We are today with GMO in a similar situation as when the first hybrid corn was made available commercially 100 years ago.
There was much debate, controversy, it was evil corn, was going to ruin it for everyone, would kill your animals because it was not natural, etc.
People, especially if they are not getting the whole story and don’t know enough to understand the science and history behind new things, tend to be distrustful of change, especially if those with special interests against the changes are disseminating fear mongering stories against what the changes are and are not.
All they have to do is plant doubt and people are immediately suspicious there is something wrong there.
As plenty of studies show, first impressions are very hard to change later.
No matter how clear it becomes those first impressions were wrong, doubts are hard to overcome.
When it comes to horse stomachs and ulcers, it seems that evolution left horses with a less than ideal stomach, that is prone to ulcers, in all horses, wild or domestic.
Some horses can have food 24/7 and still have some ulcers, foals may have ulcers.
All we can do is to be aware of what each horse seems to need and manage accordingly and keep learning as much as we can, so we can do even better as we learn more.
No doubt far too many horses are over-fed and under-worked.
Horses graze constantly because fresh grass is relatively time consuming to eat, and contains a high amount of water. Plus most “natural” grass in the wild is relatively low nutrition for much of the year (drought, winter, etc).
True, but as a result, they evolved for 24x7 acid production, full on. And that is not something we can change (barring acid-reducing meds but that’s exception cases, not “just because”)
Horses are not generally turned out 24/7 on fields of alfalfa.
Thankfully! Alfalfa isn’t typically suitable for grazing, let alone full time grazing
I think that a horse grazing in any but the most lush spring pasture would find it difficult to eat the equivalent of 20 lbs of hay a day.
It doesn’t have to be all that lush, but it does have to be decent. Given full access to decently stocked pasture, a horse can eat about 4lb/hour, which in many situations is 80lb/day and about 20lb of dry matter equivalent.
I’ve watched some folks at our barn put their horses on 24/7 organic alfalfa blend hay, this particular set up is a 300 lb round bale that’s delivered and put into a net. Typically the horses have been getting through 300 lbs in about ten days, so about 30 lbs a day, and they are easy keeper types. And yes, they are heading towards obesity with fat pockets that would worry me. The hay is attractive enough that they just stand there and eat. One owner took her horse off this system because he was just standing in his stall by the roundbale eating all day and night, and stocking up because he wasn’t moving around or going into his runout paddock.
That problem is because it’s all you can eat high calorie hay for a horse who should not have it. There are other horses who need those calories and would never be fat. It’s not inherently a problem with all you can eat hay, as they might be in great weight, or at most a little plump, on ayce grass hay appropriate for their needs. In fact, there are many IR horses who are able to eat ayce grass hay that is low enough NSC, where before they were struggling to not be obese on restricted higher NSC hay.
Anyhow, the comparison of grass to hay is a bit like the comparison of grapes to raisins. You probably couldn’t eat enough grapes for that to affect your weight. But it sure is easy to snack on raisins, and a handful of raisins is probably the same as a whole bunch of grapes.
Most years, all 4 of my horses need muzzles for most of the grass growing season, but consume around 120lb grass hay/day during the Winter - free choice ayce - and 3 of them even need a bit of a boost in the form of a ration balancer and even 1-2lb alfalfa pellets. So again, it’s about the horses, not just whether it’s grapes/grass, or raisins/hay. I know of many, many horses who are super easy keepers while on grass, but become normal keepers on hay.
It is definitely a conundrum, because you need to balance keeping the horse’s stomach full with him not getting obese. It might depend on the horse, which is the biggest risk.
The stomach doesn’t need to be full. Normal grazing doesn’t make for a “full” stomach, since food only stays in there 20-30 minutes. It’s more of a near-constant trickle.
We still have to feed horses according to their physiological needs, which is regular intake of long-stem fiber. And just because they might only eat 16-18 hours in a day when left to their own devices, that doesn’t mean it’s ok to have them without forage for 6-8 hours at night, every night. That’s too many hours on a too-regular basis. But a few periods each day of a couple of hours at a time without anything is ok for most horses - but not all.
There’s a lot of evidence that many of our crops have been selected/modified/bred for certain commercial traits - higher sugar, longer shelf life, earlier ripening, better able to handle transport, and even color - at the expense of the rest of its traits, desirable and not, including nutrients. It’s hard to increase sugar without decreasing something else.
With that said, the alternative of going “organic” isn’t a more sustainable solution, nor is there concrete evidence to prove it is any healthier/safer. I personally can’t justify going through all the trouble and cost to support certified “organic” agricultural practices that are equally flawed thanks to regulation.
Exactly. And an Organic label does not at all mean there aren’t some dangerous or questionably safe chemicals used. And sometimes, a LOT of them.
“Natural” is not inherently safe.
The organic heirloom tomato I grow in an organic setting is not automatically healthier than the organic heirloom tomato grown in a conventional setting. That difference comes from the specific variety grown, and the nutritional content and health of the soil its grown in.
@JB Full disclosure- I’m using the word “nutrient” in its broadest sense, not to mean “nutritionally balanced.” We select crops to be abundant in calories and the macromolecules most exploited— for example, corn and wheat have been selected for large, dense seed heads because the starches and proteins are desired.
Yes it’s certainly not proven yet it is something to consider. My horses have been on mostly organic pastures and organic hay for 37 years and never had laminitis. There isn’t enough research. I wish there was more studies though studies suggest nexium may be more effective in treating glandular ulcers yet there is limited studies. Having spent $$$$$ on gastrogard over the years I wish there was more clinical trials.
