The following questions were submitted (copied and pasted from the Q&A section in Zoom or from emails), along with any posted under this discussion topic (see below in Replies). In addition, there may be subjects I cover that I have heard on my farm calls or topics I have found interesting from podcasts or books I have listened to (brief descriptions listed here).

Question #1
Can you explain the difference in skin in horses.  I was told that thoroughbred have a much thiner skin than other horses and need to have blankets in the winter.  I do blanket mine…

Question #2
can a tooth problem cause sudden mucopurulent discharge in one nostril? if so what is the usual treatment? Teddy suddenley developed a   foul odor creamy discharge from his nostril today. the dentist was here a few months ago. Teddy is 30 years old . the dentist said his teeth are cupped, we feed him the alfalfa timothy hay cubes, alfalfa pellets, soy bean meal and coolstance. he has a vet appt tomorrow afternoon. is there anything I should know before the appt. or questions i should ask.

Question #3
2 part question: you were out and floated the teeth of our 3 horses and pony.  Pony Dolly who I have on 3oz of Soy bean meal twice a day.  She is doesn’t shed, has a round belly, she is 17-20 yo.  Should I have her on Cool stance instead of the Soy Bean meal?  She has  ocular scarring in her eyes.  She has continual tearing.  I administer the antibiotic ointment as needed.  Is there anything nutritional I can do for her?

Question #4

Hi Dr. T., I rescued a mare 3.5 months ago, I believe she’s 20 years old? She was very skinny w/her ribs showing. I got her back to good state w/6 lbs. Tribute wholeness Blend feed (no wheat middling nor grain etc). & I gave her 1/2 pound of soybean meal, 4 pounds of alfalfa/Timothy soaked pellets daily w/2-flakes of alfalfa hay & 24/7 free pasture. I now, like to get her on soybean meal & pellets alone, hay & w/24/7 free pasture. Shall I just start her new diet now? And, how much soybean meal? Thanks, Mayra

Question #5 (3 parts)
1. I can find little on bioavailability and it seems to be ignored by horse nutritionists. In fact it seems to be completely ignored by the NRC (examples if you would like). What I do find is that basically animal proteins are 90 to 100 % and plant proteins are 50%. What are the factors that make one so much more effective than the others? Is there a place to find the data?
2. How is EMS diagnosed and is it easily detected?
3. A question of sorts but more of a, it seems to me:
n-6 to n-3 ratios are an indicator but a significant factor in chronic inflammation is in the imbalance of eicosanoids created by AA and EPA.
It is not the ratio of 6 to 3 but the excess of 6’s to 3, i.e. in 100 grams, olive oil is 9:1 but only has an excess of 6’s to 3 of 8 grams, Soybean oil is 7:1 but an excess of 48 grams 6 to 3’s. Corn oil has 56 grams of unmatched 6’s
In grass fed beef and in wild game, deer and bison, that consume a diet having a ratio of 1:4, the 6:3 ratio is 2:1. In grain finished beef the ratio is 20:1. The numbers are similar for horses raised and finished for consumption.
It seems to me that the omega 6 and 3 ratios measured in beef are AA and EPA as these have become eicosanoids or local hormones and it is the AA to EPA ratio that we are seeing.
In humans AA to EPA is measured in the blood. – “Some experts consider an AA:EPA ratio of 1.5 to 3 to be low risk, 3 to 6 to be moderate risk, 7-15 to be elevated risk, and above 15 to be high risk”. Although I am comparing blood v flesh samples, the numbers are too similar not to be correlated, it seems to me.
Does it make sense that the high number of unmatched AA to EPA in some oils promotes chronic inflammation? Is part of chronic inflammation the result of a hormone imbalance?

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