Joan Kievman

Jody Baton

Karla Ashabranner

Kate Turner

Kim Cook

Lacy Merritt

Lee Alsbaugh

Lisa Hand

Lori Mangan

Madden

Randy Lindsey

Rick Reeves

Ron & Laura Miller

Shawna Thomas

Shelley Gish

Susan Snider

Tom Miller

Tommy Wilson

Vickie Morrison

Tom Miller and 21 year old Peppys 40 stallion on EquiPride

21 year old stallion Peppys 40 uses EquiPride and no winter blankets

“...the condition and bloom on all the animals is amazing.”

By Tom Miller

There’s something special going on Southeast of Dallas at Tom Miller’s Red Oak Ranch. Here amongst idyllic pastures and oak trees, the bloodlines of the legendary King Ranch “Old Foundation” Quarter Horses are being reestablished. Sadly, many of these great horses’ “own daughters and sons” have been passing from the land that bred them. The Red Oak Ranch is committed to continuing the 100% foundation-breeding of the King Ranch Peppy and Wimpy brands as well as direct descendants of Peter McCue, King-234, Doc Olena and The Old Sorrel

Tom searches the country for these “Old Foundation” horses often finding them for sale or neglected by their owners after they can no longer produce offspring or have developed ailments common to aging. Once he’s brought them home, Tom works to rehabilitate these horses and get them breeding again. Many are in their twenties now and in most cases would be considered impossible to restore to breeding condition. In addition to a lot of TLC and physical therapy, Tom has a powerful tool at his disposal to get the job done. His secret? SweetPro^® Premium Feed Supplements, EquiPride^® and EquiLix^®.

Let’s examine how EquiPride^® works to help Red Oak Ranch restore these magnificent horses to health:

EquiPride consists largely of externally processed ingredients that have been pre-digested, improving the utilization of the horse’s entire ration while adding key nutrients. ProBiotein^® is EquiPride’s proprietary fermented “blend additive” and constitutes the digestive aid. Digestion is a complex process influenced by many combinations of factors and no single “silver bullet” ingredient will stand on its own.

The horses Tom finds are often in desperate need of feed to build up their body weight and he is forced to radically change their diets with more grain. He can do this confidently because with EquiPride added to their grain the horses will not colic, founder or get “hot”. Rather, they add body weight immediately and their immune systems grow stronger. Because a horse produces less natural amylase (starch digestive enzyme) than other animals, the chances are greater for undigested starch reaching the cecum and colon. The cecum and colon are the areas where feed is digested by other organisms rather than by acid and enzymes. Mostly, the populations of these organisms prefer hay and other forages, not grain. As a result, elevated levels of grain starch force a shift in their population and in the process, acid levels rise and start to cause problems such as colic, laminitis and ulcers. However, the amylases added via EquiPride include both alpha amylase and glucoamylase (aspergillus oryzac extract) to mitigate these problems. Additionally, there are other enzymes helping digest fiber, protein and minerals. Blended with the enzymes are oligosaccharides that feed the beneficial bacteria and help keep their populations high enough to exclude pathogenic bacteria from getting a foothold. When digestion is improved, less total feed is needed. Tom is seeing forage and hay requirements drop by over 20%.

The EquiPride blend also includes chelated trace minerals and stabilized milled flax, which is best known for its rich source of omega 3 fatty acid. This works to heal joint problems better than guclosimine additives. Also, flax is one of the highest sources of lignans, which contribute to improving immune function. The major lignan in flax is SDG (seicoisolariciresinol diglucoside). Lignans from flax have strong antioxidant properties that may play a positive role in certain cancers and be responsible for reduction in atherosclerotic plaque formation noted in animal studies.

All these factors and components of EquiPride add up to improved digestion allowing the horse’s immune system to maintain a wellness that virtually eliminates the need for costly gastric, joint, hoof and other chronic malady treatments, while giving sustained energy, weight maintenance and a shiny coat to the horse.

The Red Oak Ranch supports a herd of 150 horses and has around 60 brood mares. (some of whom have Wimpy twice on their papers). Of these nearly 50 are pregnant. Many of these mares are in their 20’s now and Tom uses SweetPro’s EquiPride and EquiLix to keep them healthy and raise their fertility. This has allowed them to foal later in their lifespan, even after many years of not conceiving. One own daughter of El Rey Rojo is 28 years old and foaling. She came to the ranch this year after the previous owners gave up trying to breed her. She also had a breathing problem that has cleared up since being on EquiPride.

The foals when they are born have better muscle mass and greater bone density when the mothers are using EquiPride and there is no downturn during the weaning process. Rather, the foal takes right off and blooms.

They are standing nine stallions at stud this year and have seen the sperm count and semen levels increase in these horses. This includes the own sons of “Mr. San Peppy” “Peppys Forty”and “Mr. Peppy Bay”.

Peppys Forty came to Red Oak Ranch with some disorientation, un-coordination, short tail and joint problems. He had a hard time mounting the mares. Since getting him on EquiPride Tom has seen him rebound from all these maladies. Disorientation and un-coordination problems have disappeared, the tail has grown out and his sore joints have healed up. This 21 year old can now mount and impregnate the mares in one session. He is well muscled, his coat shines, he paws the air and ground and really feels good.

Out in the pasture Tom uses SweetPro’s EquiLix lick blocks. These blocks come in 125 lb and 250 lb sizes. SweetPro pioneered the solidification of fermentation feeds such as distillers grain into solid blocks without using any molasses. EquiLix blocks are free choice and have about 20% of the potency of EquiPride. EquiLix blocks also contain fermented ProBiotein. As in EquiPride, the yeast and enzyme levels in ProBiotein greatly enhance the digestion of forages, so Red Oak Ranch’s horses get more out their hay. The organic (chelated) complex trace minerals help improve bioavailability of those important minerals. EquiLix also contains stabilized milled flax with its high levels of healthy omega 3 fatty acids. EquiLix blocks are utilized at the rate of a pound to a pound and a half a day per horse while use of the pasture’s forage is reduced.

As we celebrate the 150th anniversary of the famous King Ranch spread, the descendents of its Old Foundation Quarter Horses, with their strength, endurance, beauty and attitude, are once again being re-established. The bloodlines of some of the best cutting and roping horses ever bred are returning to gallop across the plains of Texas. Captain and Mrs. King and their Los Kinenos would be pleased.
You can own your own 100% Foundation bred Quarter Horse by contacting Tom Miller’s Red Oak Ranch today.

Tom Miller's
RED OAK RANCH
2525 County Rd 121 | Kaufman, Texas 75142
Cell: (214) 533-3703 | Ranch: (972) 932-7096
Web: www.tommillersredoakranch.com
E-Mail: info@tommillersredoakranch.com

copyright 2003 - 2010, Harvest Fuel Inc.

.