Spring grazing needs to be managed to acclimatize the horse and prevent health issues.

Care required when introducing the horse to spring pastures

Horse Health: Too-rich forage before acclimation can lead to discomfort and health issues

It is tempting to allow horses unlimited access to springtime pastures as soon as the grass turns green, particularly after a long winter. Yet mindful management of this transition in a domestic environment is crucial to the well-being of the horse. In natural rangeland conditions the new spring grasses are covered with a dry forage

There are no limits to how you can put an advance to work for your farm.

Put the cash advance to work in your marketing plan

The APP can give you the flexibility to plan commodity sales and optimize the prices you receive

In the world of business, different strategies often create synergies where one plus one can equal three. Of course, the same is true for farming. There are many agronomic strategies that are used together from advanced seed genetics, to crop rotation and variable-rate fertilizer applications, to tile drainage or irrigation pivots and the list goes


Adequate sleep is one of the essential building blocks of a strong immune system.

A war no more

Horse Health: Our understanding of the immune system has evolved past the war on germs analogy

In horses, as in humans and many other animals, the immune system is a powerful biological force that plays a profound role in maintaining health. Most of the time, it works so effectively that its true value is often overlooked, even minimized. The traditional view of an immune system is as an army poised for

What we know and what we don’t

Perfect information isn’t possible, which is why having a plan is so important

If you’ve ever read any Malcolm Gladwell books, you’ll know that he makes some very insightful connections across different topics. In the process, he uncovers some underlying fundamental truths about how people and our world really work. His most recent book, Talking to Strangers, makes you think about how we deal with the unknown and


The intense bond between horse and caretaker can make end-of-life decisions emotionally taxing.

Providing “a good death” for your horse when the time comes

Horse Health: One of the hardest decisions for a horseowner can also be the best for the welfare of the animal

The term “euthanasia” comes from the Greek words meaning a “good death” and is the practice of intentionally ending a life to relieve pain and suffering. At times the decision to euthanize a horse is clearly obvious. This can occur when a horse has a severe injury or an unrelenting and non-responsive illness such as

Forecast: Seasonable with a chance of snow

Forecast issued Nov. 6, 2020, covering the period from Nov. 11 to 18, 2020

Once again, last week’s forecast did a pretty good job with the major weather features. We saw a nice warmup last week with a few locations breaking record highs last Tuesday and Wednesday. Then the weather models predicted a storm system over the weekend, and as I write this on Friday, it looks like that


Humans use all manner of tack to change the position of the horse’s head and neck — often for the worse.

Neck and head position affects horse soundness

Horse Health: Forcing the animal into an unnatural position is harmful

A visit to any local equine tack shop will showcase a striking array of tack and accessory tack available to place upon the head of a horse with the promise of improving horsemanship, fashion or a horse’s performance. Many of these devices are potent tools that have the ability to leverage and compound tensile forces

What you see will change depending on how you look at things.

Taking a new view of grain markets

Don’t get caught looking at any issue from just one perspective

Every now and then you come across a story or analogy that really makes you think. Even if you know an area or subject matter well, you can still learn more about it when you look at it from different angles. This is especially true in the markets where the landscape is constantly changing because


Herbicides and horses

Herbicides and horses

Horse Health: A ubiquitous herbicide is beginning to come under increased scrutiny by scientists

The implications for the widespread use of glyphosate-based herbicides in our environment has been increasingly mired in controversy despite regulatory assurances of safety. After close to three decades of use there is a growing body of scientific evidence emerging which presents unintended biological consequences of this chemical and its formulation. Research is postulating adverse mechanisms

Laminitis has been found to be closely related to cresty necks in horses, and can even be predicted by the condition of the neck fat.

The ‘cresty’-necked horse

Horse Health: Neck fat is a valuable barometer of horse health

The observance of a cresty neck in a horse indicates some level of metabolic sickness and reflects more than just a fat horse. Although the fat or obese horse is burdened with a form of metabolic illness, the appearance of a cresty neck signals further metabolic complications along the continuum of diseases associated with obesity.