Form and Function of Joints

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

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Choke (Esophageal Obstruction)

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

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The Equine Spine–Back To Work

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.

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Neonatal Isoerythrolysis–The Silent Stalker

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

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Fat Burning

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

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Footing and Horse Performance

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.

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Spring Tuning (Athletic Conditioning)

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

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Problems With Hooves

It takes nearly a year for the hoof to grow down from the coronary band to the ground. Therefore, anything that happens to the horse — whether specific trauma to the foot or a systemic problem — can affect the health of the hoof for a long time.

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Horses and Humans: Eating For Two

Equines are obligate herbivores, meaning they are designed to eat plants and only plants; they’re not equipped to eat or to digest animal flesh. Humans, on the other hand, are true omnivores, meaning we’ll eat practically anything.

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When Joints Fail: Osteochondrosis

Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) is an affliction, if left untreated, that can have long-term harmful effects on the young, growing horse as well as the performing or racing horse. OCD actually is a disease subset of osteochondrosis and

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Feeding Horses Cattle Feed: Just Ruminating

On the surface, cattle feeds might look like an appropriate choice for your horses, but nutritionally, there are a number of important differences. They have major digestive and metabolic differences that make their dietary needs quite diverse.

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Gait Analysis

Ever since the 1880s, when Edweard Muybridge set up a series of cameras to capture the character of footfalls of a racehorse, we’ve been fascinated by how horses move. No doubt you’ve seen that early sequence of photos, which demonstrated that

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