Place Your Bets Equine - Equine Osteopathy

10/16/2026

Loose mineral or ration balancer?

I was asked this the other day, and it is a good question. Both products sit side by side at the feed store, and both are meant to fill gaps in your horse's diet. They are not the same thing.

A loose mineral gives your horse vitamins and minerals. It has almost no protein or calories. It works well for a horse that already gets enough protein and energy from hay. Some people put it out free choice, but horses do not always eat what they need on their own, so I like to see it measured and fed every day.

A ration balancer is a small pellet fed in low amounts, usually half a kilogram to a kilogram a day depending on the brand. It has vitamins and minerals plus good quality protein, including lysine. It adds very few calories. I find it useful for easy keepers, horses on poorer hay, and young or working horses that need more protein than their hay provides.

When I balance a diet, I use the NRC Nutrient Requirements of Horses. The NRC lays out how much energy, protein, lysine, minerals and vitamins a horse needs each day. Those needs change with body weight and with what the horse is doing, whether that is maintenance, work, growth, pregnancy or lactation.

I start with the horse. I look at weight, age, workload and body condition. Then I look at the hay and what it is actually giving the horse, ideally with a forage test. I compare the two and see what is missing. After that I choose a product, and I make sure it fills those gaps without overdoing anything or throwing off ratios like calcium to phosphorus and zinc to copper.

If you are not sure what your horse is missing, or you are feeding three supplements and still guessing, send me a message to book a nutrition consultation.

10/12/2026

10/11/2026

I have had a few requests so looking to fill the day and find a date that works.

Lloydminster please comment or message

10/10/2026

Here’s a list of commonly supplemented vitamins and how the horse actually makes/uses them:

VIT A
Horses get this from beta-carotene from fresh forage and good quality hay. Deficiency is uncommon unless the hay is old or sun bleached. Toxicity can happen with over supplementation of SYNTHETIC forms not coming from forage. VIT A supports vision, immunity and skin health.

VIT B
Horses make most B vitamins through hindgut fermentation. Deficiency is rare-but can happen when gut health is compromised. Healthy horses don’t need B vitamins supplemented, although-sick horses could benefit from them. Toxicity is almost unheard of-because the body would excrete excess. B VITAMINS fuel energy, metabolism, appetite and nerve function.

VIT C
Horses synthesize C in their liver so deficiencies are rare and toxicity is unlikely because they will excrete excess. Supplementing C isn’t needed for healthy horses and could even down regulate natural production if overused. VIT C acts as an antioxidant and natural immune supporter.

VIT D
The Sunshine Vitamin! Horses make D naturally as sun hits their skin as well as from sun cured hay. Deficiency is uncommon for horses that get daytime turnout and plenty of hay. Toxicity can occur with excessive synthetic supplements. D helps regulate calcium, phosphorus and bone health.

VIT E
Horses get this naturally from FRESH GRASS! It’s an important antioxidant that hay cannot replace. If a horse isn’t getting pasture access-they’re likely deficient in VIT E. NATURAL VIT E supplements are best!

VIT K
Produced naturally through hindgut microbes. Deficiency is extremely rare unless the gut is seriously compromised. Toxicity isn’t a concern from natural source. K supports blood clotting and bone health. Healthy horses shouldn’t need supplemental K with a proper gut health.

MORAL OF THE STORY:
Most horses get plenty of their needed vitamins mostly eating grass, forage and getting plenty of sunlight-living species appropriately. The only exception being E for horses on hay only diets.

I hear so often that horses “need grain”…for vitamins and minerals.

The horses are shifting for the season and nutritional needs are changing. Nutrition analysis is part of what I do. Send me a message or let’s talk about how we can balance your horses vitamin needs.

10/06/2026

I want to give a shout out and bring as much awareness as I can to this program. Rider fitness plays so much into a successful program. No…. Riding 10 horses a day does not constitute rider fitness if you have an unbalanced body composition.

Sign up! She is doing great work.

SADDLELAB FOUNDING RIDER PROGRAM

We are currently accepting a limited number of riders to help us launch and refine our new assessment system.

Your $199 CAD Founding Rider Beta Package includes:

✓ Off-horse movement assessment
✓ Riding/video assessment
✓ Horse + rider movement analysis
✓ Individualized findings & recommendations
✓ Personalized exercise prescription
✓ 4-week training program
✓ Follow-up reassessment

Regular program price after launch: $399 CAD.

In exchange for your Founding Rider rate, we’re looking for riders who are ready to actually participate — complete the program, come back for reassessment and give us honest feedback about their experience.

🐴 Your balance affects their balance.

If you've been dealing with the same problem in the saddle and aren't sure WHY it keeps happening, this is for you.

FOUNDING RIDER SPOTS ARE LIMITED.

👉 Apply through the link below to be considered.

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SaddleLAB
Better Riders. Better Movement. Better Performance.

10/02/2026

Wishing all my clients attending the CBHI this week safe fast runs! Go get your goals!

09/30/2026

Wow! October already!

Schedule in planning

Stettler - TBA please message me room for 1-2

ElkPoint- TBA

Bonnyville - Oct 10
*might combine with Elk Point

Wainwright - Next week Oct 5-9 one of these days is what I am planning. This day is potentially fairly full but I will always do my best to accommodate.

Please comment or message to book.

09/22/2026

The forecast looks like rain this weekend. If it hold true I am thinking about a Vermilion ElkPoint day.

If you sent me a message over last 10 days please re-send. Message or comment to book.

09/11/2026

I was listening to a podcast the other day about business analysis and data collection, and one point really stood out to me. An analyst’s job is to keep asking why. The idea behind asking “why” five times is to move beyond the obvious problem and uncover the root cause. I even hit the repeat button twice, because as an Equine Osteopath, this is exactly how I approach my work.

When I evaluate a horse’s mobility and identify a dysfunction, I don’t stop at what I can immediately see. I ask why it is happening, and then I start collecting data. What is the skeletal system telling me? What is the nervous system communicating? What are the muscles, viscera, lymphatics and circulatory system revealing? Each system provides another piece of information and helps build a more complete picture.

If we focus only on the symptom, I may miss the reason the dysfunction is there in the first place. Ignoring one system means leaving out a why, and without finding the root cause, we can end up treating symptoms rather than creating meaningful, lasting change.

09/02/2026

Happy September!

This month looks a little different for me. I will be helping the neighbours harvest so my schedule and booking availability will be limited to mornings and potentially rain and drying days.

As always I work to accommodate my clients so please comment or message me for booking days as soon as possible we can work to put appointments on the books.