That awful bute no horse likes
We all experience the moment when we have to use bute. If your horse is anything like George, it will smell it in anything. I did not even try to put it into his food anymore. His food should be sacro sanct to him, I will not sneak anything into it. Eating is a very sensual experience to a horse and they do it with great dedication and pleasure.
Syringing the bute is not an option also. Even though he might be tolerating it for a moment, he will refuse by taking his head away as soon as the emergency has passed. (I wonder sometimes if I should listen to that too?)
So, after many adventures, I came up with the following idea that works just fine for my gentleman:
- Mill around 300gr of oats (I use rolled oats) and add 3 sachets of bute (1gr)
- Mill around 10 licorice sticks (the ones that your kids eat)
- Mix the oats/bute mixture together with the now grainy looking licorice.
- Add some unprocessed honey (not necessary)
- Add some sesame seeds (not necessary)
- Then slowly add water, just tiny bits and mix to form a dough. It will be very sticky. Do not put too much water to it as we want to form these balls. If you notice that you have put too much water, let it stand for a while because the oats will soak up the water, it might just turn out ok.
- Now form the little truffels, store them in a box and keep them in the fridge.
Depending on how many truffels you have, divide them by 3 and you will know how many truffels make a dosis of 1 gr of bute.
Happy horse baking and enjoy feeding it.
