HEALTH & EDUCATION

Health & Education

We all want the best care possible for our horses. The Heath & Education section covers both Learning Institutions, Organizations as well as many sources for equine assistance including Veterinarians and Farriers.

For those who want a to formally study horses, the Education section includes College Riding, Equine Studies, and Veterinary Schools. Learn about the wide variety of horses in the Horse Breeds section. Supplements and Treatments Therapy are also included in the section.

Everyone can learn from Fine Art and there are some specialty Museums that might surprise you.

Horses as a therapy partner enrich the lives of the disabled. These facilities are listed in our Therapeutic Riding section. To help children and young adults build confidence and grow emotionally, please see the resources available on the Youth Outreach page.

Looking for a place to keep your horse? You can find it in the Horse Boarding section. Traveling? Find a Shipping company or Horse Sitting service if your horse is staying home!

Want to stay up to date with the latest training clinics or professional conferences? Take a look at our Calendar of Events for Health & Education for the dates and locations of upcoming events.

Do we need to add more? Please use the useful feedback link and let us know!

by Jen Roytz

We’ve all heard the saying “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.” Horses have to be thirsty in order to consume water, and the lynchpin in that scenario is salt.

Dehydration in horses–or any animal–can quickly escalate from mild to catastrophic. Their internal environment is water-based, and salt is the driving force behind the regulation and distribution of water in and out of cells.

“Salt is 39% sodium and 61% chloride. When consumed, salt will split in the body into the separate minerals to be used independently (as electrolytes),” said Dr. Kathleen Crandell, PhD, a nutritionist with Kentucky Equine Research (KER). “Both these minerals have independent roles in the body, but mainly they work together balancing fluid movement in and out of the cells and acid-base balance, as well as electrical impulse conduction in nerves and muscles. Further, sodium is needed for transport of substances across cell membranes, like glucose.”

The more a horse exercises and sweats, the more water they need to consume to prevent dehydration, and as such the more salt they require in their diet. While forage, grass and concentrated feeds contain salt, it is not enough to adequately meet a horse’s dietary needs, especially a high-performance equine athlete, such as a racehorse, making proper salt supplementation key.

A Kansas State University associate professor and a Toklat and Myler bit expert outline warning signs for horse owners.

While enjoying a ride with your best horse, she throws her head in frustration and pins her ears. You chalk it up as an off day, one of many as of late, but it could be much more than that. “It is important to understand what the bit is doing and what to watch for,” cautions Chris Blevins, MS, DVM, Associate Professor, Equine Field Service with Kansas State University. “It is our responsibility to keep our horses comfortable.”

If your horse is experiencing bit pain and discomfort, you may notice signs of bit resistance.

There are several signs of bit resistance,” says Judy Auble, with Toklat and Myler bits. “The best way to determine whether your horse needs a new bit is to pay attention to how your horse reacts to your rein action and rein pressure.”

Could it be time to change bits? Watch for these warning signs:

Inverting, when horses ride with their muzzles held high
Riding behind the vertical, as horses tuck their nose into the chest
Gaping, when horses drop their jaws behind the vertical, relieving tongue pressure
Running through the bit or being heavy on the bit
Riding with their tongue out of the mouth
Consistent throwing of head and pinning of ears

Read more: Is it Time to Change Bits?

Maintain Your Horse’s Safety This Fourth of July

Implement these safety best practices to help celebrate Independence Day with the greatest display of all – a safe, injury-free horse.

Independence Day brings out patriotism, family fun and more than 200 million pounds of fireworks, according to the American Pyrotechnics Association.¹

How does your horse react to fireworks?

In a recent horse owner survey, which examined the effects fireworks can have on horses, 99 percent of respondents indicated their horse exhibited fireworks-related anxiety – such as galloping, sweating, trembling and damaging fences – and 26 percent of horse owners reported their horse sustaining injuries due to such anxiety from fireworks.² While multiple injuries were reported, the most common included cuts, sprains and broken limbs.

Maintain your horse’s health and safety. Before celebrating July Fourth, ask your veterinarian about prescribing a tube of Dormosedan Gel® (detomidine hydrochloride) for your horse.

By Sarah Ross

In the last few decades, there have been many new advancements in treatment for children with disabilities, allowing them to explore a wide range of therapies for a variety of different physical, mental and emotional challenges. Hippotherapy, also known as horseback riding therapy, has been around for over a century in some form, but with the establishment of the American Hippotherapy Association in 1992, it has increased in popularity and become better known within the United States.

Therapists contend that equine therapies can address a variety of disabilities and ailments, from strengthening muscle groups and coordination due to the leg work needed to ride and guide a horse, to the mental discipline and emotional bonding that can help patients with mental illness, patients with addiction, or patients with behavioral or emotional concerns.

Colorado State University has partnered with My Heroes, a hippotherapy program out of Atlanta and Fort Collins, to help individual patients to meet their treatment goals through the use of therapy horses from the Temple Grandin Equine Center at the CSU Foothills Campus. The program also allows for CSU students to get involved with the therapies of local patients, giving them real-world experience in the field.

Horses are at the highest risk for contracting WNV during peak mosquito season, July through October. Ensure your horse is protected.

Heavy rainfall and floodwaters threaten the country's Heartland with heightened mosquito and West Nile virus (WNV) risk. With rising numbers of reported WNV cases, ensure you are aware of these 10 important WNV facts.

Africa, Eastern Europe and West Asia have long experienced the impact of WNV; however, the disease is fairly recent to North America with the first case diagnosed in 1999.
West Nile virus is transmitted by mosquitoes, which feed on infected birds, to horses, humans and other mammals.
Horses represent 97 percent of all reported non-human mammalian cases of WNV disease.
Infected horses begin to show signs of disease as early as three to 15 days.
More than 25,000 cases of WNV have been reported in U.S. horses.
The disease presents a 33 percent fatality rate to horses.

Tracking Five Millennia of Horse Management with Extensive Ancient Genome Time Series

Authors Antoine Fages, Kristian Hanghøj, Naveed Khan, Alan K. Outram, Pablo Librado, Ludovic Orlando

In Brief

Genome-wide data from 278 ancient equids provide insights into how ancient equestrian civilizations managed, exchanged, and bred horses and indicate vast loss of genetic diversity as well as the existence of two extinct lineages of horses that failed to contribute to modern domestic animals.

Highlights

Two now-extinct horse lineages lived in Iberia and Siberia some 5,000 years ago
Iberian and Siberian horses contributed limited ancestry to modern domesticates
Modern breeding practices were accompanied by a significant drop in genetic diversity

Authors Antoine Fages, Kristian Hanghøj, Naveed Khan, Alan K. Outram, Pablo Librado, Ludovic Orlando

In Brief

Highlights

Two now-extinct horse lineages lived in Iberia and Siberia some 5,000 years ago
Iberian and Siberian horses contributed limited ancestry to modern domesticates
Modern breeding practices were accompanied by a significant drop in genetic diversity

by Denise Steffanus

This year's wet weather and seemingly endless mud are wreaking havoc on horses' feet. Dr. Scott Morrison, head of the podiatry department at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., said he has seen more cases of retracted soles this year than ever before. In addition to Kentucky, he is aware of cases in Virginia, Tennessee, and Indiana, and he suspects it is a problem in other parts of the country.

A retracted sole starts out with a thin sole. Then when the horse spends days or even weeks standing in mud while turned out, the sole weakens and the mud shoves it upward into the coffin bone, the main bone in the foot. This causes severe pain and lameness, eventually forming a large seroma (fluid-filled pocket) under the sole that can progress into a subsolar abscess or worse if untreated.

Horses with thin soles, predominantly Thoroughbreds, are most susceptible to retracted soles. Combine Kentucky's signature breed with its signature limestone-and-clay soil, and you have the perfect storm to create retracted soles.

Authors Antoine Fages, Kristian Hanghøj, Naveed Khan, Alan K. Outram, Pablo Librado, Ludovic Orlando

In Brief

Highlights

Two now-extinct horse lineages lived in Iberia and Siberia some 5,000 years ago
Iberian and Siberian horses contributed limited ancestry to modern domesticates

Modern breeding practices were accompanied by a significant drop in genetic diversity

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