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Author Archives: Joe Mackenzie
Worried That Horse Keeping Hurts the Environment?
It’s natural for responsible horse owners to worry about the impact our horse keeping has on the environment.
Green Horse Brands is proud of products that support the health of the horse, their people and the planet. Our foundation product, dust-free Airlite bedding is a game-changer in the manure management component of environmentally friendly horse management.
Our Thymox all-natural disinfectant kills disease-spreading bacteria, viruses and mold spores without leaving toxic substances behind.
Airlite Dust-Free Bedding – Less is More
An average 1,000-pound horse produces approximately 31 pounds of poop every day, plus 2.4 gallons of urine. (It could be worse – elephants produce about 300 pounds of poop every day!)
And these numbers don’t include bedding that goes out with the manure and urine. Bedding can add 8 to 15 pounds of waste, per horse, per day, according to Penn State Extension.
That’s a lot of waste to haul away, with fuel consumption and cost escalating [ … ]
Dust-Free Bedding Helps Young Horsewoman Help Her Horse
Young rider Abby North finds dust-free bedding to help her horse
“Where are tomorrow’s true horsemen?” is a lament often uttered at horsey gatherings. Some worry that young people don’t take the care and knowledge part of horse ownership seriously.
Fourteen-year-old Abby North contradicts those concerns. She takes complete care of her 8-year-old Off The Track Thoroughbred, Raven, even when the going gets rough.
And the going got rough In November of 2023. That’s when Raven returned from a hunter/jumper competition with a virus. His stablemate, Abby’s mom’s horse, caught the virus, too, but recovered promptly.
Raven did not.
“He had a runny nose, very thick yellow discharge and he kept coughing when I rode him,” explains Abby. “I could ride him, but he just wasn’t himself. Then he just spiraled.” The symptoms got worse as he sunk into pneumonia.
Raven is a normally energetic Thoroughbred who likes to work. “When he’s not happy, [ … ]
Equine Disease Prevention — What’s The Deal with Disinfectants?
COVID taught us the importance of doing everything possible to prevent the spread of contagious diseases.
Making sense of disinfectant claims can be confusing!
Along with that, advertising claims about cleaners, sanitizers and disinfectants spread as quickly as COVID.
COVID may be relatively under control now, but EHV-1, strangles and influenza are among the bacteria and virus-borne diseases we worry about for our horses and pets. Especially when traveling to shows and exhibitions where contact with other people, horses and animals is a risky reality.
Making sense of claims about what cleaners, sanitizers and disinfectant products actually do continues to be a challenge for us horse and pet owners.
Thankfully, the Environment Protection Agency has a helpful information. This includes what to look for in products for both effectiveness and safety for humans and animals. The EPA tests and regulates products that “sanitize” or “disinfect.”
Definitions and Distinctions
Per the EPA, “sanitize” means to “kill [ … ]
Dust-free horse bedding and Thymox disinfectant help busy horsewoman Jennifer Coleman live the dream.
Jen and Palantir competing in Indiana Event Association Horse Trials.
Jennifer Coleman is busy.
She works full time in her own graphic and website design business and manages the stable where she rides and cares for her own five horses and her son’s pony. Based in the Lexington area’s Paris, KY., Jen trains a few students and competes in eventing as often as she can.
With her horses’ health and time management atop her priorities, “Jen” relies on stable products that work as hard as she does.
Which is why she’s a big fan of Airlite cardboard bedding and Thymox disinfectant spray, from Green Horse Brands.
On the recommendation of event organizer and fellow stable manager Mary Fike, Jen tried Airlite bedding a few years ago.
Cardboard Bedding? Really?
Initially, the idea of using cardboard was unappealing.
“In my mind, at first, I thought ‘It’s cardboard.’ It looked odd in the muck pile after I cleaned [ … ]
Cardboard animal bedding helps University of Auburn care for mares and their babies
A newborn delivered at University of Auburn starts life on Airlite bedding
Cardboard bedding made immediate sense to Aime K Johnson, DVM, DACT. She is an Associate Professor, Equine and Small Animal Theriogenology, at Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine.
Theriogenology is the veterinary medicine specialty focused on animal reproduction, and Dr. Johnson works primarily with mares experiencing high-risk pregnancies. Her patients range from Warmbloods and Quarter Horses to Arabians and even Minis.
Placenta infections or separations and colics during gestation are some of the conditions pregnant mares are coping with when they arrive.
Whatever their health issues, a healthy, clean environment is a top priority at Auburn’s mare and foal care facility. Conventional options of wood shavings and straw do not support that priority.
“I don’t like shavings because they get in the foal’s eyes and mouth and it’s dusty,” Dr. Johnson explains. “And straw does not provide good absorption. With straw, [ … ]
What does “clean” mean in our horse’s environment?
Horses count on their humans to keep their environment truly clean.
Tuesday, March 19 is the first day of spring and the topic of “spring cleaning” will likely be in surround-sound mode.
For horse owners, it’s a great time to think about what “clean” means in the context of our horses’ environment and their health.
Clean Air
Clean air is critical to horse’s health, happiness and performance. But it’s challenging to maintain in the equine environment, especially in the horse’s breathing zone.
Our horses’ lungs function as air filters. But the stabled environment is loaded with microscopic particles that can clog those filters.
Even before these bits of mold, mites and various allergens – aka “respirable dust” — get into the lungs, they can settle in the lining of the upper respiratory tract. There, they cause irritation that triggers mucus and inflammation. And that restricts the flow of oxygen in [ … ]
Cardboard bedding is best for Black Watch Stables’ breeding.
Casanova BWS, one of Black Watch’s award-winning babies! Photo by Kathy Swear Schultz
Cardboard bedding came to Kate Dressel’s attention by way of a disgustingly clogged air conditioner filter.
Kate’s warmblood breeding farm, Black Watch Stables, is in Danielsville, Georgia, where summer temperatures can top 100° with humidity kicking the heat index up to 115°. These temperatures can be difficult for keeping any horse hydrated.
For nursing mares and young foals, they can be catastrophic.
Black Watch’s mares are the foundation upon which their operation is built, and their foals are its future. So, Kate does everything she can to keep them healthy, happy and comfortable. Experience showed that investing in heat and air conditioning for the stable was less expensive than vet bills incurred due to extreme temperatures.
Wood Shavings? No Good!
Wood shavings were Kate’s initial bedding choice when the stable was constructed. “But the dust was incredible,” she recalls. Mamas and [ … ]
Where to get Airlite ? Here are our Re-sellers by State
Now you know that Airlite is the Healthiest bedding for your animals, your barn and Your health, so where to get it? Below is a listing of where to get Airlite from re-sellers by state. If we do not have a re-seller near you, don’t sweat it, give us a call and let us know and we will work it out with a feed store near you or we can ship farm direct for orders over a certain quantity. Give us a call to see just how right Airlite it is for your barn. It will dramatically change the air quality in your Happy Place!
Alabama
Helena Hardware – Helena, AL – 256-496-2009
– https://www.facebook.com/HelenaHardware/
Conneticut
Danbury Agway – Danbury, CT – 203-743-7500
– https://agwayct.com/
– https://www.facebook.com/pages/Agway-of-Danbury/155511394485922
Blue Seal Feeds – Litchfield, CT 06759 – 860-482-7116
– http://www.bluesealstores.com
– https://www.facebook.com/blueseal.litchfield/
Florida
Antioch Feed and Farm Supply – Thonotosassa, FL – 813 986-5611
– https://www.facebook.com/Antioch-Feed-Farm-Supply-1456020994667904/?ref=br_tf
Audreys Feed – Vero Beach, FL – 772-567-47499
– https://www.audreysfeedandtack.com/
– https://www.facebook.com/AudreysFeed/
Berrettini Feed – Ocala, FL – 352-629-1447
– http://www.berrettinifeedspecialists.com/
– https://www.facebook.com/berrettinifeedspecialist/
Boyette Grain Feed and Seed [ … ]
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Evidence based solutions to Unhealthy dusty stalls. Here is the science behind the bedding.
UNIVERSITY RESEARCH
The University of Vermont tested water absorbency rates of cardboard bedding at four to six times greater than dry sawdust and ten times greater than straw or hay. (click chart)
Colorado State University Department of Animal Science’s study of cardboard versus sawdust as bedding for horses concluded that “cardboard bedding was more absorbent, had a cleaner appearance and had lower aerial ammonia levels than the sawdust bedding.”
A University of Florida Horse Research Center study comparing cardboard bedding material against straw and wood shavings stated, “The horses on straw required an average of 17.9 lbs. per day. Those on wood shavings required 39.5 lbs. per day, while those on cardboard required only 12.2 lbs. per day.”
The University of Delaware in conjunction with The University of Florida showed that cardboard bedding had much lower ammonia levels than straw or pine shavings. (click chart) [ … ]
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How Bad is Dust; Really? Sure you want your horses breathing it?
More about Dust
Do you know how harmful dust really is? Have you ever read or researched what dust can do to both humans and horses? AIRLITE™ is designed to eliminate dust and particles that are harmful and protect both the horse and rider.
Take a look below! We hope you find this information useful!
Kentucky Equine Research Center Archives: Small Airway Disease & Equine Respiratory Health
“During competition, the horse’s lungs move over 2,250 liters of air per minute […]even a small increase in the amounts of mucus in the airways & minor degrees of airway thickening in the airway lining will adversely affect performance”.
PENN State-College of Agricultural Sciences Agricultural Research: Riding Arena Footing Materials Selection & Management – Page 8—-Dust Management
“Most arena, stall and barn environments are plagued with dust problems. Dust causes eye and nose irritations and contributes to respiratory damage in both horse and rider. It is estimated that an idle horse inhales 16 gallons of air [ … ]
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