QUOTE=TWHRider;10936]Oh boy, that was a mistake - lol lol You know I will be forced to share the results - lol lol
While I've intended to take soil samples for a long time, two things got my bee-hind in gear to get out there:
1.
I now have a third horse with insulin issues. Horse #1 was diagnosed in May, 2007, when he was 19-1/2. That means my other three horses have eaten the same stringent diet since 2007. The Diet consists of absolutely no grains, and no feeds or suppelments with soy in them. Ask me how hard it is (and expensive) to find nutrients that are soy-free for a horse. Strictly grass hay with no clover or legumes. Pasture time has dropped from 14 -16 hours daily to 8 - 10 hours daily and that costs me a lot more $$$$.
Horse #2 was diagnosed in June, 2010 when he was 16.
I have been suspicious of horse #3 since 2011. I haven't had blood work on #3 but I don't need to --- he's got all the signs. He just turned 19. Yes there is a co-relation with age and there is a certain genetic predisposition because they are all Tennessee Walkers and Walking Horses are on the predisposed list.
In terms of body type, #3 does not fit the profile. He's a lean, lanky, extremely athletic horse that would drop 30 pounds if you just said "BOO!" Horses #1 & #2 are what is known as easy keepers - meaning, just show them the food and they gain weight, and they are very stocky built by birth.
Horse #4 is a 27 yr old Arab. They are also on the predisposed list but he appears to have totally escaped metabolic issues. He's not without his problems but insulin isn't one of them - so far.
The connection I am looking for is a severe deficiency in: first copper; second zinc.
Our soil is high in iron, which depletes copper and zinc. Analysis of the hay I used to buy five miles away, supports the high iron/low copper & zinc. While most of the rest of the nation is deficient in selenium, we are minimally deficient, meaning nothing worth popping the eyeballs over.
Both copper and zinc are necessary for livestock (horses particularly) to maintain not only a healthy immune system (including skin conditions) but are much needed to stabilize cortisol and insulin levels.
2. The second thing that got me on this tangent was a news segment earlier this week about sterile cows and bulls in a county two hours NW of me. The culprit allegedly has been proven to be Sulfur dioxide. And what does SO2 do? It depletes copper. The news commentators words were similar to "almost non-existent".
That county's livestock problems are derived from Acid Rain (remember THAT term from the 60's?) It seems the cattle farms in question are downwind of a coal-fired-steam-generating power plant. The un-trapped emissions hold a "critical path" amount of S02 which floats thru that county, settling in creeks, ponds, soil, all types of vegetation - depleting copper when it settles in the soil and, evidently, rendering some cows and bulls sterile.
I'm still researching but, from what I have learned to-date, I don't think I live in a area where "acid rain" from a steam generating plant would affect the soil but the news segment grabbed my attention when they said "sulphur bad - depletes copper".
My Ag guy informed me a few weeks ago, along with being high in iron, we are also high in sulfur. I didn't know sulfur dioxide severely depletes copper from the soils. Now that I know we are high in sulfur and iron, I want to find out how low the copper (and zinc) levels are. If they are too far below normal, then I have my answer as to the trigger causing three horses to become insulin resistant.
IR is the exact same thing as Type II diabetes in humans. It is treatable but never goes away and, instead of toes turning black, a horses hooves can become inflamed inside and do what is known as founder. Think 1,100 pounds worth of gout in your big toe. So the disease is every bit as serious in a horse as in a human
There are horses that will develop insulin issues because they live on tiny parcels of land, get little exercise and are fed to make the owner feel good. I understand those reasons for a "cupcake-eating-Pepsi-swilling-horse becoming a diabetic. I don't feed my horses that way and they have 22 acres of nothing but steep hills to forage for grass. None of them should be sick, so that's why I am heck bent to find a trigger.
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