Ashland Paint & Plain Saddle Club Ashland Paint and Plain Saddle Club Swag Available on Website

PRESIDENT, Emily Scott VICE PRESIDENT, Brett Hammesmith SECRETARY, Amy Cluse TREASURER, Terri Rafeld EMAIL, paintandplaininfo@yahoo.com

WEBSITE, www. ashlandpaintandplain.com

by Chesna Wertz

Hi everyone! I hope this article finds you all well, and everyone had a fun July 4 weekend! It’s hard to believe we are almost mid July, as of this writing. This summer just flew by!

On July 1-2, Ashland Paint and Plain (AP&P) held our third show of the season, under judge Steve Carter. A big thank you to everyone who came out and spent their July 4th weekend with us! It was another weekend full of amazing horses and awesome friends. The Tough Enough To Wear Pink show crew also came out for the weekend.

Don’t forget that the Pink Show is coming up quickly, being held on Sept. 21-24 in Springfield, Ohio. Be sure to get your stalls reservations in ASAP for this awesome show!

Ashland Paint and Plain Saddle Club also now has swag available for purchase! You can now show your AP&P pride, where ever you go. Go check it all out at https://ashland-paint-and-plainsaddle-club.spiritsale.com/

We hope to see you at our fourth and final show of the season on Aug. 12-13, under judge Amy Franks.

Pinto Horse Association of Ohio Join Us For Last Two Shows

by Leslie Watson

The dog days of summer are upon us. Before you know it the leaves will be changing and then the snow will begin to blow.

Congratulations to many of our members who showed at the storm shortened Pinto World Show in June. We are all blessed that no humans or horses were badly injured in that event. Back in Ohio, we have two shows left for the year. August 25-27 at the Champion Center, and Sept. 2224 at Garwood Arena. Ohio Pinto looks forward to seeing everyone soon. Please see the Ohio Pinto website or Facebook pages for the most up to date information.

We had a great show in July at the University of Findlay Western Farm, with both new and old members. Every horse that exhibited at that show also received a T-shirt courtesy of Ohio Pinto, and its many generous sponsors.

Ohio Pinto would like to thank our 2023 sponsors! Big Dee’s Tack and Vet Supplies, Stateline Tack,

Diamond K Farms, Michigan State Pinto Breeders and Owners Association (MSPBO), Harnish Performance Horses, Tack Box, Carter Equine, Roger and Kaylee Altman, Rick and Susan Gibson, Dream Away Farms, Kris and Allison Roath, Doug and Shannon Dillinger, Three Ponys Farm, Jes Show Service, Megan Herner, Earlyn Hrbac, Machelle Schweiter, The Nicki McKenzie Family, In Loving Memory of Leon Hoernschemeyer and Joanne Baker, Molly’s Custom Silver, Big Red Barn Apparel and More, Wittensoldner Realty, Huntress Riding Apparel, Tail Source Tail Extensions, Stohlman Training Center, Crowley Family Dental of Sandusky, DeGraff Stables, Zelenka Paint Farms, Ream Performance Horses, Dick and Nancy Bredemeier, Wolfe’s Creative Care, Edie Kuns, Deborah Moser, Poney’s Custom Laminate Surfaces, Ron and Donna Kennedy, Eric and Linda Rockwell.

Ohio Pinto offers a full slate of classes across many divisions and offers weekend high points at all of our shows. We would like to wish everyone safe travels in all of your equine ventures and we look forward to seeing you down the road.

Just a reminder, to find the most up-to-date information on shows and the Pinto Horse Association of Ohio check out our website and Facebook page.

When it comes to hay feeders, there are many styles and concepts that people have tried over the years. The idea of using a hay feeder is simple—keep hay from spoiling and going to waste. Over the years, the health benefits of slow feeding forage to horses have encouraged us to use hay nets or other slow feeders. In my years of looking at different styles of feeders, I would be hard pressed to find an individual who has put more thought and research into their product than Sue Wilson who makes the OptiMizer.

To better understand why Wilson is so dedicated to creating a product that works for horses and humans alike, it helps to understand her background. Like many of us, Wilson was a horse crazy kid who got her first horse as a teen. When she went to college, she had to part ways with her horse and took a 30 year pause from the horse world. On her 50th birthday, she and her family decided that it was time to go back to her roots and bring horses back into her life. In her time without horses, Wilson worked in clinical research and product development with most of her experience and time spent in the medical industry. The work she did was grounded in scientific research and the products had to be proven to perform reliably. When Wilson retired in 2019, her creative energy was channeled into looking at how things were functioning around the barn. She started to notice how much hay was being wasted with traditional ground feeding methods. This spurred her on to help develop a feeder that would not only hold the hay, but a product that was well thought out and backed by research.

Wilson shared that when she is approaching any situation or problem, she finds that focusing on the basics and working toward

by Lisa Kiley

getting the fundamentals right is the goal and will help mitigate issues. Always having access to forage is a fundamental need for horses. In nature, horses will graze continuously, chewing up to 60,000 times per day. Chewing creates saliva that buffers the acid in the stomach that a horse is continually producing.

Simply put, if a horse grazes or eats from a slow feeder they will get more chews in their day creating adequate saliva to quell acid. A horse that gets fed in ‘meals’ like AM/ PM feeding, is more likely to develop ulcers because they aren’t chewing enough through the day. Therefore, if continual grazing isn’t an option, providing a product that mimics natural grazing is important for the gut health of the horse.

Wilson also studied the rate of chewing in horses. A horse that is meal fed tends to bolt their forage and will chew at a rate that is 20 percent higher than a horse that is fed in a way that mimics grazing. This can be accounted for by the horse being hungry versus having a continual supply of hay. A horse that gets used to eating from the OptiMizer and realizes that they will have a steady supply of hay available will drop their chew rate by another 20 percent over time and increase the amount of ‘chews’ per day.

Helping horses change the rate and intensity in which they eat to a more normal pattern is only one way using this style of feeder can be beneficial. There is also a dramatic savings in the amount of hay that is saved from waste. Wilson used the analogy of a horse coming to their hay like we come to a buffet table. It is easy to want to grab for the best and tastiest foods first. Horses will do the same when it comes to selecting what they are eating from a flake of hay. They can often eat the parts they like best and trample the rest, but when the hay is in an OptiMizer, it is not just going to fall to the ground. Her research has shown that there was less than 1 percent of hay waste when using the OptiMizer. In the most recent study, when compared to hay bags, it saved 17 percent more hay.

The OptiMizer has a paddock version where multiple horses can eat from the same feeder, which comes in several sizes to accommodate different herd types. The new InStall option is for horses that are stalled individually to eat in a natural way. The product has a limited lifetime warranty and is made of durable materials that are built to last. Quality hay is always a valuable resource, but we do have the opportunity to help reduce waste and save money in a way that is healthy for the horses we love and care for.

Wilson isn’t done with her quest toward better horse management that has been backed up by research. She has also spent time tracking her horses to determine when they prefer to be inside versus outside and she is working on creating an optimized track system in the horse pasture to increase the steps horses are taking and mimic natural behavior. She encourages horse owners to keep an open mind and optimize what they have for the betterment of horse management practices. If you are interested in learning more about the OptiMizer check out Cashmans.com for more information.

Lisa Kiley is a lifelong horse enthusiast who has worked in the equine industry and shown horses for many years. She is a proud member of the Cashmans Horse Equipment Team. Cashmans Horse Equipment, located in Delaware, Ohio, has been providing top quality products to the equine and agricultural community for 40 years. They have a commitment to sourcing environmentally conscious merchandise and items made in the U.S.A. Cashmans strives to educate customers and provide products that put safety first so you can enjoy more time with the horses you love. www.cashmans.com