The Story of Destiny
This is a short version about a once in a lifetime horse that taught me the truth.
Over a decade ago I purchased a horse for my then 14 year old and tall daughter to ride and compete. I have ridden and trained horses my entire life, easy ones, just started ones, difficult ones and crazy ones. I guess you could say “not my first rodeo” in training horses. This 16.1H bay Thoroughbred was as calm as they come in the beginning. For a year he got better and better it was quite exciting to see him develop further into a nice riding horse. But then, out of the blue about a year to a year and half later something changed. This gorgeous and rideable horse began to get spooky, and sensitive to everything. I mean everything. Sunlight, the wind, the cat, a leaf, his own shadows. Not my first “rodeo” per se, I began to dig around and ask tons of questions. Questions at the feed stores about grain, questions about different grasses and legume hays, questions about supplements, questions about fly spray ingredients, questions about medications, EVERTHING. Every…single…thing!
I tried to manage our farm the old fashioned way, and googled all the time but still the issues got worse. This horse was losing weight the more I fed him, his once glowing coat turned dark and dull, he developed head shaking (like head seizures), became neurologically unsound, fell down in the pastures on a daily basis, grew sarcoid (supposedly incurable) tumors on his legs. He became unsafe to ride, and it seemed to be torture for him to be groomed.
So, back to my questions:
What are the ingredients in his food?
What are the ingredients in his supplements?
Why is each ingredient in there?
What seasons do types of grasses grow in the pasture?
What chemicals are on hay crops? are they in grain too?
What is in our water?
And on and on!
This process took me five years to learn about every single ingredient that horse was eating (I even took a legit Equine Nutrition Course) and every single ingredient in every single supplement and shampoo, and fly spray and on, and on…I was obsessed. My life stopped and this rabbit hole was my life, researching every single thing. It was exhausting, but I was going to die trying. I did eventually find out the feed was coming from China, yes, that’s right, China of all places.
My “rabbit hole” turned into a rat hole. But after this many years later in 2020, I KNOW what is going on, I know how to fix it for my horses and my family, I know why it was done (to make more money) and I know who was doing it. Hint: It’s not a Democrat or Republican.
People sit here on your computers arguing over who is right, who is wrong against each other! Don’t be so stupid! Yes, sorry, but you are being stupid. Some giant corporations are making money off of cheap ingredients and sick animals and sick people and they do not give one darn about you. I still own that horse, he is older now, rideable, and never really got to be his full potential but he taught me the most important lessons of my life. PAY ATTENTION to what you are doing and why. Less is definitely more. Knowledge is power.