by Dr. Tom Riddle of Rood & Riddle

This is the time of year when a lot of mares are being bred and some mares have already been identified as “problems”. Before you start looking for the difficult explanations for infertility, my advice is to first make sure that all conditions are as “normal” as possible.

First, you want to make sure that the mare is as healthy as she can be. Your veterinarian should evaluate the mare’s physical condition and determine if there are any problems that could divert “energy” away from the reproductive tract. Abnormalities such as lamenesses, painful eyes, dental disease, weight issues and endocrine disorders should be identified and, if possible, corrected. One of my mentors always preached “Reproduction is a luxury. If the mare is diverting energy to a problem in another body system, she is very unlikely to get in foal.”

Read more: Breeding: Make Sure You Cover the Basics!

by Dr. Eleanor Kellon

Vitamin C [ascorbate/ascorbic acid] is a water-soluble vitamin that functions as an important antioxidant and is needed for the synthesis of L-carnitine, catecholamines like epinephrine and dopamine, as well as collagen, the major protein in all connective tissues, including tendons and ligaments, even blood vessels. Deficiency causes a disease called scurvy, beginning as weakness and muscle pain, progressing to bleeding gums, loose teeth, poor healing and eventually mental changes and death.

Unlike humans, the horse can synthesize enough vitamin C in its body to prevent the development of a full-blown deficiency state (scurvy). However, the ability of this synthesis to maintain normal vitamin C levels and the role of dietary C is poorly understood. We do know that heavy exercise and chronic disease, especially lung disease, lead to decreased vitamin C blood levels in unsupplemented horses, as does stabling versus pasture access. Low blood levels have also been linked to poor wound healing in horses.

Read more: Vitamin C – Friend or Foe?

An Oklahoma State University assistant professor and Extension equine specialist shares disaster-preparation guidance for horse owners, as much of the country's Heartland prepares for severe, and possibly tornadic, weather

As the sirens wailed over Oklahoma City, the city took shelter as an F5 tornado continued its devastating path toward the nearby town of Moore.

“I sat in a room surrounded by friends and colleagues,” Oklahoma horse owner and Valley Vet Supply employee, Aimee Robinson said. “In unexplainable terror, we watched the local news as the tornado made its way closer toward us. It was heading right toward my horse’s boarding stable. There was nothing that I could do. ”

Among those whose lives were taken by the Moore tornado on May 20, 2013, were 150 horses unable to escape its mile-wide wrath.

“As soon as sirens let up, I drove as fast as I could to the barn, dodging downed trees and debris and parking more than a mile away, as close as I could get to our barn. I ran toward the affected area not knowing if my horse would be injured, or if she was even alive,” recalled Robinson. “I mentally prepared myself for the worst, and to my disbelief as I crested the final hill, our barn was still standing. Indefatigable was still there in her stall -- shaking, but alive. The training barn nearest to ours took a direct hit and lost everything.”

Read more: Disaster Preparation Tips for Horse Owners

by Kayla Zacharias, Purdue University

From chariot racing in ancient Rome to the modern Kentucky Derby, horse racing has been celebrated in some form for more than a thousand years. Whether the horses' hooves were pounding around in a dirt-filled coliseum or a racetrack surrounded by spectators in wide-brimmed hats, they probably had one thing in common: asthma.

Which one is YOUR horse?

For people who haven’t spent much time around horses, it can come as a surprise that each one has their own personality and that horses can be just as expressive (if not more than) dogs or cats. As someone who spends most of my waking hours at a barn with over sixty horses, I encounter more equine idiosyncrasies than I can recount. In addition to school horses, both of my two horses have more personality than I do. Even though horses have somehow garnered a reputation as being proud and majestic, (which, sure, some of them think they are) their quirks come out the longer you spend with them. Here are different personality types you might find at any barn.

1. The Prankster. This is the horse you regularly see strolling around the property like he owns the place with a frazzled barn worker close behind. When you go out to his stall, he is likely to be on a self-guided taste-test of the hay bales you so carefully stacked the night before. By the glint in his eye when he knows he’s been caught, it’s obvious that he has no regrets and will absolutely let himself out again at the next opportunity.

2. The Hangry. This horse expects to be fed at the crack of dawn, sharp, and shows his intolerance for lateness by pawing, flinging buckets around his stall, and glaring at late feeders when they come into the barn. He is the first one done eating and will swear up and down that he hasn’t been fed yet. He will drag his riders across the arena to a single piece of hay on the ground and shamelessly chases his pasture-mates away from the best hay or grass.

Read more: The Academic Equestrian: 10 Horse Personality Types

by Chris McGrath

Hot blood. What, if anything, does it mean? Not in the sense that divides different breeds, as with German “Warmbloods” and so on, but within the Thoroughbred itself. Can a racehorse inherit a fiery or neurotic temperament, or indeed a mild and calm one, with the genes of its parents? Or must the spectrum of behavior, for better or worse, also reflect environmental influences on the upbringing of a foal?

Many experienced and respected horsemen are adamant that temperament can be traced through a family tree. Tony Lacy of Four Stars Sales is one. In man and beast alike, he feels, “the personality of the offspring is generally a result of their parents, and others in the genetic line.”

As with all attempts to reduce developments in science to some kind of silver bullet, however, most traits still have to be traced along a spectrum between heritability and environment. And so long as an elusive equilibrium must be sought between pedigree and preparation, then horsemen will still have to rely on their own wit and wisdom.

Read more: Equine Temperament: Nature, Nurture or Both?

by Kristen Kovatch

Knowing all the technical details of riding is certainly a critical component towards being successful — but equally important is mindfulness. Equestrian life coach Julie Saillant has the details.

One of the biggest challenges many equestrians face has nothing to do with the mechanics of riding, their horse, or the competition they face in the ring. The battle starts in the mind.

Did you know that you are sending out either positive or negative energy towards your equine best friend every time you meet up? And that your horse picks up on that energy as clearly as you see a stop sign on the road?

In a ground-breaking study, scientists found that “horses can not only read human facial expressions, but they can also remember a person’s previous emotional state when they meet them later that day – and, crucially, that they adapt their behavior accordingly.” See the study here.

Essentially, horses have a memory for emotion. They will remember your face when you are happy or angry and the horses in the study showed increased heart rate to more aggressive facial expressions.

Read more: Incorporating Mindfulness: Game Changer for Horse & Rider

"The influence of rider:horse bodyweight ratio and rider‐horse‐saddle fit on equine gait and behaviour: A pilot study" by S. Dyson, A. D. Ellis, R. Mackechnie‐Guire, J. Douglas, A. Bondi and P. Harris

The effect of rider weight on equine welfare and performance requires further investigation. The objective of this prospective, cross‐over, randomised trial was to assess gait and behavioural responses of horses to riders of similar ability, but different bodyweights. Six nonlame horses in regular work were ridden by each of four riders: Light (L), Moderate (M), Heavy (H) and Very Heavy (VH). Saddle fit was assessed subjectively throughout the study.

Each horse was ridden twice by riders L and M, and once by rider H. Rider VH rode five horses once and one twice. Each horse‐rider combination undertook a standardised, 30‐min ‘dressage‐test' which was abandoned if we observed lameness grade ≥ 3/8 in one limb, grade ≥ 2/8 in ≥ 2 limbs, or ≥ 10/24 behavioural markers of pain.

Read more: The Influence of Rider:Horse Bodyweight Ratio