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 Dr. Amy Gill
As the summer temperatures rise, heat and humidity become an issue for those trying to exercise and train horses without putting both horse and rider in danger of becoming dehydrated, fatigued or suffer from heat stress. Madalyn Ward, DVM in Holistic Horsekeeping provides this advice when trying to decide to ride or not in high heat and humidity:
“Luckily, there are simple ways that you can help your horse stay cool during hot humid weather. During these weather conditions, the first thing to do is to calculate the temperature-humidity index (THI): simply add the air temperature (in degrees Fahrenheit) to the percentage of humidity.
For instance, if the air temperature is 80 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity is 60 percent, the THI is 140. When the THI reaches about 150, your horse may have difficulty cooling off. At a THI of 180, you should not work your horse and you should take active steps to keep him cool.
Another method to check whether your horse is getting too hot during humid weather is to take his temperature. A horse’s normal temperature range is between 99.5 and 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit, and can reach 103 and 104 degrees during workouts.
If your horse’s temperature reaches 105, he is danger of being overheated and can suffer chronic or permanent damage. Above 105 degrees, your horse will be suffering from heatstroke and will need immediate veterinary attention”.
by Juliet M. Getty, Ph.D.
The ingredients tag on your commercial feed says it all. Protein source? Likely, soybeans. Fat source? Likely, soybean oil. But the love affair with soy is starting to fade.
An increasing number of feed manufacturers are coming out with soy-free lines due to consumer demand. There are several reasons for this:
- Many horses seem to be to allergic to soy, exhibiting respiratory, skin and digestive reactions. Some of this may be a legitimate allergic response to allergens found in soy or it could have nothing to do with allergies and may be related to GMO soy. Most soy grown in the US is genetically modified, which has been implicated for variety of health issues. Discussion about this is beyond the scope of this article but suffice it to say, that if you are going to feed soy, it is best to find a non-GMO, and preferably organic source.[i]
- It is difficult to ascertain from a feed label if the soy product has been heat-treated (necessary for inactivating trypsin inhibitor found in raw soybeans). Trypsin inhibitor reduces protein digestion.
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