Dr. Michelle at Spikes & Houles

🚨 New Weekly Deals Are Here! 🚨

We have some fantastic weekly deals coming your way, and if you feed Purina, you won't want to miss these!

⭐ Enrich Plus & Enrich Plus Senior – $4 OFF per bag for the next two weeks!
This is one of the best discounts we'll see on these products all year, so it's a great time to stock up.

🪰 125 lb EquiTub – $10 OFF
Looking for an easy fly control solution this summer? The EquiTub helps control flies while also providing the benefits of Amplify and Outlast to support overall horse health and condition. We have a limited supply in stock, but we're happy to special order them at the discounted price while the promotion lasts.

🌱 Purina Free Balance – $3 OFF
Free Balance is an excellent option for herds that aren't brought in for daily feeding. While forage is the foundation of every horse's diet, it doesn't provide all of the vitamins and minerals needed to optimize health, performance, and overall well-being. Free Balance helps fill those nutritional gaps with free-choice access.

🐶🐔 Plus, we have savings beyond the horse aisle:
• 30% OFF flea and tick preventative
• 20% OFF poultry waterers

⏰ These deals run through June 25th, so stop in, stock up, and take advantage of these seasonal savings while they last!

Questions about which product is the best fit for your horses? We'd be happy to help.

🌾 Looking for Hay? Let's Build a Better Resource Together! 🌾

While we specialize in animal feed, forage is the foundation of many livestock diets. In fact, when we conduct nutrition consults, we often spend just as much, if not more, time discussing hay as we do feed because forage quality plays such a critical role in animal health and nutrition.

One challenge we hear about again and again is finding consistent, high-quality hay, especially for horses who have an extra sensitive digestive tract. But whether you're managing horses, cattle, goats, or other livestock, sourcing hay can be one of the most frustrating and time-consuming parts of ownership.

Recently, we've received a growing number of questions about where to find hay in the Twin Cities metro and surrounding areas. The University of Minnesota Equine Extension has already compiled a helpful list, but we'd love to expand on that resource with additional details that may help owners find the right hay for their animals.

If you sell hay, or know someone who does, we'd love to hear from you! Please send us the following information:

• Name
• Phone Number
• Location
• Hay Species (grass, alfalfa, mixed, teff, etc.)
• Bale Type (small squares, round bales, large squares, etc.)
• Delivery Availability
• Any other information you'd like horse and livestock owners to know

Our goal is to compile this information into a practical resource that makes finding hay a little easier and less overwhelming for local owners.

Feel free to tag your favorite hay producers below or share this post so we can reach as many producers as possible!

Meet Matalyn, our West Metro summer intern!

Matalyn grew up in Elk River, Minnesota, where a lifelong passion for agriculture and the cattle industry sparked her interest in animal nutrition. Raised around horses and Hereford cattle and actively involved in both industries, she developed a strong appreciation for the role nutrition plays in animal health, performance, and producer success.

She is currently pursuing a degree in Animal Science at South Dakota State University with an emphasis in beef cattle nutrition. Alongside her studies, Matalyn is involved in undergraduate research focused on evaluating protein sources in beef cow diets and hopes to build a career helping producers improve herd performance through practical, science-based nutrition programs.

This summer, Matalyn will be working throughout the West Metro and surrounding areas, meeting with livestock producers and horse owners to learn more about their operations and help connect them with nutrition solutions that fit their goals. She is especially excited to gain hands-on experience in feed sales, forage evaluation, and animal nutrition while continuing to grow her knowledge of the industry.

When she's not working, you'll likely find her photographing livestock events, riding her horses, showing cattle, or spending time on her family's Hereford operation.

If you see Matalyn out and about this summer, be sure to say hello! She's looking forward to meeting producers and horses to learn from their experience and help support the community.

“My horse won’t eat.”

Lately, this has become one of the most common concerns I hear during nutrition consults.

You buy the feed. You add the supplements. You try soaking it. You mix in something tasty. But your horse still sticks their nose up at it.

Sound familiar?

I see this often, especially in older horses and horses with Cushing’s that are on medication. It can be incredibly frustrating because there isn’t a step-by-step guide that tells you what to try next.

After working with a lot of picky horses, I’ve found one strategy that consistently seems to help: extruded feeds, such as the Sentinel line and select Buckeye products.

Extrusion is a process commonly used in dog and cat food that creates a completely different texture than traditional pellets. These feeds are easy to soak, easy to chew, and for reasons horses haven’t fully explained to me yet, many picky eaters absolutely love them.

One of those horses is Bob.

Bob is a 28-year-old gelding who never seemed very interested in his meals. As an older horse with very few teeth remaining, his lack of appetite was becoming a real concern. I ran into his Mom at the Minnesota Horse Expo and we discussed these concerns and decided to try Sentinel Senior, and the difference was immediate.

Today, Bob is happily eating 4.5 pounds twice a day, cleaning up his meals, and looking great.

For his owner, it wasn’t just about finding a feed he would eat, it was about gaining confidence that Bob was getting the nutrition he needed to stay healthy and comfortable in his senior years.

Stories like Bob’s are exactly why I love doing nutrition consults. Every horse is different, and sometimes finding the right feeding program requires a little creativity and problem-solving.

If you have a picky eater at home, don’t give up. There are often more options than you think, and I’d love to help you find the right fit for your horse.

Check out our new weekly deals through June 11th!

Meet Arianne, one of our summer interns!

Arianne grew up in Wausau, WI and has been around horses since she was 4 years old. She primarily did western riding and later she started working with children with special needs and teaching them how to ride. She graduated this spring from University of Wisconsin - River Falls with her bachelor's in animal science - Equine Management.

Arianne is based out of Western Wisconsin, and you may see her around the East Metro throughout her internship this summer! She may also swing by your barn to perform a market analysis so we can better understand how to serve our equine community.

She will also be assisting horse owners with feeding trials throughout the summer.

If you are interested in exploring a new feed for your horse, please reach out! We would love to help find the best fit for your horse’s individual needs. Since we are multi-branded, we have access to a wide variety of feeds, allowing us to match horses to the right product rather than a one-size-fits-all approach.

As part of the feeding trial process, we come out free of charge to estimate your horse’s body weight and body condition score. From there, we work with the selected feed company to coordinate the trial, which may include free or discounted feed depending on the brand.

Let us know if you would like Arianne to stop out and discuss the process with you!

I may be bias, but we have the cutest clients!

We are so grateful that we get to spend our days out at barns snuggling your horses and trouble shooting your nutrition problems! Don’t hesitate to reach out if you would like to schedule a visit with us!

One of our favorite team activities of the year is when we get to w**d and plant the reflection garden at the Leatherdale Equine Center at the University of Minnesota.

It’s a small way to give back to a space that has meant so much to so many horse owners, students, and veterinary teams over the years. We hope this space offers a place to celebrate healing, growth, and partnership.

Please welcome Amanda Dufresne to our equine team!

She will be helping farms all the way from Faribault up to Forest Lake and through Western Wisconsin!

Amanda grew up in Prior Lake and has been around horses since she was born. She primarily competes in the all around pleasure with her Paint gelding, Gregory!

You may have seen her around as she was one of our interns last summer. Since then, she graduated from SDSU with a degree in Agricultural Science and minors in Animal Science, Agricultural Business, and Agribusiness Marketing.

Don’t hesitate to reach out in the comments or send me a PM if you would like to set up a time for her to swing by your farm and help set your horses up on a feed plan!

We are very excited to have Amanda as part of our team!

Check out the weekly deals through May 28th!