Horses are well adapted to move over a variety of terrain and their entire bodies benefit tremendously from doing so. Variable ground surfaces in a horse’s environment challenge and stimulate the healthy development of hooves, supportive connective tissues and musculoskeleture — all the while weaving in resiliency and soundness for the horse. Footing is a
What’s underfoot has a big effect on horse soundness
Horse Health: A variety of terrain can make your horse more resilient
Chewing essential to health and happiness of a horse
Horse Health: The mechanics of nibbling, chomping and crunching are important to horse health
There is a harmonic resonance audibly evident when a horse chews. This chewing sound soothes, calms and contents the nervous system of the horse and most horse owners would agree that it also soothes the nervous system of the human. There are many reasons chewing is an important part of a horse’s life beyond that
Joint maintenance for horses is systemic
Horse Health: There’s no silver bullet that will fix underlying issues affecting joint health
There is a popular trend in the horse industry marketing the idea of “basic joint maintenance.” There are limitless sales and marketing campaigns that emotionally drive the idea that various products can bestow a protection against arthritis. It might be an intravenous or intramuscular injection or an oral supplement but the pitch is similar —
Shwetz: The evolution of deworming strategies in the horse
Old recommendations of regular treatments aren’t the best course of action anymore
Many horse owners are very committed to the regular and timely deworming of their horses. Oral paste dewormers have become a major staple in stables, tack shops, feed outlets and veterinary pharmacies and thus are readily available to the horse owner. Although this availability of paste and gel dewormers does seem ideal, the traditional practices
Keep a close eye on dental care with older horses
Horse Health: Don’t mistake chronic dental issues as just a sign of aging
The clinical symptoms of slowly advancing dental disease in the older horse are not always overtly obvious, can be quite subtle and may even be discounted as ‘just’ a sign of old age. And so it is that owners and caretakers of an older horse can be taken by surprised when their horse, whom was
When your horse has the trots
Horse Health: A horse with diarrhea can suffer serious health consequences if it’s a serious case
Diarrhea in the horse describes a symptom with a wide variety of causes and presentations where for various reasons the intestinal tract does not complete absorption of electrolytes and water. As the water content of the feces increases the normal grouping of well-formed fecal balls lose their individual “ball” shape and the fecal matter becomes
The physically immature horse
Horse Health: Be mindful of the young horse’s developmental stages to protect its future health
Given the increasingly common occurrence of arthritis in today’s horses, it is worthwhile to consider the choices that are made in a young horse’s life that are large contributors to the outcome of that horse’s soundness over its lifetime. Oftentimes arthritis is viewed as a condition of the aging horse, mostly because the outward clinical
Understanding undesirable behaviour in horses
Horse Health: Is it pain? Training? Maybe both? Maybe more? You need to find out
Any time undesirable behaviour or resistance arises in the horse it demands a unique type of “listening” to identify what the horse is attempting to convey. Horses are transparent in their behaviours and often act in an attempt to simply feel better and seek relief from discomfort. Identifying the root cause of the discomfort can
IR/EMS/PPID in horses = OMG
Horse Health: These related metabolic diseases are a clear picture into horse-keeping shortfalls
The alphabet soup grouping of acronyms IR (insulin resistance), EMS (equine metabolic syndrome), and PPID (pituitary pars intermediare dysfunction also known as Cushing’s syndrome) represent an increasingly common and growing incidence of illnesses in horses between the ages of five and 15 years of age. Despite their separate labels these illnesses share many similarities in
Considerations before breeding a horse
Horse Health: This is not a project that should be simply taken on at an impulse — it requires planning, patience and commitment
Foals are adorable and the idea of raising a foal can be tempting – very tempting. The reasons why owners breed a horse is often a combination of emotional gratification, performance expectations and economic gain. Yet none of these outcomes are “for certain” and so the eventual outcome of the foal as it becomes an
Cyber-Savvy Farmer
