Karen Briggs

Karen Briggs is the author of six books, including the recently updated Understanding Equine Nutrition as well as Understanding The Pony, both published by Eclipse Press. She's written a few thousand articles on subjects ranging from guttural pouch infections to how to compost your manure. She is also a Canadian certified riding coach, an equine nutritionist, and works in media relations for the harness racing industry. She lives with her band of off-the-track Thoroughbreds on a farm near Guelph, Ontario, and dabbles in eventing.

Articles by: Karen Briggs

Ovuplant: Improving the Odds

If you’re a breeder, frankly, it pays to be in the livestock business. Cattle, sheep, goats, and pigs all make life easy for those trying to produce young stock–they are all facultative-induced ovulators, meaning that matings early in their”P>If you’re a breeder, frankly, it pays to be in the livestock busi

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How to Read a Feed Label

Learning to interpret the information supplied by the manufacturer isn’t all that difficult, and it can tell you whether the feed you’re buying is truly the best choice for your horse.

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Botulism

With foaling season upon us, vaccination for botulism is one of many management considerations facing North American horse breeders. This disease can be deadly in foals, and in adult horses which are unprotected, and it can be tremendously

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Bioabsorbable Screws

A unique type of bone screw made of a most unlikely material is making waves in equine fracture repair at the Equine Research Centre in Guelph, Ontario, Canada. The results indicate that the screws also could have important applications in human

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Grains of Glory

It’s five p.m., and up and down the aisle of a large boarding stable, the nickering and rumbling begin. What’s the cause of the excitement? Nothing more than a metal scoop digging into a bin of grain, a sound that tips off every equine resident

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Combined Immunodefiency in Arabians

A newborn Arabian foal is possibly one of the most beguiling creatures on Earth. Elegant of feature and blessed with beauty, he’s full of promise for the future–and often descended of royal blood and worth many thousands of dollars. Imagine how

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Restraint Techniques for Breeding

When a mare and a stallion meet, love might be in the air…but there’s the potential for danger, too. Particularly when humans get in the middle of it all. In our efforts to orchestrate the best possible combinations of

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Freezing Semen

The technology that allows us to freeze a stallion’s semen for future use has opened up a world of opportunities. Not only does it allow the stallion’s DNA to be available to mare owners around the globe, but it enables a stallion to stand at stud wh

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Housing Your Horse

In the back of your mind somewhere there lurks a Dream Barn. Go on, admit it. You’ve planned it down to the last luxurious detail–from the Olympic-sized riding arena (with the climate-impervious perfect footing) right down to the automatic fly

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Probiotics and Digestive Aids: Microbes to the Rescue

While the horse receives the bulk of the nutrients as his food is broken down, he’s not the only one who benefits; the microbes take their share and thus maintain their populations. Their presence is essential to the horse, who could not digest fiber

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Amazing Minerals

Of all the ingredients of a horse’s diet, minerals are unique. Here’s a rundown of the most important minerals in your horse’s diet.

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Trauma-Free Trailering

If you feel insecure about assessing your trailer’s safety, it’s best to take it to your local trailer repair center for a complete going-over, but there are a few simple things you can do at home to give your mechanic a head start.

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Tending To A Tender Foot

Although the equine hoof is a marvel of resiliency, it’s not made of rubber, or titanium, or diamond. As a living structure, it has its vulnerabilities, and when faced with unusual stresses, it shows them. Stone bruises, those

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Breeding Facilities

Any way you look at it, building a barn is a major undertaking. Doing it right the first time, to avoid headaches later, is the smart approach. In addition to the usual considerations of location, aesthetics, cost, and

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Solitary Confinement

There are few things sadder than a horse not in contact with other horses. A herd animal by nature, the horse always feels safest and most content when in company of others of his kind; isolation doesn’t come naturally to him. But in certain

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Soil and Water Testing

As you push your shopping cart down the aisle at the supermarket, it’s likely become routine for you to do a quick scan of the nutritional analysis printed on the side of every cereal box and container of yogurt you select. Instantly, you know how

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