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
I heard that a horse’s spleen is unique, but my friend said horses don’t have a spleen. What’s the truth?
I just bought a filly who had recurrent bouts of ‘tying-up.’ What can you tell me about this disease?
Tendon injuries can be extremely frustrating. The best way to deal with them is to make every effort to prevent them, or if possible, limit the degree of damage that occurs. Certainly some tendon injuries occur acutely without any warning, but
Although it is not necessary for you to become bogged down in the intricacies of equine digestive physiology, a basic understanding of how the horse digests feed is necessary for the selection of appropriate diets and feeding practices.
A number of horses I’ve seen appear to have asymmetrical muscle development, particularly over the shoulder area, which can make saddle fitting difficult. Many publications seem to say that the larger shoulder indicates that the horse is
Laminitis is one of the most serious and difficult-to-treat diseases horses can get, and only by learning everything about this problem can we prevent and treat it successfully. Enter the 14th annual Bluegrass Laminitis Symposium held Jan. 25-27
There is a definite correlation between joint angle, hoof flight pattern, and weight bearing. One might even wax a bit poetic and declare that as the joint angles, so flies and lands the hoof. That’s where the poetry ends, however, because if
The word choke for me conjures up images of someone hovering over a table, unable to talk or breathe because a piece of food has lodged in their trachea or windpipe–fortunately, the Heimlich maneuver usually rectifies the situation. Choke is
First, how can we visualize and understand what’s going on under that hair, skin, and muscle? Denoix has diagnostic steps to examine a horse with performance problems that he believes might stem from the spine.
For those interested in the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Equestrian National Governing Body issue, the following important information has been added and is now available on the AHSA web site at
Neonatal isoerythrolysis is a silent stalker of foals. At birth, the foal is normal. In some cases, the foal shows subtle signs as an internal enemy attacks and the disease progresses to a point of no return; in others, it takes only hours for
For the most part, the word fat has bad connotations in our society today–fat often is used to describe an overweight or obese state. When we think of dietary fat and the proportion of calories in our diet that is derived from various sources”P>For the most part, the word fat has bad connotations in our society today–fat often is used to describe an overweight or obese state. When we think of dietary fat and the proportion of calories in our diet that “>For the most part, the word fat has bad connotations in our society today–fat often is used to describe an overweight or obese state. When we think of dietary fat and the proportion”For the most part, the word fat has bad connotations in our society today–fat often is used to describe an overweight or obese state. When we think of d”or the most part, the word fat has bad connotations in our society today–fat often is used to describe an overweight or obe”r the most part, the word fat has bad connotations in our society today–fat often is used to de” the most part, the word fat has bad connotations in our society toda”the most part, the word fat has bad connota”he most part, the wo
The type of footing on which a horse performs strongly influences whether the animal has a long and productive career, or whether it has that career cut short because of unsoundness or injury. Footing also influences how well the horse performs.
Most will agree that thorough preparation of a horse is key to success in athletic competition. With spring hopefully just around the corner, this is an opportune time to discuss conditioning. Of course, the nature of a conditioning program will
If you have a veterinary textbook somewhere on your shelves, chances are you’ve seen one of those photos of a sick horse’s innards-miles and miles of wet, purplish loops of intestine, spilling out in all directions. The poor equine posing for
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