With 2012 now in the past and a whole new year of horse health news and articles ahead, the staff at TheHorse.com took a few moments to tally our top 10 most popular articles of 2012. Covering a variety of topics related to horse health, the following articles received the most views of all the articles published last year on TheHorse.com.

Exercises to Strengthen Equine Back Muscles, Reduce Pain
Common sense says it’s better to prevent back pain than to treat the back after it starts to hurt. Now it appears there could be an effective way to do this for our horses through simple, but specific, exercises. According to one researcher, strengthening a horse’s multifidus muscle through a short-term physiotherapeutic exercise program could yield long-term benefits in preventing equine back pain.

The Equine Mind: Top 10 Things to Know 
Even though we don’t always understand equine behavior, there’s got to be a reason behind it, right? Absolutely. Horses’ behaviors date back to equine evolution, and horse owners greatly benefit from understanding what goes on in a horse’s brain, according to one veterinarian, who relayed the top 10 things horse owners, caretakers, and riders should understand about how the equine mind functions.

Cold Weather Colic 
Well here we are again … winter! The average horse owner is likely well-acquainted with his or her horse’s colic risk regardless of the season, but with cold weather come complicating factors that all owners should prepare for