{"id":17513,"date":"2019-11-01T10:43:29","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T15:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/be55915bbd.nxcli.net\/?p=17513"},"modified":"2026-02-15T07:39:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T13:39:25","slug":"no-grain-for-my-horse-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nouvelleresearch.com\/index.php\/articles\/17513-no-grain-for-my-horse-part-two","title":{"rendered":"No Grain For My Horse? Part Two"},"content":{"rendered":"

What?\u00a0 No grain for my horse??<\/a><\/strong><\/span>\u00a0 That article was truth, speaking from my clinical and research experience in working with rehabilitation horses as a veterinarian.\u00a0 While the article was very popular, it sparked many comments and questions.\u00a0 How do you manage the harder keeper?\u00a0 How do you manage the easy keeper??\u00a0 How to you manage the performance and race horse??\u00a0 How can you possibly create benefits in these horse scenarios when we have come to rely so heavily upon grain? What about NSC recommendations?\u00a0 Am I just nuts, as a veterinarian??<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

For starters, I am veterinarian and clinical researcher.\u00a0 My goal, as described by my profession, is to provide a relief and end to suffering and in that, ‘first do no harm.’<\/em>\u00a0 I am a certified holistic nutritionist, which is different from a traditional nutritionist, like comparing an alternative medical doctor to a traditional minded physician.\u00a0 There are differences which lie in view points on how you see the patient, in this case the horse, and how you manage them.\u00a0 So, my viewpoints may not be accepted by the vast majority, as the vast majority of us in veterinary and human medicine are western minded, reductionist in practice and mind, and often have deeply ingrained traditions within us.\u00a0 From one point of view, you can refer to us a being ‘conditioned’ by society, marketing, and other venues to just see health or disease from one perspective.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind one thing as you review any information:<\/p>\n

“While we may not perceive that information as being truth and do not believe in it, this does not make that information incorrect or untruthful.”<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

As noted above, my goal and job as a doctor, is to help that patient to get well, in mind and body.\u00a0 The vast majority of the horses that we encounter are\/were deemed unsalvageable.\u00a0 This viewpoint was determined due to a failure to respond to traditional, western minded, approaches which include processed feeds, ration balancers, medications, injections, and regenerative therapies.\u00a0 The owners and veterinarians threw everything at them they could imagine, and nothing stuck, nothing worked, so hands were thrown up in the air.<\/p>\n

The other concern I have as a veterinarian, is that our caseload is ever increasing.\u00a0 There are more cases of lameness now, more cases of EPM, more cases of colic, laminitis, metabolic conditions, allergies, and PPID now than in the past.\u00a0 This is a reality!\u00a0<\/strong><\/em> Despite this ever increasing case load of problems in the horse, we, as owners and veterinarians, keep applying the same therapy over and over again, hoping for a different outcome.\u00a0 That’s the definition of insanity, right?<\/em>\u00a0 It is true that in some cases, those therapies do provide benefit, but often it is short lived, unless other changes are made for that horse.<\/p>\n

In the article, What?\u00a0 No Grain for My Horse!<\/a><\/span><\/strong>, my goal was to just relay facts from our clinical research and experience.\u00a0 Those facts were simply that in the vast majority of horses, the grain being fed, whether if ‘whole food’ or commercial\/processed, was creating a block of sorts to continued recovery for that particular horse.\u00a0 I did not state that grains were bad, nor did I state that they should not be fed, but more, we needed to be aware of what grains can do to the body good or bad<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 With that, we also needed to take into consideration the individual case with the horse, not putting them into the same group as all others with their disease or lameness classification.<\/p>\n

The biggest concern that I have, as a veterinarian, regarding the health of my patients is their digestive health.<\/strong>\u00a0 For many, this is an obvious problem with a history of ulcers, colitis, irritable bowel disease, gas, colic, loose stools or otherwise.\u00a0 There are those that do not display these clinical signs, at least often enough to be a perceived problem, but yet, they still have digestive issues that are going undetected.\u00a0 In order for me to help that horse, I must improve that digestive health, as the digestive tract is closely tied in with other facets of their health and soundness.\u00a0 This gets back to the digestive microbiome and interconnection with health on many levels.\u00a0 The majority of these horses are on a grain of some form, thus, it is the first thing eliminated.\u00a0 Hence the prior article.\u00a0 If I ignore that grain as being a contributor, then it is like ignoring a hammer that is hitting your thumb.\u00a0 You must stop all contributors before the body can even attempt to heal.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Again, this is not saying that grain is ‘bad’, but simply stating that at that point in time, it may not be a good idea for that horse.\u00a0 In all honesty, if you have an ongoing problem in your horse, health or soundness, why wouldn’t you try at least a short trial of no grain and see what develops?\u00a0 It’s discontinuation may not resolve all issues, but I am betting it will create some improvement.<\/p>\n

Let’s look at a few scenarios in the horse which seemed to raise many questions from owners.<\/p>\n

The Easy Keeper Horse and No Grain<\/span><\/h3>\n

The easy keeper horse is one that has a tendency to put on weight easily.\u00a0 These horses have a unique body type, considered to be an ‘endomorph<\/a><\/strong>‘ in most situations.\u00a0 An endomorph is the body type that is heavier genetically, more prone to gaining weight, as compared to the thinner ectomorph, or the more muscular mesomorph.\u00a0 This could also be viewed in Ayurvedic medicine as Kapha (endomorph), Pitta (mesomorph), and Vata (ectomorph).\u00a0 \u00a0Simply put, the easy keeper type is prone or more susceptible to weight gain by their body type.\u00a0 This is somewhat their natural tendency by nature. In seeing this, one has to adjust their diet and exercise to help keep that excess weight off, because that excess weight can and will create more health problems.\u00a0 Despite it being a ‘natural’ tendency, it is not healthy for the horse or human.<\/p>\n

If you take the time to understand the endomorph, you will realize there are dietary recommendations for that body type, which usually revolve around humans, but it is applicable to the horse as well.\u00a0 Additionally, look at the Kapha body type in Ayurvedic medicine, and again you will see that there are general recommendations for foods to consume and foods to avoid.<\/p>\n

Grains, nuts, and seeds are generally one main area of foods that are to be at least severely minimized if not avoided completely in this body type; horse or human.\u00a0 The reason being is mainly the carbohydrate and fat load that is present within those foods.\u00a0 This adds heavily to caloric intake, and unless that horse is actively working to counter that effect, they will gain weight.\u00a0 Additionally, from my perspective and research, this body type in the horse is also highly predisposed to digestive issues and microbiome disturbances, which is then made worse by the grains, seeds, nuts, and oils being used.\u00a0 Just my perspective in working with these horses over the years.\u00a0 These are our true metabolic horses, our insulin resistant horses, and our chronic laminitis horses.\u00a0 This body type in the horse is also overly represented in the cases of COPD, allergies, uveitis, white line disease, and even thrush.\u00a0 Take the time to make this observation and you will find it is true.\u00a0 Connection with gut health??\u00a0 Yes.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

So, if no grains for an easy keeper type, then how do you provide for all of their ‘nutrition’?<\/em>\u00a0 Simply put, through proper choices in forage, pasture and other whole foods.\u00a0 Grains are not a source of nutrition, and if they provide a real nutrient base, then a synthetic sprayed-on preparation of vitamins and minerals has been provided.\u00a0 That’s not nutrition, at least from my perspective.\u00a0 Here’s an article on Whole Foods and Misperceptions<\/a><\/strong> in the horse.<\/p>\n

For more information on management of the easy keeper and metabolic horse, I invite you to sign up for my online course<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 A tremendous amount of information there, but from a different perspective.<\/p>\n

Formulas helpful in the easy keeper horse:<\/p>\n