Pets Horse Health
A Case of Laminitis The following day I looked out and once again saw her lying down. Thinking she was just being lazy, but just to be sure, I took an apple out to the fence and called her. She got up and slowly walked over to me to take the treat. I thought it was a bit odd she didn’t come trotting as she usually does, but for the most part she seemed to be fine. Since she still had a healthy appetite, I was not overly concerned. When I saw her lying down in the field for the third straight day, I was puzzled. This certainly was not normal behavior, and yet she didn’t seem to be ill in any way. I walked out to see her, and as I approached she got up to greet me. I placed a halter on her and started leading her back to the paddock so I could groom her. As I was leading her, she was a bit hesitant in her walk and seemed to have an ever slight limp in her front leg. I then thought she had injured her leg or might have had something lodged in her hoof. I closely examined her legs and feet for any signs of injury, but could find none. Since she was still eating normally and didn’t appear to have any obvious injury, I thought maybe she sprained her leg. I decided I would keep a close watch on her, but I still was not too concerned. Once again I found her lying down the following day. When I went out to greet her, she remained on the ground. I encouraged her to get up and put on her halter. She wouldn’t budge when I tried to lead her. I gave her some more encouragement and she began to walk. I could see now that she was experiencing pain in both front legs and was walking very slowly and dragging her hooves. Now being concerned, I contacted our equine vet who would not be available until the following day. When the following day rolled around, I didn’t see our mare lying down, but instead she was standing. She was standing, though, in a very peculiar manner with her weight shifted toward her back legs while pushing back on the heals of her front hooves. I could see her back legs were very weak from supporting the weight shifted to them. Seeing our mare in this condition, I thought it best to cancel the field visit by our vet and trailer her to a large animal hospital that would be better suited to diagnose and treat whatever condition she may have. The equine hospital staff where I took our mare specialized in “lameness” in horses. After watching her walk and taking x-rays, the hospital staff determined she had laminitis and began to founder. This is a condition where the coffin bone inside the hoof detaches from the wall and begins to rotate downward. In our mare’s case, her condition was actually fairly minor. Though the animal hospital could not tell me with any certainty what caused the condition, they advised removing her from the grain supplement I had been feeding. The treatment was simple. They had me administer bute for a few days for the pain. But more importantly, they provided instructions to our farrier on how to trim our mare’s hooves so the tips were much shorter and more rounded. Much like the natural condition of horses in the wild. In about four weeks she was back to her normal self again. Shortly thereafter, I began feeding her a sand colic preventative. To get her to eat it, I went ahead and added some grain. After about three days, our mare began to walk “funny” again and drag her front hooves. After consulting with the animal hospital who originally diagnosed her condition, they immediately had me stop feeding the grain, once again stating that a rich grain diet is believed to be a source that could trigger the onset of laminitis. So after going on an alpha hay only diet with more frequent farrier visits, our mare has been doing well ever since. Randall Holman, site owner of FrontRangeFrenzy.com and horse enthusiast, is the author of this article. You will find other easy and practical basic horse care information on his website. How Much Weight Can a Horse Carry? When asking the question, “how much weight can a horse carry?” you often hear a response similar to “it depends on the breed of the horse, its conditioning and conformation, how far and how long you will be traveling, the horse’s bone structure, the type of weight the horse will carry (for example live [rider] or dead weight [gear]), weight distribution” and so on. So with this sound advice from your fellow horsemen, surely you now have a much better idea of how much weight your horse can carry. No? Of course not. Though your colleagues are correct in stating all the above factors, you are still left in the dark without any guideline on how much weight a horse can carry. Can my horse only carry 80 pounds, or is he capable of carrying 300 pounds? Fortunately some very smart horsemen over the years have come up with a few methods for us to calculate a starting point to help determine how much weight a horse can carry. One very simple guide is to take the horse’s weight and divide by six to give you the total weight, including rider and tack, the horse can carry. Given this, a 1200 pound horse could carry up to 200 pounds. Another quick and popular method is to use the 20% rule. You take 20% of your horse’s body weight and the result is the amount of total weight your horse can carry. For example, a 1,000 pound horse should easily carry 200 pounds of rider and tack. The 20% rule typically applies to competitive or otherwise “hard” riding. For pleasure riding, many use a 30% rule, so this 1,000 pound horse could carry 300 pounds for shorter pleasure rides. Measuring a horse’s cannon bone is used by some in determining the approximate weight a horse can carry. A measurement is taken around the circumference of the foreleg, just below the knee. Add together the weight of the horse plus the rider and tack, and divide this sum by the cannon bone circumference measurement. Then divide that result by two. A number between 75 and 85 is good. If the number is over 85, you probably need a larger horse. Using this method, I measure the circumference of the horse’s cannon bone and get 7.5 inches. The body weight of the horse is 1,150 pounds and the rider and gear weigh 235 pounds for a total combined weight of 1,350 pounds. Divide 1,350 (total combined weight) by 7.5 (cannon bone) and I get roughly 185. Divide 185 in half and my final resulting number is 93. Using this calculating method, I either need to lighten my gear or get a larger horse to get the number down to around 85. Some horse and rider guidelines where carrying weight is concerned: Pick a horse with bigger cannon bones, wider loins, shorter back Avoid using heaving saddles and only carry necessary gear Make sure the horse is conditioned for the type of riding you doing Keep proper riding posture and balance Give the horse a break on longer rides – get off a while and let your horse rest Avoid riding in areas where footing is not desirable – such as mud, deep sand, asphalt Avoid letting the horse trot or canter The maximum weight a horse can safely carry does vary by the breed of the horse and how hard it’s worked. There is no absolute rule about how much weight a horse can carry, but generally speaking the lighter-framed the horse the less he can carry. A well conditioned horse or a stout horse can generally carry more. Some breeds are bred to carry heavier weights like the Quarter Horse, Arabian or Icelandic Pony. Riders with good balance also make weight load less of a problem.
Randall Holman, site owner of FrontRangeFrenzy.com and horse enthusiast, is the author of this article. You will find other easy and practical basic horse care information on his website.
Float a Horse's Teeth -- What Does that Mean and Why is it Necessary? So what does it mean to float a horse's teeth? I'm sure you've heard this a time or two (if you haven't, sooner or later you will from another horse owner or from your vet), and if you're like me, you imagined for the longest time what this could possibly mean and wondered what it involved. To float a horse's teeth certainly sounds funny, too. Floating means to smooth or contour your horse's teeth with a file (called a "float"). Unlike your own teeth, your horse's teeth keep growing. At times, your horse's teeth may develop sharp edges, making it difficult for her to chew food, hold a bit, or simply have pain and discomfort inside her mouth. An adult horse may have between 36-44 permanent teeth. And just like humans, your horse gets two sets of teeth in her lifetime. Your horse starts out with temporary baby teeth and by age five, will most likely have her full set of permanent teeth. The horse's front teeth cut hay and grass, while the top and bottom cheek teeth grind the forage between the flat surfaces in a sideways motion. This grinding action breaks down the food into a pulp before swallowing which helps it to be digested better. If your horse is unable to grind down food all the way due to uneven teeth surfaces, the unchewed food will not be digested as well. Most often, points develop on the upper cheek teeth toward the outside of the mouth next to your horse's cheek. And on the bottom cheek teeth toward the inside of the mouth next to your horse's tongue. These points can then cut into the cheek and tongue making your horse uncomfortable. Though it may seem tedious and like a burden, you know having routine dentist check-ups contribute to the overall good health of your own teeth. Well, your horse is no different and deserves some of the same attention to her teeth as you give to yours. Confined horses or those that do not have the ability to graze all day are more prone to teeth overgrowth, as they are not naturally grinding their teeth all day to keep them smooth. Also, just like you, your horse can have other dental problems. A horse can have excessively worn teeth, loose or broken teeth, or infected gums. One sign that your horse's teeth may need to be floated is if she is consistently dropping food from her mouth and you start seeing signs of weight loss. Your horse may also exhibit behavior like head-tossing or opening her mouth frequently. Possible horse dental problem indicators:
Because horses are adaptable creatures, even if they are having discomfort, some do not show any signs of dental problems. So don't assume that if there are no symptoms, there are no problems. Sharp teeth edges can hurt the inside of your horse's mouth causing pain and creating sores on her tongue or cheeks. Your horse may show resistance when riding due to added pain from the bit pressing against the sores. The vet or equine dentist will carefully file all your horse's teeth that need smoothing to achieve a flat grinding surface between the upper and lower teeth. Having your horse's teeth floated is well worth it so she digests her food better, is in better spirits, and makes riding more enjoyable for you both. How often floating is necessary varies quite a bit from one horse to another. Some horses seem to have slower-growing teeth and may require floating only once every several years while others may require floating every few months. Even if your horse does not require her teeth to be floated often, it is still a good idea to have her teeth and gums examined once a year. The procedure the vet typically uses to float your horse's teeth is to first sedate your horse to make her relaxed. A special halter is put on with a rope thrown over a ceiling rafter or the equivalent in order to hold your horse's head up. A mouth speculum is used to keep your horse's mouth open. The vet will then either manually file your horse's teeth using a rasp in a back and forth motion to flatten the high points, or may use a power tool. The whole procedure is quick and painless - taking about 15 to 20 minutes to complete. If you're like me, you cringe at the thought of someone filing away on your teeth with a rasp. You can imagine the shooting pain from the nerves in your teeth. Personally, the dentist can't give me enough Novocain to make me feel comfortable before poking around or drilling in my mouth. Unlike us, a horse's nerves end close to the gumline, so there is no nerve where the tooth is being worked on, and therefore does not feel any nerve pain. We humans should be so lucky.
Randall Holman, site owner of FrontRangeFrenzy.com and horse enthusiast, is the author of this article. You will find other easy and practical basic horse care information on his website. Internal Parasites of the Horse Internal parasites are a threat to the health of horses and may cause irreparable damage. Parasites are small organisms living a portion of their life cycle within the internal organs, body cavities and tissues inside the horse. There are more than 150 internal parasites; however, only a few commonly cause significant health problems. The common class of internal parasites causing health problems for horses is nematodes such as large and small strongyles, ascarids, and tapeworms. Other less harmful parasites like pinworms and botfly larvae are also typically considered when applying parasite control. Antiparasitic compounds have reduced the popularity of large strongyles causing the most damage to horses which leaves the the small strongyle as the most common parasite within horses. Infected horses may exhibit signs such as diarrhea and colic. Small strongyles have been known to cause stunted growth, anemia and weight loss. Adult strongyles, large or small, live in the large intestine and produce ova that are passed out into the feces. The eggs then develop into larvae that may be consumed by the horse eating contaminated grass or drinking water, which in turn, infects the horse. The larvae can survive freezing weather; however, a hot and dry environment will kill them. Strongyle larvae may survive up to 31 weeks at winter temperatures, compared to up to seven weeks at summer temperatures. Parasite control and prevention can be divided into management and chemical treatment. Management programs interrupting the life cycle of the parasite before infestation occurs is key to successful control. This can be accomplished by keeping stalls cleaned and managing manure appropriately – placed in compost pile or spread on cropland or pastures not being grazed by horses. Heat buildup in composted manure will destroy larvae. Manure that is spread thin on cropland will dry and heat from the sun causing larvae to be destroyed. There are also chemicals known as antiparasitics or anthelmintics used to eliminate parasites by killing them or stopping the life cycle. These deworming chemicals work by paralyzing the parasite, preventing nutrient consumption by the parasite, or limit the parasite reproductive ability. Anitparasitics or dewormers are available in different forms such as paste, feed additives, and gel, and all are effective when the proper dose is administered. A rotational treatment program of alternating between classes and brands of dewormers is commonly used to avoid resistance to an anitparasitic class. Common strategies include:
It is best to consult a veterinarian to establish an effective parasite control program that will be effective for your horse. Some antiparasitics are toxic to young foals and the labels and package inserts should be read carefully. In most cases, though, a horse will need to be dewormed several times a year. Randall Holman, site owner of FrontRangeFrenzy.com and horse enthusiast, is the author of this article. You will find other easy and practical basic horse care information on his website.
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