A number of factors must fit together seamlessly in order for a horse to remain sound and healthy: His hooves must bear weight properly in order to stay sound, with multiple structures sharing the load. If there is too much stress on any one part, or if some parts are not bearing adequate weight to maintain proper blood flow and hoof expansion, problems might arise.
Tetanus proves deadly in 50-75% of cases, so ensure your horse is adequately vaccinated.
A horse is only as sound as his feet. Care and management of the feet will vary, however, depending on the individual horse, his conformation and hoof structure, environment and climate, and use. Whether he needs to be shod or can be left barefoot will also hinge on these factors.
The hock is one of the most complex and hardest-worked joints in the horse’s body, so it must be strong and sturdy to avoid injury. Much of what we ask our horses to do, whether high-performance dressage, reining, jumping, or simply going up and down hills on trail rides, requires strong and well-functioning hocks. In this article we’ll examine hock conformation, injury, ways to counteract
Author?s Note: My grandfather and his neighbors in southern Idaho lost several work horses to “brain
“This is giving me an ulcer!” These probably are words our horses would utter if they could speak because many performance horses and racehorses develop
Horses can suffer hock problems at any age. Scott McClure, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, an assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences at Iowa State University, points out that some horses develop juvenile spavin as foals.
Fences and machinery are some of the higher-ticket items on a farm, and in this iffy economic climate, it might be overwhelming to even consider replacing these everyday necessities with new products. Having an organized, planned maintenance program
Horsemen have a new option when checking mares for pregnancy this breeding season. Biotracking, a company created by Garth Sasser, PhD, a professor of animal science at the University of Idaho, came up with a blood test for ruminants (BioPRYN) a few years ago. Now BioPRYNes, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test that detects estrone sulfate molecules in blood, is available for
How often a horse needs trimming depends on many factors, particularly how fast his hooves grow.
When the levels of the good bugs wane–as in cases of stress, travel, or antibiotic administration–there are ways to replenish them with the help of probiotics and prebiotics for your horse.
Horses in some management conditions are susceptible to sand ingestion; here’s how to avoid sand buildup and resulting complications such as colic. Rarely do we see our horses lapping up sand like it’s some rare commodity. But inevitably horses end up with burdens of sand in their intestinal tracts from grazing sandy pastures or eating off the ground. In areas with sandy soil
There is no shortage of manure on a horse farm. We’re simply rich with the stuff. And whether our farm is large or small, we need to have a plan for what to do with the seemingly endless supply of often-odiferous waste.
The typical
Here are a few ways to spend less on horsekeeping.
Windpuffs are soft, fluid-filled swellings toward the back of the fetlock joint, resulting from inflamed deep digital flexor tendon sheaths. Most commonly, these puffy enlargements are symptomless blemishes–old and cold, the result of years of hard work.
The term “corrective shoeing” is often overused and misunderstood. It sometimes implies that the farrier can correct conformational faults of feet and legs. In reality, often very little can be done to change the way a horse is built. Trying to fix
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