We are often asked by consumers how our products compare to Plaitnum Performance and rather Omega Horseshine or Omega Grande would be the best replacement product. please find an overview of Omega Horseshine®, Omega GRANDE®, and Platinum Performance – along with our Bottom Line Recommendation. Detailed Description of Omega Horseshine®: Read More

OUCH, MY STOMACH HURTS! May, 2013 – By Walt Friedrich Horses are grazers. We all know that. They would spend 24 hours out of every day, doing just that if they could. It’s quite natural, and the wild ones actually do that because their lifestyles allow it. Domestics – not so much. Oh, they would if they could, but only the lucky ones get to spend much time on pasture. A large percentage of domestics are routinely stalled overnight as well as part of the day, effectively removing them from graze for more than half of their lives! And that’s unfortunate for a number of reasons. Here’s a big one: ulcers. Read More

Show Me the Way: Adventures in Tracking Training by Jenny Pavlovic The task was to teach each dog to touch a glove held in my hand, then to touch the glove on the floor, then to cross the room and touch the glove on the floor. The idea was to teach the dog to indicate when s/he had found the glove (or “article”) when out tracking in the great outdoors. In tracking practice or competition, another person would have left a track with articles (gloves, socks, bandannas, or similar) with their scent for the dog to find along the way. I would be following the dog on a long line, but in a test I wouldn’t know the locations of the articles, so the dog would have to sniff out each article and clearly indicate it to me without backtracking. Read More

Vitamin C by Dr. Kris Hiney Previously, we have discussed two important fat soluble vitamins which serve an important anti-oxidant function in the horse, vitamin A and E. We will continue to discuss anti-oxidants as we transition to the water soluble vitamins essential to the health and well-being of the horse. As humans, we are probably very familiar with vitamin C or ascorbic acid/ascorbate, as it is a commonly supplemented vitamin. After all, who hasn’t reached for an orange in order to get their share of this important vitamin (Despite the fact there are many more nutrionally dense sources of vitamin C!)? People often turn to vitamin C during times of stress or illness, especially the common cold, to try and fight off pathogens. But what does vitamin C do in the horse, and should you be supplementing it? Read More

On the Right Track: What Your Dog Nose by Jenny Pavlovic “The universe is full of magical things, patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.” ~ Eden Philpotts Have you ever gotten down on the floor on all fours to view the world the way your dog sees it? While you might get a better idea of what your dog sees from that vantage point, your dog isn’t really looking as much as she is smelling, or “viewing” the world through her nose. Read More

Vitamin K - By Dr. Kris Hiney This month we will wrap up our discussion of the fat soluble vitamins with a vitamin that is not discussed all that often in regards to horses, vitamin K. Vitamin K is actually a family of fat soluble vitamins from both plant and animal origins. Vitamin K in the diet occurs in the form of phylloquinone, which is found in plants. Phylloquinone can be converted to menaquinone via intestinal bacteria, or by other tissues within the animal. Menaquinone is the active form of the vitamin for animals. Most people recognize vitamin K’s role in blood clotting, but it is also a part of bone metabolism, vascular health, and even brain metabolism. Read More

In the 12 years since the original edition of Storey’s Guide to Raising Turkeys was published, the backyard poultry movement has undergone a revolution. There’s been a surge in small-scale poultry farming in response to consumer demand for the best flavors, new organic standards, the lifting of local ordinances, locavore activism, and a deep enthusiasm for heritage breeds. Read More

Bull's Eye! Lessons I Have Learned about Roosters from John Quincy by Lisa Steele, Fresh Eggs Daily We have been keeping chickens for several years, but have always bought sexed chicks so we have never had any roosters. Then this past spring, we hatched our own brood and out of 17 chicks, ten ended up being roosters. We obviously couldn't keep them all - the neighbors would have organized a lynch mob to protest all the crowing and our hens would have had something to say about it too - but I fortunately was able to find good homes for all but an Olive Egger named John Quincy Adams. Read More

Reading Books, Touching Hearts by Jenny Pavlovic Last month I wrote about Godwinks, and I’ve written about my dog Chase many times. You may have read the story of how Chase and I came together in the book 8 State Hurricane Kate: The Journey and Legacy of a Katrina Cattle Dog. The short version is that I met Sarah while caring for rescued animals in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina. We stayed in contact after we returned home to Virginia and Minnesota. God winked one day when “Fred” caught my eye as I viewed Sarah’s rescue website, www.lostfantasystables.com. Despite his unhappy expression, the little guy was cute. He had the sable coloring and white ruff of a collie, with red and white speckles on his chest and legs. I felt an immediate connection. Read More

Vitamin E by Dr. Kris Hiney We have already discussed two of the fat soluble vitamins in a horse’s diet. This month we continue with a closer look at vitamin E, a vitamin which is commonly supplemented to horses for a variety of reasons. It is often used for aging horses, horses which have muscle disorders and horses which undergo strenuous exercise. But how do you know if your own horse needs more vitamin E in its diet? Read More