Something in the Hay....and Unforgotten Words

 

 Part 1

The first real physical answers I got came when I received the test results for my hay.  Some may remember  I did a post at the time about ADF, acid detergent fiber and NDF, neutral detergent fiber. While I had seen those values before on my hay analysis, those were not numbers I had been told to watch.

Now as my numbers looked pretty much like every other year, but my feed software didn't seem to want to work, I called a local feed expert for help. He was impressed with all of the numbers except those of the items I mentioned above. He was able to explain to me how those values affected my horses and specifically what I needed to do for each horse based on temperament and metabolism.

While the ADF and NSF were key to the problem with my hay, the issue was small in the big scheme of things. We had just begun feeding this hay a few weeks earlier. The quality was rated "good" making it appropriate for easy keepers but requiring additional supplementation for the hard keepers like Bey Aana.

What this meant was there was no way my horses could have lost enough weight to be in the kind of condition that both Kelly Panowicz and Crystal Baker claimed. My perception and that of the strangers was indeed accurate. My feed receipts support these conclusions.

My horses were losing some weight but nothing anywhere near critical. Minor adjustments were the only thing needed. Even if neither woman had been to my farm this situation would have been fixed long before anything reached a critical stage. I had already been talking to Dave about weight loss I was seeing on the stallions turned out where I could see. I was giving him instructions on how to remedy this and what to watch for in the rest of the herd.

Had I not been in so much pain,  caught so off guard and been so pressured to do right by my herd, I probably would have been able to recall I had been on top of this situation even from my sick bed. As it was I still struggled with this new information trying to reconcile all of the inconsistencies.

I was beginning to realize Kelly Panowicz had acted inappropriately by taking a horse but I was far from seeing she had any ill intent. Still unsure I could trust myself to evaluate the condition of my herd, I invited Crystal Baker back to my farm ten days after her first visit to assure my horses were gaining the appropriate amount of weight.

I was uncomfortable enough with the discrepancies between those notes taken and what she said to me about my horses'  condition the last time around, I  was taking no chances with this tour. The notes read that Legs was fine but in my house she claimed, "he looked so bad I didn't recognize him.....so bad in fact he looked like a $1500 horse.". Not words I would easily forget about my herd sire. This visit I was going to have real answers. What was Crystal Baker really up to?

To be continued......

A Trainer's Temper Tantrum......

My actual post about ADF and NDF did not have information about these values but there is good information in the comments.