Holiday issue
SELENIUM: facts & myths
HOOF HISTORY
Can your horse’s feet tell you about his past?
PILATES FOR RIDERS
Does your horse need to
DETOX?
A DISPLAY UNTIL JANUARY 19, 2016 VOLUME 10 ISSUE 6
$5.95 USA/Canada
Dec 2015/Jan 2016
&
Kids horses – a natural
combination
Healthy HOLIDAY TREATS
havenFOR HOPE
Twenty years and 1,000 horses later, Safe Haven Horse Rescue is still hard at work. EquineWellnessMagazine.com Equine Wellness 1
44 FEATURES 10 TISSUE MINERAL
ANALYSIS - A hairy tool for preventive health.
16 SELENIUM: FACTS AND
MYTHS - We are often cautioned about
feeding our horses too much selenium, but we rarely hear about the benefits of this essential trace mineral. Here’s why your horse needs adequate selenium in his diet!
19 THE DIRT ON
BENTONITE CLAY - Bentonite clay is an all-natural product with amazing healing properties!
Photo courtesy of Blue Fountain Photography
Conte
27 PILATES FOR RIDERS
- Feeling stiff, weak or limited in your riding? Your fitness is just as important as your horse’s! This total body approach to movement can be helpful for equestrians of all disciplines.
32 COVER STORY:
Equine Wellness
- You can learn a lot about his background just by looking at his feet.
56 JUMPING FENCES
NEED TO DETOX? - Detox
42 KIDS AND HORSES –
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53 HOOF HISTORY
36 DOES YOUR HORSE
Haven Horse Rescue is celebrating 20 years of helping horses in need – to date, their work has benefitted over 1,000 grateful equines!
24 AYURVEDA FOR YOUR on each equine as an individual.
- Using horse manure for renewable energy.
55 MICROCURRENT
TREATS - The festive season doesn’t have to be about overindulgence – here is a recipe your horses will love, and it’s good for them, too! HORSE - This age-old therapy focuses
48 NATURE’S FURNACE
A HAVEN FOR HOPE - Safe
diets are all the rage for people, so it’s no surprise we’re considering them for horses too. Let’s look at when your horse might benefit from toxin elimination, and how it can be done.
2O HEALTHY HOLIDAY
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NATURALLY - Have you ever noticed how horses tend to adore children, and seem to get along with them so well? Here’s why, along with some fun exercises to enhance your own kids’ relationship with equines.
THERAPY - This low-level electrical stimulation therapy is easy to add to your horse’s routine.
- Learn how to develop an eye for distance when approaching a fence.
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10 DEPARTMENTS
COLUMNS
6 Editorial
8 Neighborhood news 15 Green acres
23 Holiday gift guide
26 It’s elemental!
31 Heads up
39 Herb blurb
35 Product picks
40 To the rescue
45 Equine Wellness resource guide
44 Homeopathic column
47 Social media corner
50 Holistic veterinary Q&A
60 Marketplace 61 Classifieds 62 Events
20
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Does your horse need to
DETOX? Detox diets are all the rage for people, so it’s no surprise we’re considering them for horses too. Let’s look at when your horse might benefit from toxin elimination, and how it can be done. By Erin Zamzow, DVM
You’ve probably heard of all the different detoxing regimes people use in their mission for better health – juice cleanses, colon cleanses, the Master Cleanse. But how often do we think about addressing toxic buildup in our horses?
TOXIC BEFORE BIRTH In the past, our concerns regarding toxin exposure were limited primarily to acute poisoning. Not anymore. Chemicals have been released into the environment at an alarming rate since the beginning of the post-WWII technology boom, with no burden on industry to prove such substances are safe. Exposure to many of these substances is unavoidable – air, water and food all contain levels of toxins, and there are also the chemicals we inject, apply or orally dose our horses with. These chemicals begin accumulating before a horse is born; they cross the placental barrier and affect developing fetuses. Mammalian milk continues to channel these toxins into young growing foals, until eventually a “body burden” is created that is impossible for the body to overcome with the usual detoxification pathways.
COMMON SOURCES OF TOXIN EXPOSURE Our animals are exposed to many of the same chemicals we are, and their ability to manage this toxic load easily becomes overwhelmed. Let’s look at common sources of exposure for our animals and ourselves: 36
Equine Wellness
AIR Billions of tons of chemicals are put into the air every year, including mercury, sulfates and nitrates from coal-fired power plants in the US. Airborne toxins from Asia and other countries travel the jet stream, eventually settling onto virtually every continent and ending up in food crops, groundwater and soil. Health effects from toxins in the air can include damage to the immune and neurological systems. There is also evidence that airborne toxics such as DDT, mercury and dioxins may affect hormonal (endocrine) systems by mimicking or blocking the action of natural hormones.
FEED Heavy metals can reduce the body’s ability to absorb essential nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and zinc, eventually leading to problems with immune function, muscle contraction, energy production, and bone repair. Horses are exposed to heavy metals in fertilizers (recycled sewage sludge) that end up in feed products, fungicides and pesticides used on hay and grain crops.
WATER Studies done by the Environmental Working Group on contaminants in tap water showed that in 42 states, some 260 contaminants were detected in public water supplies, 140 of which were unregulated chemicals. Arsenic is a common groundwater contaminant, especially in the Western United States, and is commonly used in pressure-treated lumber. It is linked to cancer and neurological disorders.
PLASTICS Some plastics can leach out endocrine disruptors such as bisphenol A. Phthalate, another endocrine disruptor, is used to soften plastic. Horses can be exposed to plastics in feed and water containers, stall toys, tack, and products you may apply to your horse’s body.
Our animals are exposed to many of the same chemicals we are, and their ability to manage this toxic load easily becomes overwhelmed.
GROOMING PRODUCTS & SPRAYS The products we put on our horses often contain sodium lauryl sulfate, phthalates, parabens, triclosan (often used in antibacterial products) or preservatives. These go directly on the animal’s skin and penetrate into his system, contributing to toxic overload. Fly sprays or topically applied insect repellents expose our horses to more chemicals that add to the toxic soup in their bodies.
DEWORMERS & FLY CONTROL
These may pose a hazard if the body is unable to handle the chemicals due to an already overloaded system. Continued on page 38.
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