energy | Horse Racing Free Tips

Ask the Expert: Fall Grazing

Owners and caretakers of metabolically challenges horses are often aware of the health hazards ingesting lots of fresh, spring grass can bring on their charges, but grazing horses on lush pastures in the fall is fraught with its own set of perils.

Frost damaged pastures can have higher concentrations of nonstructural carbohydrates, leading to an increase in the potential for founder and colic, especially in horses diagnosed with or prone to obesity, laminitis, Cushings disease and Equine Metabolic Syndrome. To help prevent these health issues, at-risk horse owners should wait up to a week before turning horses back onto a pasture after a killing frost. Subsequent frosts are not a concern as the pasture plants were killed during the ﬁrst frost.

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Why do nonstructural carbohydrates increase during the fall? During the day, plants carry out the process of photosynthesis. In this process, they make carbohydrates as an energy source for the plant. A second process, respiration, is carried out when the plants use up the carbohydrates they produce during the night for energy. Plant respiration slows down when temperatures are near freezing. As a result, the plants hold their carbohydrates overnight. Freezing can stop respiration and lock the carbohydrates in the plant for over a week. Thus, plants tend to contain more carbohydrates in colder temperatures or after a frost. Often, horses will prefer forages after a frost due to the higher carbohydrates levels.

‘Accident-Prone’ Horses May Merit Additional Examination

Though horse owners often joke that their horses seem to be looking for ways to injure themselves, is there a point where a horse may be more than simply “accident prone?” Dr. Amelia Munsterman, Associate Professor of Large Animal Surgery and Emergency Medicine at Michigan State University, tells EQUUS magazine there may be some additional reasons a horse may seem intent to harm himself, including soreness, lameness and neurologic issues.

The first step in determining whether there's an underlying problem is to have the horse thoroughly checked by a veterinarian, including a focused neurologic exam. This exam will put the horse through a variety of movements to see if he knows where his limbs and body are in space. A lameness exam is also helpful as a horse that is sore may alter his gait and the way he moves, causing him to run into things.

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One other thing the vet should check is the horse's vision. Limited sight in one or both eyes will cause difficulty for a horse trying to navigate his surroundings.

If all of these tests yield no concrete answers, the horse may simply be very curious; adding toys to his stall may keep him out of trouble, Munsterman says. Ensuring he is in a regular exercise program can assist with channeling his extra energy, and spacing out feedings can also help keep him busy and out of trouble.

Research: Riding Equivalent To Jogging, Soccer In Energy Expenditure

Despite the fact that horseback riding is a popular sport, there is little information available on horseback riding as a physical activity. The objective of this experiment, conducted at Texas A&M University, was to quantify energy expenditure of participants during three riding tests: a 45 minute walk-trot-canter ride, a reining pattern ride and a cutting simulation ride while wearing a telemetric gas analyzer.

Average metabolic equivalents of task and heart rate responses were greater for riders during the long trot portion of the walk-trot-canter and cutting rides compared to the overall walk-trot-canter ride. When the walk-trot-canter ride was evaluated by gait, average metabolic equivalents of task increased as gait speed increased. Riders engaged in cutting and reining experienced more-intense exercise in short durations, while walk-trot-canter riders has a greater overall total energy expenditure due to the duration of the activity. Interestingly, all three riding activities were similar in peak metabolic output compared to activities like jogging, and playing soccer and rugby.

This study highlights the importance of horseback riding as a viable tool to support health through physical activity. As gait speed increased so did the intensity of work output by the rider, suggesting it is possible for health benefits to be achieved through horseback riding, particularly if riding at the more intense gaits.

For more information, read the abstract at the Journal of Equine Veterinary Science.

The post Research: Riding Equivalent To Jogging, Soccer In Energy Expenditure appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Study Finds That Trailering Is A Full-Body Workout For Horses

Many studies have been done on a horse's preferred position while traveling in a horse trailer, but not much is known on how the horse's body reacts while the trailer is in motion.

A research team led by Dr. Robert Colborne created a horse trailer that allowed them to study how a horse's body moves to compensate for trailer movement. They found that a horse's legs play a key role in dampening road vibrations from the trailer floor and helping a horse maintain his balance.

The study trailer had fitted force plates that allowed researchers to measure precisely how a horse moves in response to braking, turning, acceleration, and constant speed horses experience on a typical trailer trip. Two study horses were taken on a 56-mile trip that took 58 minutes to complete; it covered both city and country roads.

They discovered that in total, the horse's bodies moved over 228 and 320 feet vertically during the trip. Though these values seem large, the horse's movement was still less than the vertical movement of the trailer floor. This indicates that horse's use their legs as springs to dampen trailer vibrations.

The horses also adjusted their bodies horizontally to deal with braking. The team found that the horses moved 745 and 797 feet horizontally over the course of the trip. The horses swayed over 11 inches back and forth and side to side during the trip.

It is expected that as horses become more seasoned travelers that their energy expenditure to stay upright and maintain balance would decrease.