Wet, wet, wet

It's been a miserable, wet weekend. After our initial optimism with leaving the horses out overnight, we've had to bring them in again. Even though it was forecast to be fairly dry last night, the sky was very heavy with clouds and, in fact, it did rain most of the night. It's rained all day too, so having watched the horses mooch around the gate in the mud all morning I relented and brought them in. It's starting to brighten up a bit now, so if it stays dry I'll put them out later and hopefully they can stay out. What is it that makes horses stand around in mud when there's a lovely grassy, mud free- field 25 yards away?
Anky's been ok.
We took her off alfalfa a few months ago when the vet said she may have an intolerance to it, but with a lack of any noticable improvement and it's excellent buffering effect in the stomach, I've decided to start her back on it in the form of Dengie Hifi lite and if she stays ok I'll then move her onto Alfa A oil.
I've been doing further research regarding sugar beet, which is a good high fibre feed for horses, but also has beneficial affects on horses with ulcers. It remains in the stomach longer than other types of feed and also doesn't require a functioning small intestine for absorption and is well-tolerated - this will definately help if she has an inflamed bowel.-it also contains high levels of pectin which has been shown in studies to help combat ulcers. Apparently in one trial, feeding horses 300 grams of pectin per day resulted in marked decrease in ulcer score or healing in 10 days compared to unsupplemented. This amount of pectin can be obtained from feeding 2 to 2.5 pounds of beet pulp.
So, she's now on unmolassed sugar beet, she likes it (a lot!!) and seems to be doing ok.
A few trot strides on the lunge - an achievement for me and Remy.

A brit on the podium winning the Melbourne Grand Prix - well done Jenson!!