Sommaire pour September 2015 de Equus

Partners for life “How Horses Help Us Heal” (EQUUS 454) was a breath of fresh air. Tim Hayes really gets why and how horses enrich our lives. They have been waiting patiently for centuries for people to understand them and accept what they have to offer us: companionship, protection and validation. Horses are amazing animals. Like every parent should, they forgive and provide unconditional love---if you give them the chance, and if you understand their language or intent. Like children, horses are born innocent and wanting to please. It’s how we treat them that determines how they grow up and react to us. How do I know this? I have such a horse---one who was treated with respect and love from day one. I am her second owner, and I…

Winter weather is still a few months off, but it’s not too early to think about blanketing. Your first decision, of course, is whether your horse will even need one. Although they might appreciate the added warmth, most horses can grow a winter coat thick enough to remain comfortable in freezing temperatures. There are two situations, however, when you need to treat a blanket as a necessity: • Horses who have trouble maintaining their body weight. A cold horse will burn calories to keep warm and, if he’s not getting enough from his diet, his body will pull from his fat stores to meet the need. A horse who is already on the thin side or one who has a history of losing weight during the cold months is likely…

“Horses were never wrong. They always did what they did for a reason, and it was up to you to figure it out.”―Jeannette Walls, Half Broke Horses The All Around Single Water Bottle Holder (suggested retail, $19.99), from Kensington Protective Products, comes with a 16-ounce plastic water bottle that fits neatly inside an insulated ballistic nylon sleeve designed to keep your drink cool. An exterior pocket with a fold-over flap is sized to hold a camera or cell phone, and a drawstring top can be used to secure the holder to a saddle horn. The bottle holder is available in eight plaid variations, including English navy, deluxe black, plum ice, blue ice, deluxe red, citrus slate, black ice and patriot. Call 877-469-1240 or visit www.kensingtonproducts.com. Durable enough for barn chores…

Dozens of internal parasites can infect horses, but these four pose the greatest health threats: • Large strongyles (Strongylus vulgaris), also called bloodworms, migrate as larvae through the abdominal arteries, causing damage that can lead to rupture or blockages. Some species damage the liver and other internal organs. • Small strongyles (cyathostomes) burrow into the intestinal wall as larvae and encyst. Signs of infection include weight loss, diarrhea and failure to thrive. • Ascarids (Parascaris spp.) are intestinal worms typically found in foals. Ascarids may cause weight loss, diarrhea and/or colic. As horses mature they develop immunity. • Tapeworms (Anoplocephala perfoliata) can cause colic and contribute to intestinal blockage.…

Have a question about your horse’s health, care or training? Our experts offer solutions for a range of equine-management problems. Write to EQUUS Consultants, 656 Quince Orchard Road, #600, Gaithersburg, MD 20878; e-mail: EQLetters@EquiNetwork.com. Send photos when helpful. TRAINING The “right” approach to jumping Q: I am an amateur rider, but I have ridden and trained a lot of green horses in the hunter/jumper discipline. We all want our horses to jump quietly, safely and happily, and some are tougher to get to that place than others. When a young horse is “looking” at every new thing, I’ll let him walk up and sniff a fence if it’s significantly different than obstacles he’s seen before. Obviously, however, in a show or a crowded hunt field or an eventing course, you…

“Extruded” is a word you’ve no doubt seen on feed bags, but do you really know what it means? Choosing an extruded feed over pellets or other types of nugget can make a big difference in your horse’s nutrition. Extrusion is a common process for manufacturing both human and animal foods, such as dog kibble or some breakfast cereals. The ingredients are first ground and mixed, then cooked with moist heat to a high temperature. The resulting mash is then pushed through a die to shape it. The sudden drop in pressure after the feed emerges from the die into the cooler air causes the starch molecules to explode, “popping” it into a nugget shape. (In contrast, pelleted feeds are also processed and pushed through a die, but without the…

Your veterinarian has just sutured your horse’s wound and is headed back down the driveway. The healing process is off to a good start, but now it’s up to you to keep it on track. In the coming days, your primary goal is to keep the sutures clean and dry. Water can not only carry pathogens into the wound, it can also soften and weaken the suture material, causing it to fail. You’ll need to clean a sutured wound only if it has visible debris on it. To clean the area without soaking it, wipe gently with a dry paper towel or a slightly damp sterile gauze square. Avoid vigorous rubbing. Sutures to a wound on the lower leg will almost always be bandaged. Not only does the covering protect…

The rider’s hands hold more than just the reins … they hold a metaphor for life. Perhaps softening the grip or relaxing the connection between hand and halter, or hand and bridle, is the same softening and letting go we need to offer ourselves as we ride through life. This is not meant to be a judgment; just a thought you might be interested in exploring. The whole concept of letting go is a dance. Like playing a violin, you do not want the strings too loose or too tight. Our unique filters tell us what letting go means. Some people have tremendous fears and want to be in control of everything in their life. So they really struggle with letting go of the reins, on the horse. They might…

If sarcoids removed using laser surgery don’t recur within six months they are likely gone for good, according to a new study from England. Medical lasers are now used for several types of surgery because their incisions bleed less during procedures and heal with less swelling and pain afterward. Sarcoids are tumors of the skin that are usually benign but can be persistent and locally invasive. Working at Rossdales Equine Hospital, researchers reviewed the records of 99 horses who had a total of 235 sarcoids removed using neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet lasers to cut away the tumors and surrounding tissues. For each case, the researchers collected information about both the horse and the tumor, including the size and location of the sarcoid and time of year it was removed. They…

The practice of “doping” racehorses with cobalt chloride not only fails to enhance their performance but also puts their health at risk, according to a review study from England. Cobalt is an essential trace mineral that is important in the formation of the vitamin B12 complex and as an activator of enzymes involved in the oxygen-carrying function of red blood cells. Although it is a banned substance in many racing jurisdictions, some unscrupulous trainers administer cobalt chloride to horses either intravenously or orally in hopes of increasing the oxygen-carrying capacity of their blood and thus enhancing their performance. University of Surrey researchers note, however, that studies have shown that the mineral can accumulate to toxic levels in the body organs and can cause other health problems. In particular, the researchers…

I used to worry about the temperature in my trailer when I hauled my horses in the summer. I put my mind at ease by buying a wireless indoor/outdoor thermometer. I put the sensor in the trailer and the readout in the cab. Now I can see if the temperature is climbing too high without having to pull over to check.— Cindy McDonald, Asheville, North Carolina Send your suggestions for inexpensive horse-care substitutes as well as hints for saving effort and time to Hands On, EQUUS, 656 Quince Orchard Road, #600, Gaithersburg, MD 20878; Fax: 301-990-9015; e-mail: EQLetters@EquiNetwork.com. Senders of published items will receive selected EQUUS merchandise.…

If you have a horse who is prone to laminitis, no doubt you spent the spring and summer carefully limiting his access to lush grass. But don’t let your guard down just because the pasture is starting to die back. Fall can be a high-risk time for horses prone to this devastating condition. Two seasonal factors can lead to laminitis in the fall: a re-greening of pastures by rains after a period of summer drought, and shorter hours of daylight, which trigger the hormonal changes that physiologically prepare a horse for winter. All horses undergo these hormonal changes, but in those with metabolic disorders, such as pituitary0 pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID), the fluctuations can be extreme, setting the stage for laminitis. If your horse has a history of laminitis, it’s…

Disease-causing organisms such as B. caballi and B. burgdorferi are just the beginning of the bacteria and viruses ticks can spread from animal to animal. “People need to become aware of the fact that ticks are very dirty critters. When they bite and transmit a disease, they don’t always transmit just one organism,” says epidemiologist Angela Pelzel-McCluskey, DVM. “We also need to realize that there are often co-infections, and a number of diseases we are not yet identifying. Many people think that the only tick-borne diseases to worry about are Lyme disease or Rocky Mountain spotted fever in humans, not realizing that there are many other diseases out there that they and/or their horses could get.” Researchers are still working to identify the organisms transmitted by ticks and understand which…

The year is 1975. The place is Ramanagara, Karnataka, in south India. It is high noon. A beautiful woman driving a carriage is hotly pursued by villainous men on horseback. From her attire---a short blouse with an exposed midriff, a long colorful skirt, and a long veil that billows out behind her---it’s clear that the woman is the belle of the local village. Her mare is white as snow and is at a full gallop, but she is tiring. The woman urges her on with cries of, “C’mon, Dhanno! Fly! Fly to preserve my honor!” The men in pursuit are dressed in black with scabbards hanging from their belts, and they ride black horses. They are slowly but surely catching up. Dust rises beneath their feet and the sound of…

GENTLE WOUND CLEANSER Product: Large Animal Wound Care Foam Description: Combining nontoxic, food-grade surfactants, this odorless, nonstinging foam cleanses minor wounds and skin infections. Gentle enough for use around the ears, eyes, nose, mouth and other sensitive areas, the foam can be applied directly. It can also be diluted with water. Price: suggested retail, $16.99 for a five-ounce bottle Source: Noble Outfitters; www.nobleoutfitters.com MEDICATION IN BLUE Product: Thrush Stop Blue Description: Formulated to treat smelly infections affecting the hoof’s frog, this gel contains antibacterial and fungicidal ingredients but no harsh or caustic agents. The bottle has a long, narrow tip that helps apply the gel precisely where it is needed; the product also contains a blue dye, which persists on the hoof for a couple of days, to show the…

ataxia---incoordination of the muscles, which results in shaky, irregular movements; may be accompanied by weakness and loss of proprioception. body condition score (BCS)---a designation, based on a nine-point numeric scale, indicating the amount of fat on a horse’s body. A BCS is assigned after a visual and hands-on appraisal. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)---large organic molecule that consists of two chains of nucleotides wound around each other; the material of which genes are made. Genes are responsible for the individual inherited characteristics of living organisms. eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE, encephalomyelitis)---brain and spinal-cord inflammation in horses, caused by a specific viral strain transmitted by mosquitoes. EEE is characterized by fever and/or stupor and is almost always fatal. enzyme---any of the numerous facilitator proteins enabling the building up, altering or breaking down of other…

Riding, horses, barns, pastures. Sitting trot, Swedish oxers, shoulder-ins, collection. For the past 30 years, in varying degrees, horses have ruled my world. Cleaning stalls, riding out, summer shows, trail rides. I have read about their care and attended camps, seminars, clinics and shows. I’ve watched movies that romanticized riding, and I’ve even had the opportunity to ride with an Olympian. There was never time in my life to add any other hobbies because I thought that all of my free time needed to be funneled toward my horses and riding. Until very recently, that is, when I made some time---just two hours per week---to add another activity to my life: I began to practice yoga. And I have been continually surprised at how this form of exercise has actually…