Category Archives: Consults

ARE you feeding your horse like a horse?

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Just 4 months from dire to thriving … with only a change in the diet!

If you are struggling with any of the following with your horse?

EMS
Insulin Resistance IR
Cushings PPID
Allergies
COPD
Skin Issues
Laminitis
White Line
Thrush/Yeast
Repeat episodes of Colic
Lameness Issues
Need to lose weight
Need to gain weight
Behavioral Issues

FOOD & NUTRITION CHANGE EVERYTHING!!

Find out TODAY what you can do to help YOUR horse!



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Start feeding your horse this TODAY!

Fruit and Glycemic Load

Go ahead and feed your horses those apples, oranges, bananas, pears and other HEALTHY fruits!!! Along with fresh vegetables, nuts and seeds, your horse DESERVES a diet that is rich in vitamins and minerals AND fiber!!! FRESH fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds!

LEAVE THE PROCESSED, BAGGED FEEDS OUT!

If you feel your horse NEEDS grain, then feed WHOLE, NON-GMO, ORGNIC grain as an enhancement to FRESH forage.

BUT — you’ve been told not to feed fresh fruits or vegetables to your horse because of EMS, IR or Cushings because they are “too high on the glycemic index”… well, what about the GLYCEMIC LOAD!? “What is THAT?” you ask. Read on –

From [healthfully.com]
“The glycemic load is a value that expresses a food’s relative impact on blood glucose given the total carbohydrates available in a typical serving and how quickly these carbohydrates are assimilated into the bloodstream, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. Foods with Low-GL values range from 1 to 10 and have a small overall impact on blood glucose. Medium-GL values range from 11 to 19, while high-GL food values are 20 and above, so they have a more significant impact on blood sugar. Most fresh fruits fall in the low-GL range of 1 to 10 with one common exception: bananas, which are medium-GL, according to the Sydney University Glycemic Index Research Services. Factors such as the degree of ripeness and processing such as canning will increase glycemic load slightly, while drying fruits has a significant impact, yielding medium- to high-GL values depending on the type of dried fruit.

Glycemic Index of Fruits

Since fruits contain carbohydrates, most fruits will increase your blood sugar. However, some can affect it more than others. A good way to determine a food’s effect on your blood sugar is to know its glycemic index. The glycemic index is a rating given to food, indicating how quickly and drastically will increase your blood glucose 3. The scale ranges from zero to 100; the higher a food’s score on the glycemic index, the higher and faster it will raise your blood sugar 3If a food is between 0 and 55, it is considered a low-glycemic food. From 56 to 69, it’s considered a moderate glycemic food, and from 70 to 100, it is a high-glycemic food. Glycemic load is another measure of a food’s impact on blood sugar that takes into account its glycemic index relative to its content of all forms of carbohydrate, including fiber. For example, watermelon has a high-glycemic index but a low glycemic load because it raises blood sugar slowly. Fruits that have a moderately high glycemic effect include bananas, pineapple and raisins. Low-glycemic fruits are apples, oranges, mangoes and grapefruit.

  • Since fruits contain carbohydrates, most fruits will increase your blood sugar.
  •  high glycemic index means a spike in blood glucose, while a low-glycemic index food results in a moderate rise over a prolonged time. Fiber slows the digestion of foods and also blocks the absorption of sugars all at once. These combined factors result in a moderate rise in blood sugar over a significant amount of time. In addition, fruit offers an array of vitamins and minerals

So now, go here: FRESH DIET FOR HORSES (thepenzancehorse.com) to read a full listing of what horses CAN eat safely and healthfully! ,… BUT if your horse is already EMS, IR or has Cushings (PPID) please consult with PENZANCE for a full evaluation and specific diet and health evaluation. gwen.santagate@gmail.com 774-280-4227

Secrets to Feeding the Natural Horse

OCTOBER 30TH AND 31ST 2021
TODAY AND TOMORROW ONLY

eBOOK/PDF Format by Gwenyth Browning Jones Santagate

… The changes observed were astounding. The mare recovered in just a few months and became her former, healthy, active (albeit older) self! This event was also another ‘connection’ to what the author had been seeking for the prior decade – WHY WERE HORSES GETTING SICKER AND SICKER and younger and younger ages even though their owners were spending thousands of dollars on providing “the best grain”, “the best veterinary care”, “the best medicines” that money could buy?

What was going wrong? 
In these pages you will read things that will make you really think if you are truly seeking answers to how to feed your horse … for his or her optimal health and wellness. You may even be seeking an answer to a health problem that your horse is experiencing. 
You’ll find some amazing information within this book that well may be YOUR answer.

Only $17 (Reg $27) SAVE $10!

Check this out if you have a footy horse!

Oh.my.GODFRY … I can’t even. I’m seeing more and more and more inquiries as to “why is my horse so sore!?” and it’s KILLING ME … my motto is now NO HEEL=NO HOOF=NO HORSE!!! It’s that simple. If your horse doesn’t have 1″ of depth of the collateral groove under the seat of corn and heel platform then your horse does not have enough heel! It’s THAT SIMPLE Folks … NO HEEL=NO HOOF=NO HORSE!!!!! Here’s what your horses’ hooves should be lookin’ like from the side: Do y’all see HEELS? From the back of the hoof? You want to be seeing about 2″ between the hairline (straight and NOT “V” shaped!) and the ground! … Take a look and I’ll challenge ya — post a pic of your horses’ hoof here in comments or send to me and I’ll do a quick commentary
(I’ll be positive! 🙂 )

MESSAGE TO ME ON FACEBOOK: m.me/gwenyth.santagate
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How to have a healthy happy ir horse

How to Have a Healthy Happy Insulin-Resistant Horse (with NOTES FROM PENZANCE IN ITALICS)

The past few years we have learned so much about how manage our horses’ diets so that we keep our horses healthy and happy. Specifically, we have developed a great deal of practical research about insulin resistance, laminitis, the glycemic indexes of different feed, and the carbohydrate content of pasture grasses, as well as how all of these factors interact. With all of this data in hand, this month I explore how we can provide our metabolically-challenged horses with a high quality of life.

(Glycemic Index is NOT the same as Glycemic LOAD … Please go here: to read more about the differences!!)

As the role of the horse has shifted from that of work animal to companion our breeding programs have changed. Our ideal equine companions are gentle, calm, steady creatures who are happy to be ridden but don’t mind just hanging out and receiving affection. This same laid-back horse is often also an easy keeper. He gains weight when he does nothing more than catch a whiff of feed! He is also the one horse out of the herd who is most likely to encounter the metabolic challenge of insulin resistance.

Insulin is the hormone responsible for moving glucose out of the bloodstream and into the cells to be transformed into energy. The insulin-resistant horse possesses a unique genetic makeup that affects this process, making it less efficient than normal. As a result he is able to conserve more glucose than usual, allowing him to survive in some very sparse environments.

So what happens when we turn out the easy-keeping horse into a pasture full of cultivated and rich grass? Disaster! As the horse consumes rich grass his blood glucose levels climb, causing his body to produce more insulin to compensate. Eventually the sustained high intake of carbohydrates in the grass overwhelms his body’s ability to control the glucose released into his blood. As result, the glucose levels rise, triggering laminitis and other symptoms of metabolic imbalance such as ravenous appetite, exercise intolerance, fertility problems, excessive thirst, or obesity.

(The BEST grazing grass is an old field of uncultivated, un-enhanced grasses, weeds, flowers, shrubs, roots etc! YES! The cultivated and rich grass “pastures” are DEADLY for horses!)

To prevent your horse from becoming such a walking disaster, the first step is to identify whether he is at risk for becoming insulin-resistant. Here are a few traits to watch for:

1. Obesity

2. Heavy cresty neck

3. Fat pones over the withers and at the base of the tail

4. Elevated levels of insulin and triglycerides in the blood

If you discover that your horse has one or more of the traits for insulin resistance you may be tempted to put him in a dry lot and starve him. Unfortunately, while this may keep your horse safe from the serious consequences of insulin resistance, it can also produce a very unhappy horse with a poor quality of life. Instead, try some of the suggestions listed below for giving your insulin-resistant horse a high quality of life. (Putting a horse in a dry lot and withholding forage will INCREASE THE OBESITY of the horse as the body will NATURALLY go into starvation mode and HOARD whatever food it gets)

1. EXERCISE:

Regular exercise helps prevent obesity by allowing the insulin to work more efficiently (fat cells actually produce hormones that interfere with the action of insulin). Even if you are not able to ride your horse daily you can exercise him by ponying him off another horse or driving him around the arena or pasture. Long slow walks are as good as or better than short periods of intense exercise.

(If you can allow your horse to be out 24/7 with his own choice of shelter then this is one of the best ways to encourage movement. Especially if the horse is on a ‘track system’, i.e. Paddock Paradise.)

2. CHECK YOUR PASTURE:

Monitor your pasture grass and limit your horse’s grazing when grasses are likely to be high in sugar, such as when the nights are cool and the days are sunny, after a rain or frost, or during a severe drought. Remove or severely limit access to clover.

(We’ve found here at Penzance that our horses will naturally (intuitively?) stop eating and rest or go into the barn during the strongest sugar periods of the day)

3. MOW:

Keep your pastures mowed to encourage the grass to grow steadily, a process that causes the grass to use rather store sugars.

4. FERTILIZE NATURALLY:

It’s better to use natural rather than synthetic products to fertilize your pasture. Although most articles on pasture management suggest using liberal amounts of synthetic substances such as NPK fertilizers, I recommend against this approach. These types of fertilizers have a negative effect on the microorganisms in the soil that are necessary for plants to absorb minerals.

(The synthetics also have a negative affect on the microbiomes in the gut thus affecting the immune system of the horse as well as totally disrupting the healthy function of the horse’s digestive system!)

5. FEED PROBIOTICS:

Probiotics have a similar effect on mineral absorption in horses that microorganisms in the soil have on plants. Your horse needs minerals like chromium and magnesium for proper glucose metabolism, and probiotics assist your horse in absorbing these with maximum efficiency.

(Feeding a RAW FORAGE aka “Salads” of mixed fruits, vegetables, seeds and nuts in lieu of bagged, process grain, will help feed the IMMUNE SYSTEM which lies in the gut. Feeding the immune system goes a long, long, long way in helping the horse stay healthy!)

6. FEED MINERALS:

Offer your horse high quality minerals that are designed specifically for horses and include a wide range of trace minerals. Horses do best with chelated minerals, of which there are two types: plant-based products that are naturally chelated and synthetic products that artificially chelate minerals by combining them with certain proteins. My favorite mineral supplements include blue-green algae, kelp, and free choice minerals from Advanced Biological Concepts.

(Personally, I’ve used ABC and don’t care for them at all. I use, instead, an all ORGANIC and NATURALLY CHELATED mineral … you can learn more about NATURAL HORSE MINERALS here. )

7. FEED LOW AND SMALL:

If you must offer grain to get supplements into your horse, I suggest giving low glycemic index feeds such as beet pulp, wheat bran, or Purina Equine Senior. For IR horses, any concentrated feed should be limited to very small amounts, on the order of a handful, to provide a flavor enhancement.

(PENZANCE ADVOCATES AGAINST PROCESSED GRAIN OF ANY SORT. If the horse needs ‘something more’ then Timothy Pellets can be added to the “Salads” OR one can add some WHOLE FOOD ORGANIC feed – CRYPTO AERO. The processed grains in the USA are almost strictly GMO crops/grains and loaded with GLYPHOSATE (Round Up) which has been PROVEN to not only be CARCINOGENIC but also to cause EXTREME Gut upset from Leaky Gut to Ulcers to total systemic disruption. )

8. USE A MUZZLE:

If pasture conditions are unacceptable for long periods of time, consider letting your horse graze for limited amounts of time wearing a grazing muzzle to limit intake. It’s safest to turn your horse out during the early morning or on cloudy days.

(NO! Feed the daily “salad” that has been developed specifically for the individual horse and one does not need to restrict the grazing!)

9. ADD FAT:

As counterintuitive as it might seem, giving fat to your overweight horse in the form of rice bran, cold-processed vegetable oil, or ground flax seed can be very helpful. These forms of fat help curb your horse’s appetite and slow the release of glucose into the blood.

(Yes, added fat can be in the form of ground ORGANIC Flax or Extra-Virgin Olive Oil or coconut oil and dried, unsweetened Coconut Chips in the salads. Again, Vegetable Oils are made from vegetables that are GMO and highly contaminated with Glyphosate! )

10. MAKE YOUR HORSE WORK:

By placing your horse’s feed, water, salt, and shade in different locations your force your horse to cover as least a little ground every day. If your horse has to spend time in a dry lot then scatter his hay as widely as possible to keep him moving while he is eating.

(Again, avoid dry lotting alotgether. But, it is good to motivate the horse to have to walk a distance to water and hay.)

11. GO NATIVE:

Utilize native grass pastures if possible for grazing. Native grasses are safer since they have not been genetically selected for either rapid growth or high sugar content. If these pastures are mowed regularly and not overgrazed they may not need any fertilizer or additional weed control.

12. ADD ANTIOXIDANTS:

The laminitic horse needs more antioxidants than the average horse to stay healthy and comfortable. Because his cells function less efficiently his body is more prone to create a heavy free radical load. Adding natural antioxidants such as Tahitian noni to your horse’s diet can significantly reduce the free radical load.

(There are MANY fresh vegetables and fruits that will hold beneficial antioxidants for your horse. There are also HERBS that can be added to the “Salad” – just be sure that they are ORGANICALLY GROWN!)

About the Author

Madalyn Ward, DVM, owns Bear Creek Veterinary Clinic in Austin, Texas. She is certified in Veterinary Homeopathy and Equine Osteopathy.

Memberships include American Veterinary Medical Association, American Association of Equine Practitioners, American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association, Texas Veterinary Medical Association and the Academy of Veterinary Homeopathy.

Woo Hoo! it’s done!

Natural Hoof Anthology

Wow – finally. Over 600 pages of full-color photos and illustrations all about …. Instant download in easy PDF format! An amazing offer at just $97!! Priceless information in this anthology that you won’t find anywhere else.

NATURAL HOOF ANTHOLOGY

Yvonne Welz, Editor of “The Horses Hoof” has reviewed it and says,

Gwen’s passion for the horse shines through in this beautiful compilation of articles. There is a huge amount of info in here!! Whether you are a beginner to natural hoof care or a seasoned expert, you will appreciate the wealth of tips, advice, and things that make you go “hmmmm”! All articles are written from the “whole horse” perspective – that every single thing we do to the horse affects every other part of the horse. Gwen covers just about every topic related to horse care and hoof trimming you can imagine, with much food for thought, and excellent photos/illustrations. An enjoyable read for everyone on that eternal quest to create more natural lives for our beloved horses!

David Jones, Founder and Owner of HoofArmor LLC has also reviewed it and says,

When I switched from Engineering to Hoof Care 28 years ago, the cutting edge was aluminum horseshoes. The accepted procedure was to balance the hooves, perhaps symmetrically, 50 degrees in the front and 55 in the back, and nail on the proper size horseshoe. There were choices … you could get keg shoes, barrel shoes, rim shoes, gaited horseshoes, with or without pads and that was about it. Over the years I have learned a lot and out of necessity, by trial and error and observations, I found things that could actually help horses, barefoot hoof care being one of them. Now, with this book, you don’t have to go through that. I learned that there is more to hoof care than fixing the hooves, and that there are an enormous amount of factors that we are still learning about. Much of that is in this book and it will give you the head start that I wish I had. Don’t ever stop learning because your horse is depending on you.

And then Nick Hill, owner of V&T Hoof Specialists in Bulgeria … he has seen it and wrote,

I would urge anyone who is interested in horses to read Gwenyth’s book,  You may or may not agree with everything (like most things written), but it is written over several years from personal experience by a very experienced professional who really cares about horse welfare and is always willing to share knowledge. So go get yourself a short cut to experience!!

I am both humbled and sooooooo excited to be able to offer this amazing compilation of 3 years worth of writing about NATURAL HOOFCARE to YOU now. It’s up online, it’s released to the public and you can get your copy as simply as clicking below:

Just $97 for over 600 pages, in instant downloadable format, of incredible Natural Hoofcare information such as what to do about Thrush to Foundered Hooves, how to correct imbalanced hooves, anatomy of the internal hoof, how the hoof works with the rest of the lower limb and body, how you can improve your horse’s strides with dental work and so much more!

Suited for anyone who has anything to do with horses … from the backyard horse to the performance horse.

DON’T WAIT! DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY TODAY!  You can start helping your horse tonight!

Natural hoofcare anthology

This anthology on Natural Hoofcare is a compilation of all my educational articles for Scoot Boots, Inc. over the last 3 years. Over 600 pages all related to preventing hoof dis-eases to healing hoof dis-eases taking the WHOLE horse into account; not just the mechanical hoof – in an easy to download and print PDF format.

It includes all the diagrams and photos in the articles, in high quality full color.

It is designed in an easy-to-read format with a comprehensive Table of Contents for simple searching a topic of interest.

Suitable for reading on your computer or tablet, and also to print off from your desktop printer if you prefer.

• Links in the pages are current and easy to access.

• Easy to print off from your desktop printer if you prefer to read on paper – One article at a time or as many as you’d like for reading anywhere off-device.

• Very easy to navigate as each subject in the contents page has a link that takes you directly to that page and there is also a button at the bottom of each page that takes you back to the contents.

• Hundreds of full color photographs and illustrations that load up quickly and can be sized to your choosing.

• Instant download available, so no waiting for delivery.

PRE-ORDER HERE FOR ½ OF RELEASE PRICE:

As of January 15, 2019, NATURAL HOOFCARE ANTHOLOGY will be released to the public and the price will increase to $97.

GET YOURS COPY RESERVED TODAY FOR ONLY $50!

Oldies but goodies

While going through some old PENZANCE Natural Hoofcare website pages that I had created back in the early, early 2000’s, I ran across some good Q & A’s from Dr. Tom Tesky on NATURAL HOOFCARE that I thought would be interesting to re-post and review. Here is the list: (I hope they are visible in mobile devices but if not, I know they are on a PC.)

ASK DR. TOM ARTICLES

EMS & more …

“What people also do not understand is that horses do not become metabolic from starch, but from feeds that are high in glycemic index- how fast the blood sugar spikes.”

That is a quote from someone last year when discussing a particular brand of horse feed that is organic and whole.  There was quite the debate about the WHOLE OATS and dried fruits, etc. that are in this feed.

I would reply, “What people also do not understand is that the glycemic index does NOT tell how fast the blood sugar spikes but how much sugar is in the feed.

The GLYCEMIC LOAD tells how fast the food rises the blood sugar.

“A food with a high GI raises blood sugar more than a food with a medium to low GI. But the glycemic index does not take into account the amount of carbohydrate in a food. So glycemic load is a better indicator of how a carbohydrate food will affect blood sugar.

It seems even the ‘experts’ are not aware of this.

For example, an apple has a Glycemic INDEX of 67!

Whoa — way higher than we’ve been told any metabolic horse should eat, right?

Well, the Glycemic LOAD is just ……. are you ready for this?

5

That’s right. 5.  In fact, apples are known to HELP REGULATE BLOOD SUGAR!

One CARROT has a glycemic index of  71!!!  BUT …

the GLYCEMIC LOAD is just —

6!!!

Carrots and Apples are actually HEALING for horses when incorporated into a RAW FORAGE DIET!

Check out more articles on GLYCEMIC INDEX VS. GLYCEMIC LOAD HERE.

What is a RAW FORAGE DIET?

Well, simple … basically a salad! RAW greens, fruits, nuts, seeds, vegetables … ORGANIC, these days, are best.

A tailored ‘salad’ is best for horses that need nutritional and dietary help. There are specific ingredients that can help, specifically, with specific conditions like EMS, Cushings, IR, Arthritis, Heaves, Laminitis and more.

Please contact me if you’d like to learn more or are interested in how you can help YOUR HORSE get healthy again!

CYBER MONDAY SPECIAL!

That’s right!  50% OFF regular tuition fees.
THIS WEEK ONLY!

Offer ends Friday Nov. 30th at Midnite.

All courses include personal attention and discussions via email or messaging –  As much as you need.

Each course contains 10 modules and incorporates recordings of LIVE classes to augment visual presentations.

Designed for the older teen and adult who wants to enhance their Equine knowledge or is looking to further their education as a solid base for the career minded.

(The Private Coaching is personally tailored to YOUR challenges with your horse. 4+ hours.)

Globally respected PENZANCE Certificates of Completion are awarded to those who complete all assignments, quizzes and exams successfully.

Just click below to register. Allow 24 – 48 hours for Instructions to be email to you on how to access your course(s).

If you’d like more information, please email to me:  gwen.santagate@gmail.com


Cyber Monday Courses


Thank you for choosing PENZANCE Equine Integrative Solutions for your Equine Studies!

I look forward to working with you.