Knowing
the body weight of a horse is an essential element for many management
decisions. Most horse owners and veterinarians underestimate body weight of a
horse when using only visual assessment. Livestock scales are the most accurate
method for determining body weight of a horse, but they are not easily
accessible by most horse owners. This poses two questions for horse owners: 1)
is it r…
The term ‘fetal programming’ may sound like it belongs in a
science lab rather than a breeding operation, but this concept is something
that breeders should take note of. Most people don’t realize it, but a developing
fetus can actually adapt to external factors while in the mother’s womb, and
those adaptations have a life-long effect on the baby. Development of a fetus
is a complex process t…
Performance horses constantly battle low-grade joint inflammation caused by repeated maneuvers such as turning and stopping. This inflammation can be especially prominent in horses that work in very hard or deep ground on a daily basis. Low levels of inflammation are part of the body’s normal healing process and typically the body can clear this inflammation on its own without intervention from dr…
As equine care-takers, ammonia is something that we battle on a daily basis, whether it is in stalls or in the trailer.Ammonia is that pungent odor that burns your nose, lungs, and eyes and is a result of urea,a nitrogen-containing molecule that is present in urine and feces. Urea itself is non-toxic and has nosmell, but once excreted, urea is rapidly converted to ammonia. Ammonia is very irritati…
We’ve all been there; standing in the feed aisle trying to decide which product to choose, wanting to make an informed decision, the best decision. We think about the needs of our horse and we research the internet. We even compare feed tags, but when you don’t really know what to look for, they all look the same and it’s hard to tell if there really is any difference between one bag and another…
How safe is your horse’s feed? If the feed is milled at a plant that also manufactures livestock feed containing ionophores, there’s a risk of cross-contamination which could be fatal to your horse. Over the last several months the equine industry has been hit with the loss of multiple horses from various locations due to ionophore toxicity. Unfortunately, deaths like this occur each year…
