When horses arrive at Lexy Nuesch Horsemanship, I have a few tasks that I will complete before I step foot into the stirrup for the first ride on any horse.
Those tasks include:
Starting on D&D Nutrition & Redmond Equine products.
Scheduling a dental appointment with my equine dentist.
Starting all horses on my deworming protocol.
Scheduling an Equinitry session with Knotty Equine's Jennifer Day Smith, the founder of Equinitry, for any pain or behavior-related issues.
These tasks should be the standard in equine care when going to a trainer. These necessary tasks set your horse up to succeed in training in the best possible way. There are several trainers out there that take horses in & just ride them. I am not one of those & will make no exceptions. Just as with my pre-arrival health requirements, these tasks are mandatory & horses will not be accepted without the understanding & acceptance of these tasks.
D&D Nutrition & Redmond Equine
D&D Nutrition
I used to give horse owners the option to bring their own feed (& hay) if desired. At least 90% of those owners had no specific feed program. That left me taking a reactive approach to horses that lost weight & condition with an increased workload. Owners often instructed me to go pick a feed from the local feed store after steering them away from the sweet feed, with little understanding of feed ingredients & the needs of the horse. I now take a proactive approach & have an excellent program centered around forage & D&D Nutrition's line of forage-based products. Horses are sent home with a 10-day supply of D&D Nutrition & Redmond Equine products at the conclusion of training.
D&D Nutrition's feed line is a staple in my program. I currently feed their AlfaLux alfalfa cubes & Magnify HF feed alongside 24/7 access to a large round grass bale in a Hay Chix hay net &/or pasture turnout.
AlfaLux is an alfalfa cube made from 100% sun-cured alfalfa. Magnify HF (High Fat) is a forage-based, all-natural, soft pellet/crumble mix concentrate feed. It is one of DDN's Ultra-Premium formulas and a sister product to Exemplify HP. Whereas Exemplify is a controlled starch feed utilizing whole oats, Magnify is a lower starch and high-fat performance feed. Magnify is excellent for all classes of horses and is one of their most popular offerings.
Because D&D has a permanent place in my program, I recently became a dealer. Feel free to contact me for more info & to incorporate D&D into your own program! You can find more info regarding D&D Nutrition's line of products here!
Redmond Equine
I've been using Redmond Equine products for several years now after being introduced to them by a past client, Deidra Hinman of Hinman Custom Performance (use code "HCPLN" to receive 15% off your entire order). Redmond Equine products pair nicely with D&D Nutrition.
These are the Redmond Equine products that I utilize regularly:
1. Daily Gold, a naturally occurring bentonite clay that contains several beneficial minerals, encourages hydration, & aids in stress relief, ulcer relief, all things digestion, & detox.
2. Daily Gold Quick Relief Syringe, a clay paste that buffers stomach acid to help your horse feel comfortable, plus it contains 63 trace minerals necessary for optimal health & performance. Purified water hydrates the clay, & organic peppermint oil aids with digestive upset, particularly during stressful situations. It also cools, relaxes, and promotes focus & clarity.
3. Rein Water, an all-natural powder additive that includes a blend of essential trace minerals, clay, & electrolytes your horse needs to stay hydrated & healthy. Rein Water masks the alkaline taste of treated water, & horses love the flavor, encouraging them to drink more.
4. Redmond Electrolyte Syringe, electrolyte paste, contains over 60 essential Redmond minerals, plus vitamins A, B, D, and E, targeted to improve hydration, health, energy, & performance of hard-working horses.
5. Redmond Rock Crushed, pure, unrefined sea salt from a salt deposit in Redmond, Utah.
6. Red Edge Poultice, hydrated Redmond Clay, & pure essential oils. Red Edge cools on contact to soothe hot, tired muscles, then goes to work drawing out excess fluid & swelling. A therapeutic blend of menthol, peppermint, & tea tree oils also relieves inflammation & helps your horse relax.
7. Redmond First Aid, an all-natural, hydrated bentonite clay that can be applied to a number of injuries and situations.
I recently had the opportunity to join the Redmond Trainer's Circle. I'm excited to offer clients & others who are interested a 20% discount on all Redmond Equine products using code "LEXYN20."
Dental Appointment by an Equine Dentist
I've had client horses that have had their teeth floated by the owner's local vet before arriving here for training only to have an exam performed & see that incredibly sharp points remain.
Routine dental care is essential to your horse's overall health. Periodic examinations and regular maintenance, such as floating, are vital today for several reasons:
• We have modified the horse's diet and eating patterns through domestication and confinement.
• We demand more from our performance horses, beginning at a younger age than ever before.
• We often select breeding animals without regard to dental considerations.
Proper dental care has its rewards. Your horse will be more comfortable, will utilize feed more efficiently, may perform better, and may even live longer. I am a firm believer in utilizing an equine dentist who specializes explicitly in equine teeth. Unfortunately, I've been told that equine vets often only spend a total of two days on teeth in vet school. Some vets have gone the extra mile to further their education regarding teeth, but I haven't found one that I trust as much as my equine dentist yet. I know vets unaware of the caps that young horses lose as their permanent teeth come in.
For more info from the AAEP, click here.
De-Worming Protocol
Horse owners & trainers should not overlook the importance of an effective de-worming protocol.
Often I've received horses in for training who have been given a dose of dewormer that doesn't fully take care of the worm load for that particular horse because they used the incorrect dewormer or gave the wrong dosage.
With Knotty Equine's Jennifer Day Smith's help, I have a de-worming protocol that will be implemented shortly after a horse's arrival when the horse's education level allows & before Jennifer's Equinitry Evaluation. The protocol begins with a "Power-Pak," or double-dose of Safe-Guard (fenbendazole) for five days in a row. Following the horse's Equinitry evaluation, should Jennifer find that a horse has any neck threadworms, I will treat the horse with a double-dose of Oxibendazole for three days in a row. Neck threadworms are a common occurrence & are often mistaken for Sweet Itch or allergies.
Equinitry Evaluation
Last but certainly not least, Jennifer Day Smith's Equinitry has a permanent place in my program. All client horses will be evaluated by Jennifer & will receive the necessary follow up sessions, with ZERO exceptions.
Equinitry uses energy & the horse’s nervous system to pinpoint both mental & physical root causes of pain & related behavior issues. You could liken it to an equine electrician that reboots & reroutes the horse’s internal wiring.
In talking to Jennifer, I've realized that the problems or behavioral issues that arise within training are often related to pain or discomfort somewhere in the body, both in a physical & mental sense. I wish I had known about Jennifer with a handful of past client horses who had behavioral issues thought to be training-related or pain-related but with no way of truly getting to the root cause.
Equinitry surpasses every individual modality that I've encountered in my journey to provide the best care possible to client & personal horses. Equinitry, which focuses a great deal on the horse's nerves & nervous system, is in a league of its own compared to chiropractic, massage, PEMF, etc. The hierarchy in a horse's body goes in this order: Emotional -> Lymph -> Blood -> Nerves -> Bone/Muscle. Not only is bone & muscle at the bottom, but it's listed fifth.
Jennifer can determine if a horse has a worm aneurysm, locked up kidneys, uterine & lung spasms, neck threadworms, & so much more.
I could tell story after story, but here's a recent example. I had a 5-year-old mare come in for training late summer of 2020 with a poor attitude. She had briefly been started under saddle. She wanted to double barrel kick, had no concept of the handler's personal space, carried a sour look often, & was a witch to other horses, particularly at feeding time. While one could attribute all of these things solely to not having received the proper education in year's past, I sensed there was more to it & Jennifer confirmed that during her first session. Initially, we suspected a reproductive organ or kidney/bladder issue. One day shortly after, she had backed up to a gate & double-barreled it so hard that she was just shy of being three-legged lame. Worried that she might have fractured something, we made a trip to the local vet to have her examined & possibly x-rayed. The vet believed there was nothing broken & that she had probably bruised it. Before leaving, I asked her if she wouldn't mind ultra-sounding her for possible ovarian cysts. No cysts were found, but noted a full bladder (remember this tidbit of info) & also believed she might have fluid in her uterus. This local vet respectfully admitted she didn't have a lot of reproductive issue experience. I then took this mare to a reputable reproductive vet to have her uterus examined & possibly treated for an infection. The vet noted a full bladder (again) on the ultrasound but said that the uterus looked great & the mare would make a great recipient candidate. While the mare didn't need to be treated for a uterine infection as expected, the vet did recommend putting her on a synthetic progesterone injection to regulate her hormones. This periodic injection did seem to regulate her & her undesirable behaviors a bit; it didn't seem to be the answer, though. The mare was still violently wanting to kick when Jennifer would address the kidney, bladder, & ureter regions & it seemed to have gotten worse. Now, if you've ever experienced a kidney/bladder infection, you might experience pain in the kidney area as well as a burning sensation when using the restroom.
After an Equinitry session, we tied the mare to the trailer to observe her. In the past, I had never actually seen her urinate. Granted, I don't typically make a point to set up a tent & watch for this particular event. While she was tied to the trailer, she was initially relatively calm. We watched as she grew more & more agitated, wringing her tail & swinging her hindquarters around. After what seemed like forever, she finally urinated, but only for a few seconds & not enough to empty her bladder. Now think back to the two ultrasounds that noted that she always had a full bladder. This might have been a coincidence & poor timing, but considering what else we had witnessed, it now made sense. We decided to treat with a round of antibiotics to knock out what we suspected was a kidney/bladder infection. Halfway through the antibiotics, there was a notable change in this mare. It was apparent that she was much more comfortable.
Without Equinitry, I could have continued training the mare, thinking she only had a rotten attitude that needed to be adjusted or she could have been sent home where someone could have gotten hurt. None of those options were in the best interest of the horse, the owner, or myself for many reasons.
Time & time again, it's clear that the horses adore Jennifer & her ability to provide them relief.
These tasks might seem silly & unnecessary that other trainers are laxer on. However, their importance goes hand-in-hand with the training that you're investing in for your horse. I'll go the extra mile for your horse!