easy keepers
What is laminitis? Laminitis occurs when the tissues that connect the coffin bone to the hoof wall, called the laminae, become inflamed and the blood supply is compromised. The sensitive and insensitive laminae separate, damaging the structural integrity of the hoof. There are multiple causative factors that result in laminitis. They range from mechanical stress to digestive dysfunction. Laminitis varies in severity depending on the amount of damage... Read More »
Category : Health & Management | Nutritional Minutes | Tips and Topics
Iodine controls the production of thyroid hormones, which are necessary for optimal health. Iodine deficiency can cause a dry, lusterless coat and patchy or diffuse hair loss. The NRC (National Research Council) estimates that the iodine requirement of horses is 0.1-0.6 mg/kg of the total diet. Grass and hay contain very small amounts of iodine. Some plain grains contain more iodine, but most horses get iodine from trace mineralized salt or a coat and... Read More »
Category : Health & Management | Tips and Topics | Valuable Nutrients
Certain types of horses are at higher risk of developing vitamin deficiencies than others. It may be because they are unable to eat adequate amounts of fortified concentrates or consume enough green grass. Sometimes age plays a role too. At-risk horses will benefit from a balanced, low-calorie vitamin and mineral supplement. Who is at risk? Easy keepers eating a handful or two of grain a day and/or those on restricted pasture Horses and ponies in... Read More »
Category : Macro & Micro Minerals | Tips and Topics | Valuable Nutrients
Here are five tips to make sure your feed room and hayloft are ready for winter. 1. Clean out your feed room. A clean feed room will help to reduce feed losses due to insect and rodent damage. It will also give you more room to store and properly manage your feed, hay, and supplements. Toss any feed or supplements that are out of date, moldy or that rodents or insects have damaged. Clean up any spilled feed that may attract hungry... Read More »
Category : Digestive Health | Essential Vitamins | Fat & Fiber | Health & Management | Tips and Topics | Valuable Nutrients
Vitamins and minerals are vital to the horse’s physical well-being. Without sufficient vitamin and mineral intake, it is impossible for horses to remain healthy. Even those horses asked to perform no exercise need proper vitamin and mineral fortification when concentrates and pasture are fed at less than optimal levels. Easy keepers, senior horses, and horses on restricted feeding programs are most often at risk for deficiencies. It is up to horse... Read More »
Category : Health & Management | Tips and Topics
No matter what the season, when horses work hard they produce heat and sweat. Properly cooling down your horse will ensure he stays sound and healthy. A daily workout for your horse probably consists of four separate periods: warm-up, active conditioning or schooling, warm-down, and cool-down. During warm weather training, the warm-down and cool-down periods are especially important because horses may be hot from conditioning exercises. The warm-down... Read More »
Category : Electrolytes | Health & Management | Tips and Topics
Once known as a stable vice, cribbing is now considered by equine behaviorists as a stereotypical oral behavior. Cribbing behavior (sometimes referred to as crib-biting) is rarely, if ever, seen in free-living feral horses but is frequently found in domesticated horses, leading researchers to believe that such unwanted behavior is caused by the way we manage our horses. When a horse cribs he grabs onto a solid object with his teeth, arches his neck, pulls... Read More »
Category : Digestive Health | Health & Management | Tips and Topics
Careful management of your horse year-round will help ensure that he remains healthy during drought conditions. In the short-term future, the first and perhaps most elementary and immediate point to consider is nutrition. As the drought in Kentucky and surrounding states rages on, pastures may be brown and their bounty less than nutritious. If you rely heavily on pastures to provide calories for your horse, he may not be receiving sufficient energy... Read More »
Category : Essential Vitamins | Fat & Fiber | Health & Management | Tips and Topics | Valuable Nutrients
All horses need fiber in their diet and some of it must be the form of long hay. Horses challenged by metabolic syndrome should be offered hays that are low in non-structural carbohydrates or NSC. This class of carbohydrates includes starch, water-soluble sugar, and fructan. Normal horses can tolerate NSC levels of 20% or higher. It is recommended that horses with metabolic syndrome consume hay with NSC levels of around 10% to 12%. In order to know... Read More »
Category : Fat & Fiber | Tips and Topics
We have all heard that certain horses exposed to stressful contiditons are at a higher risk of developing ulcers and hindgut imbalances, but did you know that how and what you feed your horse can also increase the likelihood of damaging his or her sensitive digestive tract? One of the most important facets of equine management is learning what strategies should be used to ensure digestive tract health in the horses you care for. Extensive research has... Read More »
Category : Digestive Health | Health & Management | Tips and Topics
What is heat stroke and how do you recognize it? Heat stroke occurs when you horse’s natural cooling mechanisms fail to keep his body temperature at a normal level. If left untreated, heat stroke could kill your horse. The best way to avoid heat stroke is to closely monitor your horse when riding in warm weather. Know your horse’s normal vital signs, know the symptoms of heat stroke, and take immediate action to cool your horse off when he gets too... Read More »
Category : Electrolytes | Health & Management | Tips and Topics
To ride or not to ride, that is the question. Temperature alone is not a good guide when it comes to deciding if you should ride on a hot summer day. It is the combination of heat and humidity that should be your major concern. Your horse’s natural radiator is a combination of skin surface and sweat. As your horse’s body warms up, his sweat glands release sweat: a combination of water and minerals. As the water evaporates off the skin it cools the... Read More »
Category : Electrolytes | Health & Management | Tips and Topics
Interesting fact: Water makes up about 65% of a mature horse’s body weight. For a 15.2-hand, 1,000-pound horse, that amounts to 650 pounds or 85 gallons of water! In order to maintain proper hydration, horses must drink significant quantities of water. In a cool environment, an inactive horse may drink around seven to 10 gallons daily. In a hot or humid environment, however, a horse might drink more than 20 gallons of water a day. This is precisely... Read More »
Category : Electrolytes | Tips and Topics
A scoop of grain and two fluffy flakes of hay in the morning. A scoop of grain and two fluffy flakes of hay in the late afternoon. A few hours of turnout on mediocre pasture sometime during the day. Sound familiar? This feeding pattern is repeated almost without thought, but is it best for a horse? Does it sufficiently mimic a horse’s natural desire to graze, and does it keep a horse’s gastrointestinal tract in tip-top shape? Or is a horse... Read More »
Category : Digestive Health | Tips and Topics
Vitamins are organic compounds, which, when provided in the proper amounts, play a major role in the well-being of your horse. They are vital to the promotion and regulation of virtually all of the body's normal functions. Vitamins are available to your horse through a variety of sources, ranging from forages, such as grass and hay, to concentrates and supplements. Some vitamins, such as vitamin K and the B vitamins, are actually manufactured by the... Read More »
Category : Essential Vitamins | Nutritional Minutes | Tips and Topics
