At 11:56:43 on 15.04.10, Standard_Girl wrote:
I've recently gotten a recipe from someone thats supposed to be very good for sanding horses (so a once to twice a year thing). But it includes Milk and Cream in it, and while i'm waiting for my vet to get back to me regarding this i though it would be good to ask other peoples opinions here.

At 12:56:47 on 15.04.10, Flicka wrote:
Yes I would be interested to know what the vet thinks about this too. People have often suggested using live yoghurt to help with the gut flora (instead of pro and prebiotics) but again I am worried about giving horses dairy products.

At 16:28:42 on 15.04.10, farasi wrote:
I have always been told to steer clear of cows milk and horses, their digestive system is not designed to process dairy products and if you notice it's goats milk for foals and puppies, not cows milk, and all milk replacements and creep pellets are not cow dairy. After a certain age I belive foals can not process the milk any more, but I'd have to read up on it. Blindhorsedancer has said what he uses for sanding horses on this site.

At 19:08:26 on 15.04.10, HorseVet wrote:
Hi Dairy is for young animals only. Adults lose the ability to digest the lactose so I'd steer well clear of cream or milk or any other dairy product for adults. There are plenty of good prepro and probiotics on the market - I see no need to look elsewhere. Best wishes HorseVet
http://www.naturalhealingsolutions.co.uk

At 04:09:10 on 16.04.10, Standard_Girl wrote:
My vet got back to me today, and she said much the same as HorseVet. She said when a horse reaches about 3 years old they become lactose intolerant, and giving them dairy products will only give them diarrea which may give only the impression of having their stomaches cleaned out. I'd still like to give it a try, but i'm not willing to put my horses health at risk, ssssoooo i guess i'll be sticking to psyllium husks, epson salts and parrifin oil.

At 13:33:13 on 16.04.10, blindhorsedancer wrote:
I do something called SANDING my horses when it looks like they need it. This is the name used to remove sand, dirt, and things that are sitting at the bottom of the stomach and have not been sent to the intestines to be digested. Undigested things can be plants other than grass and even sometimes VERY small pieces of metal that may have gotten in the grain during processing. If you are not doing this with your horse, you may want to start. I knew a horse that got a small piece of metal caught in the bottom of it's stomach and it caused all kinds of problems and it almost died. The piece of metal collected all kinds of things around it and also started to rust. There are a number of good products on the market that can be used to capture and move these objects out of the stomach. A brand mash does not work because it does not drop into the very bottom of the stomach leaving things. Some of these products can get pretty costly if you own more than one horse. It is not the product you use that is important but the amount. For older horses the amount is greater. Because of the number of horses that I have to sand I have to try and keep my cost down and have used a product for a number of years that works and is recommended by my vet. That product is a Wal-mart product under there Equate label called FIBER THERAPY. I buy the sugar free orange flavor one and feed about two ounces twice a day in the Thoroughbreds food, a little less in the Arabians. I do this for three days and it works. I buy three of the larger containers. The horses eat it without any trouble and they all have orange colored muzzles when they finish eating. The Fiber Therapy also makes the horse drink more. It also drops into the very bottom of the stomach and acts like a scrub brush taking everything to the bowels and out in the manure. It is funny to see the faces of some of the check out clerks when they see the three containers. I laugh and then explain what it is for. It is even more funny when I buy preparation H at the same time for using on the horses coronet band to help with hoof growth. Once in a while the check out clerk knows who all the Fiber Therapy is for. So if you have a number of horses that need SANDING try it because it can save you up to half as much as other products. I have seen a number of horses that almost died because of the amount of sand, dirt or whatever in their stomachs. I do the sanding when I see the horses stomach looking a little swollen or certain parts of the year about ever six weeks. With older horses you might have to sand it more often especially if the horse has lost some of it's teeth. If there is not a Wal Mart in your part of the world then find and use metamucil. It will cost a little more than the Wal Mart Fiber Therapy but is cheaper than products that you can buy in horse feed stores or order.

At 11:05:08 on 19.04.10, kibby wrote:
i have to say thanks for starting this post, i'd never known/thought about sanding. how much would you say of metamucil you would need to use?