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 Eleanor M. Kellon, VMD
When an average size mare delivers, she will have produced a 100+ lb foal, an 11-pound placenta, and as much as 16 pounds of fluid. She has also greatly increased the size and thickness of her uterus, and blood volume increased about 30% during pregnancy. The raw materials to build these things didn't come from thin air.
Providing adequate calories is the easy part. Rapidly dividing cells also have critical needs for amino acids, vitamins and minerals that they must obtain from the placenta.
It's true that the dam will rob her own body tissues, if necessary, to provide for the fetus (not that this is a desirable management tactic!). It's also true that the dam cannot provide something she herself does not have. If she starts the pregnancy with low body reserves and her diet is not adequate, the foal will be short-changed, and the mare will become even more deficient.
Extreme deficiencies result in things like White Muscle Disease and goiter with hypothyroidism in foals. More insidious effects include a higher risk for developmental orthopedic disease like OCD and contractures. Chronic copper deficiency has been linked to uterine artery rupture in mares.
Advice on feeding pregnant mares used to pay no special attention to nutrition until the last trimester. The latest (2007) NRC recommendations begin to allow for increased nutrients in the 5th month, but since there are still gaps in the research, there are also gaps in their recommendations. For example, they don't allow for any increase in zinc or manganese, but obviously foals require those essential minerals in their bodies.
“I don’t want my students to be as good as me, I want them to be better than I am,” says Monty Roberts.
“I have dedicated my life to the study of horses and their interactions with humans, and after more than 80 years of working with horses I’m still learning! I often say to my students ‘My way is the only way for me today, but if you show me a better way, that will be my way tomorrow.’ My techniques have morphed in such a way so as to improve right up to this very day. And I encourage my students to do the same.”
For over 20 years Monty Roberts and his team of Certified Instructors have been working to spread his non-violent horsemanship techniques through his International Learning Center in California and his instructors’ programs in many countries around the world. “Our instructor base keeps growing and now includes Certified Instructors on all 6 populated continents, with [Monty Roberts] courses in over 30 countries,” said Debbie Loucks, Roberts’ daughter and Legacy Manager. “Our instructors are doing some amazing work all over the world, for horses, and people too.”
Read more: Monty Roberts: I Don’t Want My Students to Be As Good As Me
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