Heel First Impact

02/17/2021

This little video clip shows the consistency of Melanie's Pure Pine Paste, as well as our recommendation of where and how to pack it. Of course you can put it anywhere you like, but the collateral and central sulci seem to be places that easily harbor thrush infections.
Check out our shop today!
https://www.heelfirstimpact.com/shop

01/14/2021

We've gone live over at www.heelfirstimpact.com

There you will find our shop, and our line of hoof care products! Take a peek, you won't be disappointed!

11/11/2020

It's all in the p**p! 💩
Seriously!
Just had the dentist out, and wondering how they did? All the information you will need is in the manure!!!💩💩💩
How long are the hay fibers? Are they longer than 5mm, are they shorter?
🐎A healthy horse will have fibers in their manure measuring 2mm or shorter!
🐄Horses with insulin resistance can have fibers measuring a whopping 8mm or longer in their manure!

It all starts in the mouth! 🙊
Would you believe me if I told you that these overweight horses are actually starving? It's true!
When horses cannot chew their hay into small enough pieces, the health of their gut is compromised. Proper nutrient conversion and absorption is impossible. These long fibers aren't properly digested, and once they reach the hind gut, "bad" bacteria are able to blossom. These "bad" bacterium convert the poorly digested longer fibers to sugar. The nutrients aren't absorbed, and so the horse is depleted of all the nutritional content of the food, and begins to starve. The horse is robbed of the nutritional content of their food, gets overloaded with sugar, becomes obese, and this usually leads to battles with laminitis and metabolic disorders. This is one reason why NOT ALL IR HORSES ARE OVERWEIGHT. Many IR horses are underweight! •Another result of this poorly digested food is hind gut ulcers

😁Horses with a healthy mouth that can chew the fibers into smaller pieces also have a healthier gut. By the time the fibers reach the hind gut it is mostly digested and the "good" bacteria can do their job to further break down the cell walls of the fibers so the nutrients can be absorbed. The bad bacteria doesn't take over, and the horse remains healthy.

It has been shown that with proper dental care ALONE, obese horses will being to lose weight. Even without change to diet and exercise. The smaller fibers are able to be mostly digested before they reach the hind gut, causing the gut to go back into balance (more good bacteria than bad), allowing them the ability to finally break down the cell walls of the plant fibers, and get the nutrients out of their food, instead of just sugar!

PROPER dental care is a must have. So don't just rush the vet out for a float after reading this. (I DO NOT advise floating the teeth) Your equine dentist must understand how all the teeth work together to properly chew the food. They must ensure that the molars are making contact before they go. This can often be a front of the mouth issue. LESS is MORE. If your horse is quidding (spitting out wads of partially chewed hay) after your dentist has been out, you have a serious problem. Your horse will do this when their teeth aren't making contact in the back where all the chewing is done. This is going to lead to long fibers, poor digestion, and weight gain (or loss).
So it's all back to the p**p! How long are the fibers? If they're averaging 5mm and longer, your horse is not able to properly chew.

This is why I will check out the manure of my clients horses, and bring up proper dental care. But there is still a lot of resistance to having an equine dentist out to make minor adjustments, as opposed to doing the traditional yearly floats. Many equine dentists can even get their work done without sedation! Less is more, with hoof trimming, dental appts, and sedation.

Sources:
https://besthorsepractices.com/phil-ratliff/
http://ritebiteeqd.com/

Equine dentist Phil Ratliff is pioneering work with Dr. Robert Bowker to help connect the teeth with the horse's gut and feet.

07/26/2020

I'm excited to announce that after 2 years of experimenting with my recipe, my first batch of official Sulcus Syringes are ready for sale! I can sell these locally, at our appt, or ship them straight to you! Perfect for horse owners and professionals.

These syringes are formulated specifically for the deep, painful infections in the central and collateral sulci. It is a one of a kind product, you can't find this formula anywhere else! The bentonite clay, honey and castor oil helps to draw out infections, while the lanolin and grapeseed oils help to prevent over drying of soft tissues. I chose to use pine tar in my products because it has been in use for over 2000 years! It has been shown to work as a drawing agent, reduce itching, has anti-inflammatory as well as antibacterial AND antifungal properties. Honey has also been used for thousands of years to treat wounds and prevent infection. "The physical properties of honey also expedite the healing process: its acidity increases the release of oxygen from hemoglobin thereby making the wound environment less favorable for the activity of destructive proteases, and the high osmolarity of honey draws fluid out of the wound bed to create an outflow of lymph as occurs with negative pressure wound therapy." ("Honey: A Biologic Wound Dressing" Molan, Peter PhD; Rhodes, Tanya PhD; June 2015, Volume 27, Issue 6)
My essential oil blend is also extremely antibacterial and antifungal. Although I have it advertised for the collateral grooves and central sulcus, this product can be used on other parts of the hoof as well such as the sole, hoof wall, and coronary band. It can also be used on superficial cuts and scrapes, and to treat mild pastern dermatitis (mud fever, scratches).

I also have other hoof products such as clay packing, and a cleansing spray. I'll be doing a separate post with descriptions for them. But....The hoof clay packing can be used during the preparation for glue on shoes, metal shoes with pads, casting etc. I have a couple varieties of the clay. Feel free to contact me with any questions you may have!

02/27/2020

A huge issue we deal with is getting a proper diagnosis for insulin resistance (and other metabolic disorders such as PPID).
Blood should never be pulled from a horse that has been fasting, or undergone recent stress. This will impact the results hugely, and yet I still hear clients say that their vet has told them to make sure to fast their horse prior to blood being pulled. Another issue is the threshold set to consider a horse IR or PPID. What I've learned from the glorious folks at ECIR, if a horse is on a low sugar diet, and/or has been fasting, and the blood insulin levels are near or over 20uIU/mL, you have a huge issue. No sugar intake, and yet the insulin is that high? Eeek!!! And yet this threshold of 20uIU/mL remains the standard in many practices.
This study shows that when doing a fasting blood test, insulin levels for a "normal" (Not IR) horse should not be higher than 5.2uIU/mL!!!
When you interpret your results, please consider if your horse was fasting or on a low sugar diet.

Fasting horses for measurement of basal serum insulin concentration (fasting insulin; FI) has been recommended to standardise testing for insulin dysr…

09/27/2019

Laminitic symptoms in the fall? PPID may be to blame. Catching it early is key to a long healthy life! Prepare now to get their blood pulled at the end of winter to avoid the seasonal rise and get a good baseline
🐎🐎🍁🍂🍂🍁🐎🐎

The ecirhorse.org website is complimentary to the Equine Cushing's and Insulin Resistance outreach group..

08/23/2019

Equine dentist Phil Ratliff is pioneering work with Dr. Robert Bowker to help connect the teeth with the horse's gut and feet.

08/02/2019

Check that neck!

Generalized obesity, regional adiposity, hyperinsulinemia and hypertriglyceridemia are all potential indicators of equine metabolic syndrome (EMS). This study aimed to assess the relationship between morphometric measurements of body condition and metabolic hormone concentrations in ponies, with and...

04/27/2019

I thought this article was very interesting! Compromised gut health impacts whole body health. Not only the absorption of nutrients, but also the creation of certain vitamins. B vitamins mainly rely on a healthy gut for production and absorption.

The B vitamins are a group of water-soluble vitamins, each with its own distinct use and chemical properties, that are required by the horse for optimal health and well-being.

04/12/2019

Pete is coming for a clinic in Boring! A lovely client of mine is hosting at her facility, and we would love to have you come and learn!