D to the E, to the L - I - C - I - O - U - S

With all the stuff I have been making Sonny eat lately, I thought it would only be fair to to make his dinner a little more enjoyable.

Herbs, herbs, and more herbs! 

So I have been feeding him a variety of herbs! So far he has ate every single one of them, which makes it hard to determine which ones he loves and doesn't. But, I guess the more he eats the more options I have....

Here is what we have covered so far:

We started with Spearmint:

Then eyebright:

Then raspberry leaf:

Then peppermint:

And calendula flowers:

That is all I have been able to to try for now. Considering Sonny has eaten some really weird things before (like a snotty baby wipe), I shouldn't find it surprising that he has eaten every herb so far. I have a lot more to try and will probably document them, too!

Follow Up Feeding

I realized that is wasn't very savvy of me to not share the articles that I am reading regarding savvy feeding. So here are a few I have found helpful. I think I might add them to the "links" section on the right.

Let me know what you think :). And please share if you have any good ones!


If you are interested and having your hay tested and analyzed, I highly recommend sending your results to Claire of Shotgun Ranch to have her analyze it.

Shotgun Ranch Nutrition

Claire also has lots of awesome articles; here are a few of my favorite: 

Why I Feed Vit E and Flax

Safe and Unsafe Fruits and Veggies

Using Herbs for Flavor

Patti, at Desert Equine Balance also has some really great articles on her blog: 

Feeding an Underweight Thoroughbred

From Apples to Poo Soup

Gastric Health

Hooves and Nutrition

Probiotics

Hope those help :)

Savvy Feeding

You might call me "One of those crazy health freak moms that never lets their kid have taco bell" (or at least that's what my best friend calls me).

A few months ago I decided to have my hay sent out and analyzed, then had Claire Cox from Shotgun Ranch Nutrition balance Sonny's diet for me. Claire is an extremely knowledgable person and I felt like just balancing his diet and being done with it would have been such a waste. So I went all out.

I have been trying to learn as much as I possibly can recently (and I have Claire to thank for most of it) about feeds and feeding. I never knew there was so many important things like the ratio of omega 3 and 6, why you shouldn't feed oils, and the importance of Vitamin E. There is something about learning those types of things that I, all of a sudden, crave. It has become a slight addiction. I really, thoroughly enjoy the satisfaction of knowing I am providing to the best of my ability for my horse. As my knowledge continues to go I hope his health does, too.

I wish I had time to learn more, research more, and apply more, but for now Claire's articles are getting me by just fine! It has been so awesome to be able to relate to things going on in my Animal Science - Nutrition class at OSU (guess who was the only one i n my group to get the omega 3 and 6 question right on the pop quiz? This girl!) and to be able to apply what I have learned to the horses at the farm. I know a lot of people think I am crazy or going over-board, but I am extremely satisfied with what I have been learning and what I am able to provide for my horse.

In order to make the copper, zinc, magnesium, iodized salt, monosodium phosphate, iodine, vitamin E,and selenium taste a hair bit better, I have acquired some herbs! It started out with getting herbs that are immune system boasters for Sonny for when we have events at the farm, but of course I couldn't stop there. I also got a few herbs to spice up his dinner! Maybe I am doing a little overkill, but I bet you he isn't complaining ;).