Hello Dr. Getty,
I have a 6 year old imported (Holland) Friesian Gelding, which I have owned for 2 years now. About one year ago he began displaying consistant signs of flatulence, especially in the morning. Months later the flatulence was occompanied by brown liquid. His manure was formed for the most part but definitely not normal balls,(seemed to coinside with new hay delivery's Timothy/Alfalfa blend) since August of 2005, it had become worse and every morning he would need to bathed due to the diarrhea explotion he apparently had during the night. During the day it seemed to subside. Needless to say, I have exhausted every alternative thinkable, thousands of dollars spent on tests with my regular vet, and now presently (since Nov. 05) working with Dr. Allen Schoen's practice, they are DVM's who intergrate holistic medicine, chiropractic, accupuncture and chinese herbals. He has been chiropractically adjusted, had acupuncture, aquapuncture and as of last month he began the chinese herbals and the problem subsided for about 14 days and then the boarding facility received a new hay delivery and the problem began again, although 1/10 of the severity, minimal a little brown liquid and flatulence, as of today the flatulence has subsided. (At the last boarding facility, the same problem existed.) New hay, more diarrhea.
I have also, considered his diet to be a culprit and stopped adding the supplements and the oil for two months to no avail. I then slowing began to add them back into his diet. FYI his EPSM diet currently consist of;

Divided into AM/PM servings
3lbs. - Kent Omegatin Feed per day (at 3lbs. the calcium/phosphorus ratio is off could that be a factor?)
8 Oz. - Unrefined Organic Virgin Coconut Oil per day
1.5 Oz. - Source Micronutrients (dehydrated seaweed meals) per day
2 tbls. - Redmond Salt mixed with grain, per day
1600 mg. - Natural Vitamin E
800 mcg. - Selenium

6 Oz. - Organic Apple Cider Vinegar divided into two 5 gal. buckets per day.

Noon Serving
2 cups - Soaked beet pulp (no molasses) per day

I sincerely apologize for the legnth of this e-mail, but I thought it important for you to have the whole picture. Any advise at all would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards,
Madalyn Spina
P.S. I would also like to mention, that throughout this dilema, he has never become dehydrated, to everyone's amazement.

Where are you from? Westchester, New York

How did you locate this forum? Google search for equine nutrition

Hi! I have had a similar problem with my horse, I also use alot of supplements and blamed it on that as well as her hard food but it turned out to be neither. In fact I'm not so sure what it was although our grazing is high in phosphorous and low in calcium. I decided to give my horse a balanced hay instead of the grazing and I put her on a probiotic and her faeces have never been this great before :D Remember - it takes a while to fix the problem so be patient. Dr. Getty should be able to give you some more really good advice!

Hi Maddy,

Your feeding is in line with EPSM since you have reduced the amount of starch in his diet. However, his fat level is very high. And, this may be contributing to his loose stools. Instead of feeding 3 lbs per day, I would suggest that you cut back to 2 lbs and increase the amount of beet pulp that you are feeding.

Diarrhea is also an indication of poor levels of bacterial flora in the hind gut. The most important product you can offer for diarrhea is Ration Plus. Here is the link: http://gettyequinenutrition.biz/ration_plus/ration_plus.htm. Give him 1 tablespoon/day until you see results and then you can drop down to a maintenance dose of 1 teaspoon per day. Ration Plus is a prebiotic, meaning that it does not contain live microbials. Instead, it contains the fermentation products of the bacteria that normally live in the hind gut, making these bacteria healthier and more plentiful. Their numbers are critical to digestive health.

Please keep me posted.

All the best,

Dr. Getty

Dr. Getty,
Thank you for your expeditous response. I will purchase Ration Plus today and will keep you posted. Your dedication is a blessing.
Kind Regards,
Maddy

Where are you from? Westchester, New York

How did you locate this forum? Google search for equine nutrition

Hi Maddy,

I'm delighted to help!

Dr. Getty

Hello Dr. Getty,
Just wanted to let you know that I immediately purchased the Ration Plus & gave the first dose of it yesterday. I pre mix his food for 4 days in advance (store in plastic containers)to simplify things for barn manager. Will that cause the Ration Plus to lose its stregnth?
Also, since speaking to you have done a little reading on Prebiotics and Probiotics and have read that it is beneficial to use both simaltaneously? What are your thoughts? I have come accross a product called PrePro by Equilite, but can not find a guaranteed analysis, which makes me skeptical.
As soon as I see results from the Ration Plus, I will let you know.
Hopefully Optimistic,
Maddy

Where are you from? Westchester, New York

How did you locate this forum? Google search for equine nutrition

Hi Maddy,

It is not necessary to provide live microbials with Ration Plus. Ration Plus will boost the number of microbials by making them multiply more readily.

Remember to provide a Tablespoon -- that's really a triple dose -- until you see results. It will not harm it to mix it in advance. Just shake the bottle well before adding it.

Keep me posted!

Dr. Getty

Hello Dr. Getty,
I am extremely happy to report that we are on day two without diarrhea, since giving the Ration Plus on 1/11!!! There aren't enough words to express my sincere gratitude and thanks for your dedication to your profession. You are truly a Godsend and a blessing to all of us.
Gratefully,
Maddy
P.S. I am anxious to make an appointment with you to go over his overall diet. I will follow the procedure on this web-site.

Where are you from? Westchester, New York

How did you locate this forum? Google search for equine nutrition

Hi Maddy,

I have a BIG SMILE on my face -- it is wonderful to know that things are improving.

I'll look forward to our visit.

Dr. Getty