
so if he is a bit cranky at first with his new diet, but you can maybe ride again with this new improvement - it might be worth it.
don't all men make that motion when they want to be scratched in their no no regions?
Poor guy!
My mare won't een touch peppermints. The first time I gave them to her she put them in her mouth, made a frightening face and then spit them back out. lol!
The only treats she likes are carrots, apple slices and horse cookies (she eats a lot of these because everyone wants to give her two or three when they visit her) Do you think these are too sweet, also?
I use Stevia. Very good stuff! You can buy it at any natural food store...and you only need an itty bitty bit to sweeten your food.
And it doesn't give that nasty chemical taste that artificial sweeteners do.
~Lisa
ant poison? no kidding. i'm not for that stuff for a different reason. can't remember. it was much more complicated than ant poison.
wow. who knew?
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