Yesterday I found myself gazing at a deer family who were grazing next door.
That little voice inside said, “Gee, their coats look a little rough… they could sure use some supplement… I wonder if they will shed out OK? Hmmmm. The little one’s coat looks really course. I wonder what she needs… Will they will eat some Equion if I leave it out…”
Do you ever do that?
Do you ever look at a horse (or deer) and ‘see’ what they lack? Or at least know that the horse needs something… he just doesn’t look healthy.
MUSCLES, COAT AND FEET
How often have you looked at a horse’s coat (or belly) and just knew that it needed a good worming? Or that it needed an additional supplement…
Once you notice something ‘off’, your eyes go to the overall conditioning, the coat and the feet.
The feet are a good tell. Chipped and cracking…? Hmmmm. Usually a dietary thing.
We always notice muscle atrophy.
Oh don’t worry, we say… we can fix that… good nutrition and exercise… he’ll come around.
WINTER SHED
For me, I find the winter shed to be like Christmas… if I have done well by them over the winter, they will shed out really beautifully to reveal a dappled and shiny coat.
If they don’t, I go to work figuring out what they need.
As my vet always says, “A dappled horse is a healthy horse.”
Of course, my horses think he says, “An appled horse is a healthy horse…” ;)
WHY AM I SAYING THIS?
Well… as I watched the deer next door, I thought about all the animals who reveal their health through their muscling, hair coats, skin, and nails.
Dogs, cats, rabbits, llamas, deer, bear, tigers… ALL of the animals reveal their health through their muscling, skin, coats and nails.
Even us.
Yet, we never look at our friends and instantly assess their health by their overall conditioning, skin, hair coat or nails.
Why is that?
For some reason, we don’t see each other in the same way we see all the other animals on the planet.
We don’t look at humans with that same knowing eye.
Hmmmmmm.
As I sit here, I am pondering this…
ANIMALS AND HUMANS
It is probably a good thing that we don’t look at our friends the way we look at animals – people might not like us picking up their feet or tails to inspect private places, or wrenching open their mouths to check teeth and gums…
But if your best friend presented a dull coat, flaky skin, bad nails and overall soft conditioning – would you start him/her on great feed and an exercise program?
Yes you would…
If your best friend was your horse….
HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
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