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By Dr. Juliet Getty Spring is almost upon us in most of the country, so it’s time to revisit that critical topic: spring grazing. Transitioning a horse from hay to pasture must be handled with care; this point is non-negotiable. For every horse, a gradual change from hay to grass is required to allow the digestive system to adapt, but for the insulin-resistant horse, grazing time and duration can make the difference between soundness and a disabling condition like laminitis. This time of year can be a test of patience for horse—and owner. The horse may be pawing at the gate to get to the first taste of tender spring grass, yet the owner must pay close attention to making the transition safe and healthful. The first spring sprouts are actually lower in sugars and starch (non-structural carbohydrates—NSC) because they use all that energy to promote their own rapid growth. As the leaves form, the overall sugar and starch content increases, making it especially tempting. Regardless of the growth stage, quantities should be monitored because horses crave fresh grass and will eat volumes of it, making their overall NSC consumption really high—dangerously high for horses who are overweight, cushingoid, or who have experienced insulin-related laminitis. Temperature and sunlight play a major role in the amount of NSC accumulation. To be safe, here are the rules: When the night temperature is below 40 degrees F, the grass is too high in NSC. Once it gets above 40 degrees F at night, the lowest NSC level is before

I found this article, originally published on thehorse.com, of interest. Of late, I find myself finally “in sync” with my lovely horse Abanico these days, and thought I would share it with you. I hope you also enjoy it too! LindaP By Christa Lesté-Lasserre, MA November 21, 2013 If you’ve ever considered your horse to be your “better half,” you’re not alone. Norwegian and American researchers recently found that riders and horses can enter into a unique state of interspecies “co-being” with one other. Co-being refers to a state of relationship in which each partner evolves to “fit” better with each other, both physically and mentally. “As riders get to know their horses, they attune to them—they learn both mental and somatic (physical) ways of acting versus their partner,” said Anita Maurstad, PhD, professor and researcher in the Department of Cultural Sciences in the Tromsø University Museum at the University of Tromsø in Norway. “Horses, too, attune to their humans; thus, co-being is a good analytical concept for speaking about these aspects of the relationship.” This is all consistent with what Maurstad calls “nature-culture”—the concept that nature and culture, for some individuals (such as humans and domesticated horses), cannot be viewed individually but as one unique, combined notion. Riders and their mounts exist in a state of co-being within the nature-culture of the equestrian world, Maurstad said. The co-being theory goes beyond the recently described “mirror” theory that horses are “reflections” of their riders, Maurstad said. In co-being, riders “get to know their horses as personalities through ongoing processes