[Fharoah]

I personally appreciate a lack of chemicals and genetically modified food. I buy some organic food for myself. I will buy more organic or all organic once I pay off my credit card. I am less fussy about what I buy at this time. For my horses I do prefer organic food, but only if that feed meets there needs without exceeding them. I however like this Timothy from Washington state which is not organic. My big horse absolutely loves the timothy and I have an opportunity to purchase seven months worth for him, and would like to go that route.

[kkindley]

Organic anything is typically overpriced and no better than non-organic. It is certainly not more nutritious as many believe. If your horses are happy and healthy, I would not change anything. Especially not worthwhile if the farm they live on and the hay they eat is not certified organic. And a lot of the stuff used in conventional farming is also on the organic list. It all uses fuel to produce, organic often uses more because they often have to do more to stop weeds, etc. sorry, touchy subject for me

[TBRedHead]

There's a huge difference between organic, and organic. If your BO is trying to run a organic farm on the side, which it doesn't sound like she is, she's in the right to ask for organic feed and such. I was talking with a friend who runs a certified organic farm and recently opened up horse boarding, there are huge stipulations on what can be fed and what wormers can be used, etc. She provides organic hay to be fed.

But it just sounds like your BO is worried about GMOs, which is your own personal decision.

[Fharoah]

There's a huge difference between organic, and organic. If your BO is trying to run a organic farm on the side, which it doesn't sound like she is, she's in the right to ask for organic feed and such. I was talking with a friend who runs a certified organic farm and recently opened up horse boarding, there are huge stipulations on what can be fed and what wormers can be used, etc. She provides organic hay to be fed

But it just sounds like your BO is worried about GMOs, which is your own personal decision.

The barn owner would like to make her farm all organic and would prefer natural wormers. But I am very apprehensive in changing those.

[Fharoah]

There's a huge difference between organic, and organic. If your BO is trying to run a organic farm on the side, which it doesn't sound like she is, she's in the right to ask for organic feed and such. I was talking with a friend who runs a certified organic farm and recently opened up horse boarding, there are huge stipulations on what can be fed and what wormers can be used, etc. She provides organic hay to be fed

But it just sounds like your BO is worried about GMOs, which is your own personal decision.

The barn owner would like to make her farm all organic and would prefer natural wormers. But I am very apprehensive in changing those.

[Fharoah]

There's a huge difference between organic, and organic. If your BO is trying to run a organic farm on the side, which it doesn't sound like she is, she's in the right to ask for organic feed and such. I was talking with a friend who runs a certified organic farm and recently opened up horse boarding, there are huge stipulations on what can be fed and what wormers can be used, etc. She provides organic hay to be fed

But it just sounds like your BO is worried about GMOs, which is your own personal decision.

The barn owner would like to make her farm all organic and would prefer natural wormers. But I am very apprehensive in changing those.

[Fharoah]

I finally switched to the organic feed a month ago but I see signs in them they may not be getting all of the minerals they need. I have the vet out in June to do teeth and will probably do a complete trace mineral test, and if that is okay I will probably test again in six months or so. In the meantime any safe oils or supplements to put some glow in there coat. Would organic flax oil be okay to feed to my horses? Or any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

[deltawave]

Can you get just plain organic flax seed? It would probably cost more, but IIRC they sell it in the grocery store. I feed (non-organic) flax seed, a cup a day, and my horses all have soft, shiny coats.

How are you doing all these trace mineral tests? Hopefully you're not paying for hair analysis. Completely unvalidated and full of errors.

[Fharoah]

Can you get just plain organic flax seed? It would probably cost more, but IIRC they sell it in the grocery store. I feed (non-organic) flax seed, a cup a day, and my horses all have soft, shiny coats.

How are you doing all these trace mineral tests? Hopefully you're not paying for hair analysis. Completely unvalidated and full of errors.

Can't remember the name of the test but you think the blood test is not accurate? Selenium is the main concern in our area I have had horses test low in the past ten years easy to supplement.

[deltawave]

Selenium is the only blood test that I would ever consider using for looking at "minerals". For all the others, random serum levels are a very poor reflection of the actual reserves of a given mineral, assuming at least a basic state of good health and nutrition.