Horse Nutrition
Why Dynamite?
Ironically, when I moved to Eastern Washington, I could find no source of hay. For the first year I was here, I imported my hay from my old source in Whatcom County. When I had lived on the coast, I had fed two flakes of Eastern Washington hay to each horse every day.
Western Washington hay is known to be depleted of nutrients. The theory is that because of high rain fall, nutrients are leached from the soil.
My experience was that in feeding the horses Western Washington hay-- with no supplements, not even a few flakes of Eastern Washington hay-- I was starving my horses to death. Quincy got more and more protective of food resources. It was Sierra who told me they were in trouble. She led me to their fresh round bale, looked at me... and took a BIG bite of manure. "We're starving to death," she said.
"I get it." I replied.
I returned to the house and conducted an extensive search for the best supplements I could find. My search was not yielding the information I wanted. I remembered that I had fed Dynamite years ago... And found a web site that sold Dynamite supplements and ordered TNT and Dynamite. Within a month, Quincy, who had been a rack of bones for years filled out. All the horses' coats began to glisten. They were all relaxed at feeding time. Quincy stopped trying to protect all food sources.
Ellie joined us a couple of years later. She had been living on Guemas Island for about six years. I took her on a trail ride a few days after getting her back. On the ride, Sierra pooped and Ellie lunged for it. She had to be dragged away from the pile as she was intent on consuming every morsel. I put her on TNT. Within a month her coat shown and her attitude improved.
Western Washington hay is known to be depleted of nutrients. The theory is that because of high rain fall, nutrients are leached from the soil.
My experience was that in feeding the horses Western Washington hay-- with no supplements, not even a few flakes of Eastern Washington hay-- I was starving my horses to death. Quincy got more and more protective of food resources. It was Sierra who told me they were in trouble. She led me to their fresh round bale, looked at me... and took a BIG bite of manure. "We're starving to death," she said.
"I get it." I replied.
I returned to the house and conducted an extensive search for the best supplements I could find. My search was not yielding the information I wanted. I remembered that I had fed Dynamite years ago... And found a web site that sold Dynamite supplements and ordered TNT and Dynamite. Within a month, Quincy, who had been a rack of bones for years filled out. All the horses' coats began to glisten. They were all relaxed at feeding time. Quincy stopped trying to protect all food sources.
Ellie joined us a couple of years later. She had been living on Guemas Island for about six years. I took her on a trail ride a few days after getting her back. On the ride, Sierra pooped and Ellie lunged for it. She had to be dragged away from the pile as she was intent on consuming every morsel. I put her on TNT. Within a month her coat shown and her attitude improved.
"Salt" You Say?
Natural Salt is gray or pink. It's NOT white.
Several years ago I over-rode good judgment, and capitulated to the pressure of my [then-] boyfriend
… and fed the horses water-softener salt.
Not all salt is created equal. Well, it's not "manipulated equal" is more appropriately stated.
Early in December of 2007 I ran out of [Dynamite's] Natural Trace Mineral salt. Dave INSISTED that the horses must have salt and he found a sack of salt formulated for use in water filtration systems. This salt is snow-white and the size and shape of peas.
Natural, unadulterated salt is either pink or gray. It is not Morton-salt white. Salt is made white through bleaching and processing. It is formed into blocks (and presumably regular-shaped peas) via caking agents, (which to my [biased] mind means "poison").
Now, according to Judy Sinner of Dynamite, horses will seek out salt when they are carrying toxic loads. Excessive salt causes excessive urination and therefore flushes body systems. It is a natural first-line defense of self-detoxifying.
Given this information, I found it very interesting, if not very scary, that the salt consumption prior to the introduction of the white pea salt was pretty low, perhaps three cups per week-- for all eight horses. But within two weeks of having the pea salt, consumption spiked to eight cups per day!
Fortunately, Dynamite's TNT arrived at the end of that two-week trial. For two days after the return of the [Dynamite] Natural Trace Mineral salt they continued to consume salt at the spiked eight-cup-per-day level, but then the consumption level receded dramatically. One month later their consumption was around 12 cups per week. This was more than they'd gone through in an entire month prior to the pea-salt. It took nearly three months for their consumption to subside to before-pea-salt levels.
My research did support my hypothesis that the filtration salt peas do in fact contain toxins, although I still was unable to determine the ingredient(s) that are used in filtration salt peas that render it 1) white and 2) pea-shaped...
This research led me to other additives in feed. I had absolutely NO idea that there are soooooooo many patents out there for feed binders! (I imagine they're making their way into human food chains too, but it's easier to get them into animal feeds as they're not protected by the Food and Drug Administration to the extent that "human" food is.
I've only found the tip of the iceberg, but I've now read enough to know that I'm glad to have found an animal feed company, namely Dynamite, that is committed to the health and well-being of the consumer (horse, llama, cat, dog, and human) rather than one whose bottom line is a dollar bill.
A word about MINERALS, SALT and SALT BLOCKS:
We need minerals. They allow our body systems to function and to repair. Thyroid problems, adrenal problems and other glandular and hormonal issues will arise in a body that has been deprived or depleted of minerals. This is why it is SO IMPORTANT to have free choice minerals available to the horse (and ourselves too!). It is important to have chelated minerals because they are absorbable. It is equally important to consume companion minerals; that is to say, minerals need each other, in balance, in order to assist one another in body functions. When one is used (or available) while another is not available, then physical issues arise. Dynamite works hard to create products that provide minerals that will support each other in absorption and provide optimal support to the body.
Salt blocks were designed for cows as they have rough tongues. There are problems with regard to feeding salt to horses via the salt block:
1. Salt blocks have ADDITIVES that allows the salt to be formed into a block. I adamantly believe that chemicals of this sort are harmful to our bodies. Often times they are man-contrived chemicals and over time, accumulate in our bodies causing illness and disease. We get enough junk in our bodies from the air we breathe and the water we drink, much less the foods we ingest. We do not need additional toxin loads added by ingesting toxic additives.
2. Natural salt will cake. White salt has been bleached. Salt that does not cake has had anti-caking agents added.
3. Natural salt is either tinted gray or pink. NTM Salt is pink, granulated, and free-flowing-- though it will cake in damp weather. It is taken from the salt mine and packaged without processing.
4. Salt blocks contain many minerals. These minerals may or may not be in the chelated form that would make the mineral accessible to the horse. If they are in their inorganic form, then they'll just wash on through the body with minimal absorption.
5. When getting salt and minerals from a block, a horse may eat more salt than he needs or wants in order to gain access to the other minerals in the block. There are several issues with this:
a) By biting the block, the horse may develop Temporomandibular Dysfunction, or TMD
b) By eating too much salt, the horse will retain more water.
c) Eating salt in excess will cause the horse to urinate more frequently. This will cause a flushing of minerals that defeats the purpose of his attempt to get minerals.
Should you be interested, here are the links I've explored as well as excerpts from each.
According to the KBR Horse Health Information website: http://www.kbrhorse.net/hea/float.html "In humans 'TMJ' [temporomandibular joint] problems can cause headaches. In horses it can cause them to go off feed or colic. Oftentimes mysterious colics which have no apparent cause can be traced back to dental problems."
http://www.cargillsalt.com/dc_salt_about_faqs_water_cond.htm#P12_4575
Can you use softener salt with food, such as canning or with meat packing?
Although water softener pellets may be made from food grade salt, the pellet press process, itself, does not meet the criteria required to call the finished pellets "food grade". Therefore, direct application of pellets in food processing is not recommended. Other water softening salt products like solar salt, rock salt and brine blocks are not recommended for food application for the same reason.
Is the water softener salt in any way harmful to animals?
As with food considerations, water softening salts are not intended for human or animal feeding. The particle size is inappropriate for small animals. In addition, water softening salt may have additives that are inappropriate for animal feedds.
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5786007-description.html
The present invention relates to a binder for animal feed utilizing constituents which have nutritive value and which are waste by-products of the desulfurization of flue gas.
Animal feeds are frequently bound together into pellets or blocks, which practice has several advantages: (1) bound feeds prevent selective feeding on those ingredients in the formulation which are more palatable, (2) bound feeds prevent segregation of the constituents on the basis of size and density and (3) bound feeds have a higher bulk density, which is advantageous for shipping and handling. Binders are added to pelleted feeds to improve the strength and durability of the pellets and to reduce fines produced during the pelleting process or shipment. One of the most commonly used ingredients for this purpose is molasses. Other commonly used binders for pellets include clays, lignin sulfonates and gums.
http://patents.ic.gc.ca/cipo/cpd/en/patent/1099570/summary.html
ABSTRACT
A nutritious vegetable seed solubles binder for animal feed blocks. The subject vegetable seed solubles contains about 80% by weight carbohydrate and up to about 24% protein on a dry substance basis. The new binder may be used as a complete or partial replacement for cane molasses as a binder in animal feed blocks, including those such as molasses/salt blocks, medicated feed blocks and high protein feed blocks.
The presently preferred binder is condensed soybean solubles which is a by-product from the manufacture of soy protein concentrate by a hexane/aqueous alcohol extraction process.
http://www.uniscope-inc.com/products.htm
It is our goal to help improve the quality of your feeds and to solve challenging production problems. Our products can reduce fines, reduce bridging, increase hardness, improve water repellency, and increase production rates. Not only do we supply premium products, but we also provide excellent technical support and service based on over 31 years experience in the feed manufacturing business.
In addition to feed processing, Uniscope has pelleting experience with coal dust, wood dust, dried distillers grain, sugar beet pulp, fertilizer and other bio mass products. Please contact us to see if we can be of service.
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/4775539-claims.html
What is claimed is:
6. An animal feed composition comprising ground dry feed ingredients, minerals, vitamins, drug additives, and a molasses-free binder consisting essentially of a mixture of a reactive metal salt and a metal oxide or hydroxide reactive therewith, in a ratio of from about 1:4 to about 4:1, wherein said reactive metal salt is selected from the group consisting of calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium chloride, aluminum chloride, magnesium sulfate, potassium sulfate, potassium magnesium sulfate, calcium sulfate, aluminum sulfate, or mixtures thereof, and said reactive metal oxide or hydroxide is selected from the group consisting of magnesium oxide, calcium oxide, aluminum oxide, potassium oxide, calcium magnesium oxide, calcium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, calcium magnesium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, or mixtures thereof said metal salt and metal oxide or hydroxide react to form a cement like compound.
http://www.wikipatents.com/5786007.html
Nutritive magnesium sulfite/magnesium sulfate binder for animal feed
An animal feed binder, particularly for use in forming pellets. The binder is an anhydrous complex salt formed as a by-product in the desulfurization of fossil fuel combustion gases with magnesium oxide... An animal feed composition is formed by the admixture of a dry mixture of feed ingredients and the complex salt. When the animal feed composition is contacted with water or steam, it is conditioned by the heat of hydration of the complex salt and forms a hardened animal feed composition which can be extruded into pellets or formed into self-setting blocks. The binder is a nutritionally available source of soluble magnesium and sulfur and improves the strength and durability of the pellets or blocks.
… and fed the horses water-softener salt.
Not all salt is created equal. Well, it's not "manipulated equal" is more appropriately stated.
Early in December of 2007 I ran out of [Dynamite's] Natural Trace Mineral salt. Dave INSISTED that the horses must have salt and he found a sack of salt formulated for use in water filtration systems. This salt is snow-white and the size and shape of peas.
Natural, unadulterated salt is either pink or gray. It is not Morton-salt white. Salt is made white through bleaching and processing. It is formed into blocks (and presumably regular-shaped peas) via caking agents, (which to my [biased] mind means "poison").
Now, according to Judy Sinner of Dynamite, horses will seek out salt when they are carrying toxic loads. Excessive salt causes excessive urination and therefore flushes body systems. It is a natural first-line defense of self-detoxifying.
Given this information, I found it very interesting, if not very scary, that the salt consumption prior to the introduction of the white pea salt was pretty low, perhaps three cups per week-- for all eight horses. But within two weeks of having the pea salt, consumption spiked to eight cups per day!
Fortunately, Dynamite's TNT arrived at the end of that two-week trial. For two days after the return of the [Dynamite] Natural Trace Mineral salt they continued to consume salt at the spiked eight-cup-per-day level, but then the consumption level receded dramatically. One month later their consumption was around 12 cups per week. This was more than they'd gone through in an entire month prior to the pea-salt. It took nearly three months for their consumption to subside to before-pea-salt levels.
My research did support my hypothesis that the filtration salt peas do in fact contain toxins, although I still was unable to determine the ingredient(s) that are used in filtration salt peas that render it 1) white and 2) pea-shaped...
This research led me to other additives in feed. I had absolutely NO idea that there are soooooooo many patents out there for feed binders! (I imagine they're making their way into human food chains too, but it's easier to get them into animal feeds as they're not protected by the Food and Drug Administration to the extent that "human" food is.
I've only found the tip of the iceberg, but I've now read enough to know that I'm glad to have found an animal feed company, namely Dynamite, that is committed to the health and well-being of the consumer (horse, llama, cat, dog, and human) rather than one whose bottom line is a dollar bill.
A word about MINERALS, SALT and SALT BLOCKS:
We need minerals. They allow our body systems to function and to repair. Thyroid problems, adrenal problems and other glandular and hormonal issues will arise in a body that has been deprived or depleted of minerals. This is why it is SO IMPORTANT to have free choice minerals available to the horse (and ourselves too!). It is important to have chelated minerals because they are absorbable. It is equally important to consume companion minerals; that is to say, minerals need each other, in balance, in order to assist one another in body functions. When one is used (or available) while another is not available, then physical issues arise. Dynamite works hard to create products that provide minerals that will support each other in absorption and provide optimal support to the body.
Salt blocks were designed for cows as they have rough tongues. There are problems with regard to feeding salt to horses via the salt block:
1. Salt blocks have ADDITIVES that allows the salt to be formed into a block. I adamantly believe that chemicals of this sort are harmful to our bodies. Often times they are man-contrived chemicals and over time, accumulate in our bodies causing illness and disease. We get enough junk in our bodies from the air we breathe and the water we drink, much less the foods we ingest. We do not need additional toxin loads added by ingesting toxic additives.
2. Natural salt will cake. White salt has been bleached. Salt that does not cake has had anti-caking agents added.
3. Natural salt is either tinted gray or pink. NTM Salt is pink, granulated, and free-flowing-- though it will cake in damp weather. It is taken from the salt mine and packaged without processing.
4. Salt blocks contain many minerals. These minerals may or may not be in the chelated form that would make the mineral accessible to the horse. If they are in their inorganic form, then they'll just wash on through the body with minimal absorption.
5. When getting salt and minerals from a block, a horse may eat more salt than he needs or wants in order to gain access to the other minerals in the block. There are several issues with this:
a) By biting the block, the horse may develop Temporomandibular Dysfunction, or TMD
b) By eating too much salt, the horse will retain more water.
c) Eating salt in excess will cause the horse to urinate more frequently. This will cause a flushing of minerals that defeats the purpose of his attempt to get minerals.
Should you be interested, here are the links I've explored as well as excerpts from each.
According to the KBR Horse Health Information website: http://www.kbrhorse.net/hea/float.html "In humans 'TMJ' [temporomandibular joint] problems can cause headaches. In horses it can cause them to go off feed or colic. Oftentimes mysterious colics which have no apparent cause can be traced back to dental problems."
http://www.cargillsalt.com/dc_salt_about_faqs_water_cond.htm#P12_4575
Can you use softener salt with food, such as canning or with meat packing?
Although water softener pellets may be made from food grade salt, the pellet press process, itself, does not meet the criteria required to call the finished pellets "food grade". Therefore, direct application of pellets in food processing is not recommended. Other water softening salt products like solar salt, rock salt and brine blocks are not recommended for food application for the same reason.
Is the water softener salt in any way harmful to animals?
As with food considerations, water softening salts are not intended for human or animal feeding. The particle size is inappropriate for small animals. In addition, water softening salt may have additives that are inappropriate for animal feedds.
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/5786007-description.html
The present invention relates to a binder for animal feed utilizing constituents which have nutritive value and which are waste by-products of the desulfurization of flue gas.
Animal feeds are frequently bound together into pellets or blocks, which practice has several advantages: (1) bound feeds prevent selective feeding on those ingredients in the formulation which are more palatable, (2) bound feeds prevent segregation of the constituents on the basis of size and density and (3) bound feeds have a higher bulk density, which is advantageous for shipping and handling. Binders are added to pelleted feeds to improve the strength and durability of the pellets and to reduce fines produced during the pelleting process or shipment. One of the most commonly used ingredients for this purpose is molasses. Other commonly used binders for pellets include clays, lignin sulfonates and gums.
http://patents.ic.gc.ca/cipo/cpd/en/patent/1099570/summary.html
ABSTRACT
A nutritious vegetable seed solubles binder for animal feed blocks. The subject vegetable seed solubles contains about 80% by weight carbohydrate and up to about 24% protein on a dry substance basis. The new binder may be used as a complete or partial replacement for cane molasses as a binder in animal feed blocks, including those such as molasses/salt blocks, medicated feed blocks and high protein feed blocks.
The presently preferred binder is condensed soybean solubles which is a by-product from the manufacture of soy protein concentrate by a hexane/aqueous alcohol extraction process.
http://www.uniscope-inc.com/products.htm
It is our goal to help improve the quality of your feeds and to solve challenging production problems. Our products can reduce fines, reduce bridging, increase hardness, improve water repellency, and increase production rates. Not only do we supply premium products, but we also provide excellent technical support and service based on over 31 years experience in the feed manufacturing business.
In addition to feed processing, Uniscope has pelleting experience with coal dust, wood dust, dried distillers grain, sugar beet pulp, fertilizer and other bio mass products. Please contact us to see if we can be of service.
http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/4775539-claims.html
What is claimed is:
6. An animal feed composition comprising ground dry feed ingredients, minerals, vitamins, drug additives, and a molasses-free binder consisting essentially of a mixture of a reactive metal salt and a metal oxide or hydroxide reactive therewith, in a ratio of from about 1:4 to about 4:1, wherein said reactive metal salt is selected from the group consisting of calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium chloride, aluminum chloride, magnesium sulfate, potassium sulfate, potassium magnesium sulfate, calcium sulfate, aluminum sulfate, or mixtures thereof, and said reactive metal oxide or hydroxide is selected from the group consisting of magnesium oxide, calcium oxide, aluminum oxide, potassium oxide, calcium magnesium oxide, calcium hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, calcium magnesium hydroxide, potassium hydroxide, or mixtures thereof said metal salt and metal oxide or hydroxide react to form a cement like compound.
http://www.wikipatents.com/5786007.html
Nutritive magnesium sulfite/magnesium sulfate binder for animal feed
An animal feed binder, particularly for use in forming pellets. The binder is an anhydrous complex salt formed as a by-product in the desulfurization of fossil fuel combustion gases with magnesium oxide... An animal feed composition is formed by the admixture of a dry mixture of feed ingredients and the complex salt. When the animal feed composition is contacted with water or steam, it is conditioned by the heat of hydration of the complex salt and forms a hardened animal feed composition which can be extruded into pellets or formed into self-setting blocks. The binder is a nutritionally available source of soluble magnesium and sulfur and improves the strength and durability of the pellets or blocks.
