N40 Knowledge Bits
We asked around for people to share their horse knowledge and stories with us to be featured in the Equine Edition of our Emag this month. The following stories are from those featured in the N40 Knowledge Bits section of the Emag, showing us how they care for their horse friends.
Kim Farman
North 40 Employee - Spokane, WA
Years of service 15
My horses are retired now; I've had two of them since they were six months old.
They are 29 and 31 now, so they are my geriatric horses." Kim says this on our conference call in mid-December, and Drew and I both were blown away you hear about horse owners like Kim, but talking to them in person that's few and far between. "They are part of my family, my kids grew up with them, and now the kids are grown, so I get them up for easy trail rides around the land." As we had been writing about equine and horse health for a couple weeks, Drew and I were interested in Kim's approach to equine health did she have them on a strict regiment, and had she run into any problems? "I feed grass hay and Safe Choice Original to my horses- worm about 4 times a year and give them a 4-way in the spring. That's my regiment, and there has been nothing real tragic in my horses' lives other than a few years ago when I had to put down my 36 year old mare my gelding had such a complete and total bond to her, he lost an extreme amount of weight due to depression- I got him back fed up on Safe Choice Original- and he is doing a lot better now." After we closed this interview, Drew and I were both a little bit in awe of Kim's palpable dedication and love for her horses if you are in Spokane and have any questions, get in and talk to Kim!
Andrew Leo
North 40 Employee: Havre, MT
Years of service 2
MSU Northern athlete out of Great Falls, competing in team roping as a header.
Andrew is a junior there and has been competing in rodeo since he was 5 years old. He rides his mare, Sandie, during the season. He spoke with our Nutrena rep and opted to feed his horse Senior Safe Choice because of the high fat/protein content that this feed provides for his working horse. He runs live cattle about two times a week with four ropings a month, so his mare needs a little more fuel in the furnace to cope with the added stress of being a competition grade athlete. While he has been off to a rough start this season, he is running with a healer out of Northern named Victor Phillips. The two are in the arena and gearing up for the coming season, where placing will earn the university double points. We want to wish our N40 athletes good luck on the season, and we leave you with Andrew's own preferred, rodeo "cocktail" he uses during the season.
Karnell Perry
Great Falls, MT
Karnell Perry is a National Reined Cow Horse competitor out of Great Falls, Montana. She has a no frills approach to her horse's nutrition.
"Good hay, and I mean very good hay, and a decent vitamin/trace mineral supplement will do for just about all horses- some younger and older horses, or use-case situations will dictate a little different approach to horse health, but mostly you can get great results from good hay and a vitamin/trace mineral supplement. If I have a younger horse that I am having difficulty keeping weight on, I'll will supplement with rice bran for the extra calories needed to keep them competitive and their body condition adequate while going through growth spurts. With some of my older horses that are lacking energy in the show pen, I will supplement with pellets to give them the extra energy they need to show to their full potential."
She conditions horses and competes during show season with a month to six weeks off after October, during which time Karnell feeds grass hay. As for wormer, Karnell goes with Safe Guard and Zimecterin Gold. Good luck this year Karnell!!
Check her out on Very Handy Remedy from this past October: https://vimeo.com/144690591
Jessica Pool
North 40 Employee - Spokane, WA
Years of service 4
A horse's health is not just about their diet; it's about the bigger picture, giving them a purpose.
Another professional athlete and all around Horse-itarian is Jessica out of Spokane. She competes on the AQHA Western Pleasure circuit and has been a volunteer at Forever Young Therapeutic Ranch and Rescue, where she helps rehab abused or maltreated horses. Jessica is a firm believer in the adage that, "Horses need a job," and towards that end she brings home horses off the kill lot and rehabilitates them to be adopted out to new, caring homes. One horse in particular, Maverick, had injured his head on a cattle chute at the kill lot so bad that, "You could see inside his skull." Jessica brought him home, vetted and rehabilitated him with proper nutrition, and worked to train and give him a "job." Maverick is now healthy and employed at the Forever Young Ranch
Want to learn more about Horse Health? Check out our Equine Emag here.