Barn Improvement

As our understanding of horse health and behavior has improved, barns have changed–a lot. No longer are they just places to house horses. Today’s owners now approach barns and other farm structures with horse/human health, environmental impact…

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Student Research: Weaning, Foal Response to Mare Breeding

Questions: What is the best age to wean a foal? Is it a good/bad practice to take the afterbirth away from the mare right away so the veterinarian can check it? In the covering barn, why does the foal always get upset when the stallion…?

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First Steps for Foal Handling

Discussion of the many ways to teach young horses/foals to submit to humans; from imprinting to halter training, tying, grooming, and much more.

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Horses and Veterinarians: How to Get Along

“Veterinarians work under a great handicap when handling horses–almost everything the veterinarian does to a horse is either frightening or painful,” began Robert Miller, DVM. However, that doesn’t mean there’s no way for a v

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Training: Positive Reinforcement Improves Horse Memory

The research team that demonstrated yearlings perform much better if their training included feed rewards as positive reinforcement is now back to let us know that positive reinforcement gets engrained in young horses’ minds for the long ha

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Odd Posture to Poop

I have a 9-year-old gelding who holds his body in a strange position while defecating. He curves his head to the left, then brings the left hind leg forward while passing feces. His whole body is in a curve to the left… any ideas why?

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Tongue Troubles

I have a filly who occasionally sticks out her tongue to the side and lolls it at times when I do ground training, but I have never seen her do it under saddle. She’ll also bite at herself and stick her tongue while grooming. Is it stress?

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Compulsive Urinating on Hay

My 10-year old Paso Fino gelding consistently, and sometimes frantically, urinates on his hay. I have tried to place his hay where he can’t urinate on it, but he will try his hardest to get to it. Could this be some sort of “marking” behavior?

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Weaving Worries

I have a 12-year-old Tennessee Walker who weaves. I recently noticed lameness in the right front leg. How does weaving affect the lameness, and what treatments can I use to stop or decrease the lameness? Would steroid injections help?

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Horse Sales: Cribbing Can Break the Deal

Even when a stalled, cribbing horse is turned out to pasture, they often continue to crib on the fencing or water troughs. It’s also interesting to note that some experts think cribbing can be a pleasurable sensation for horses and act as a stress reliever.

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Rider Pressure Affects Horse Tack Evaluation

The force a rider exerts on the horse’s back will shift depending on his or her position and should be included in any evaluation of tack pressure, researchers recently reported.

“You need a force that is distributed over a certain area to

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Human Injuries Related to Horses Analyzed

The American Horse Council’s 2005 report “The Economic Impact of the Horse Industry on the United States” documents that more than 2 million horse owners are involved in a variety of activities. Millions more people ride horses every year or handle

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Self-Mutilation or Pain?

I have a horse that I believe is displaying a form of self-mutilating behavior, and I’m wondering if you have

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