Equine Guelph | Horse Racing Free Tips

Free, Online Equine Facility Management Certificate Available

Nothing compares to being greeted with nickers every morning, watching the herd peacefully graze, and sharing the strong horse/human bond with your customers. Equine industry pros are a passionate and hard-working bunch, who consider themselves lucky to earn a living doing what they love. Sadly, passion can quickly turn into despair for entrepreneurs attempting to start up their stable if business acumen is lacking. Equine Guelph is pleased to announce the Equine Facility Management Certificate, comprised of three short online courses on TheHorsePortal.ca including the new Equine Business 101 course which will be offered FREE for three months (June 21 through Sept 20, 2021)!

Equine Business 101 offers a starting point for those looking into the possibility of running their own facility or taking your business to the next level. It provides tips on developing business and marketing plans and explains how to avoid some of the common pitfalls horse business operators face. Inspirational and cautionary tales will be shared by pathfinders relaying their true-life stories of the trials and tribulations of starting their equine businesses. They will describe choices that were key to their success and decisions they would reconsider with the benefit of hindsight.

Students will be part of a community, sharing ideas and helpful tips with peers through discussion boards. Continued access to discussion boards will be available even after students complete the course!

“This new on-demand offering arose out of an abundance of interest to better understand the business of managing and/or starting an equine facility,” says Equine Guelph director, Gayle Ecker. “The objective is to provide some guidance for those that are interested in getting into the business or are looking to improve their existing businesses. Equine Guelph has been providing online educational pathways for horse industry professionals since 2003.”

Statistically, a high number of equine businesses do not succeed beyond their first few years. The goal of the Equine Business 101 course is to put you on a path to beat those odds. Throughout the course, you will be provided with some basic information to guide you in the creation of your plan to run a successful equine facility.

Those who are contemplating opening a horse business for lessons, boarding or training will benefit greatly from the information provided in the Equine Business 101 course including: risk management, value propositions and creating that all important business plan! Current facility owners and managers looking to rebrand and grow the business will also pick up some great marketing and event planning tips.

Students completing the following three courses short courses will be eligible for the new Equine Facility Management Certificate:

Horse Care & Welfare (2 wks.)
Sickness Prevention in Horses (2 wks.)
Equine Business 101 (self-paced, 20- 30 hours)

Future stable workers applying for jobs in the equine industry will stand out amongst other candidates if they have acquired the Equine Facility Management Certificate. They will enter the industry armed with evidenced-based knowledge on biosecurity and stable management practices that support optimal horse health and welfare.

This program is funded in part through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership Program (the Partnership), a five-year, federal-provincial-territorial initiative. The Ontario Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Rural Affairs assists in the delivery of the Partnership in Ontario.

Collaborating partners include Grand River Agricultural Society, The Horsemen's Benevolent and Protective Association of Ontario, Ontario Racing, Ontario Equestrian and Standardbred Canada. Other industry partners include: AgCareers, Central Ontario Standardbred Association, Ontario Harness Horse Association and Quarter Racing Owners of Ontario Inc.

Research Study On Diagnostics For Equine Osteoarthritis Of The Neck

Radiographs have been found to be insufficient evidence for diagnosing Cervical Facet disease according to a research study by Dr. Judith Koenig and a team of researchers at the Ontario Veterinary College. In a video interview, Koenig explains some of the complexities of equine osteoarthritis and cervical facet disease.

“Osteoarthritis is common in any athlete,” explains Koenig “especially as they get older.” The development of bone spurs can cause the facets to become enlarged. Inflammation around the cervical facet joints can affect the soft tissues and nerve roots. It is hypothesized that slight neck instability or overuse can result in remodeling of the joint. There were a larger number of dressage horses relative to the hospital population in the study and dressage horses may be at a higher risk for overuse of the facet joints of the cervical vertebrae.

Clinical signs of Osteoarthritis in the neck include: atrophy/muscle wasting (pronounced hollow in lower neck and vertebrae appear prominent), stiff neck (e.g. limited range in carrot stretch, difficulty when ridden in a “frame”) and sometimes front limb lameness that does not resolve by nerve blocking up the leg.

One of the reasons for the OVC study was the fact that previous studies have shown radiographs indicating changes in the neck of younger horses (6 to 8 years old) with no other clinical signs of osteoarthritis. Koenig has seen for herself, horses dismissed after pre-purchase exams when radiographs indicate mild osteoarthritis. When previous studies indicate 50 percent of clinically normal mature horses present with mild osteoarthritis on radiographs, a study to explore the significance was in order.

Differing opinions in classifying the severity of the stage of osteoarthritis from radiographs was revealed to be a good case for not using radiographs alone in diagnosis. “The repeatability of grading of osteoarthritis from radiographs was not reliable,” says Koenig. Two-thirds of the horses in the OVC study that were treated with intra-articular cortisone injection returned to their full level of work. The study concluded that radiographs alone were insufficient to diagnose cervical facet disease and other clinical signs (atrophy, stiffness, or lameness unresolved by nerve block) need to be present.

Watch the Equine Guelph video here.

3-D Printer Makes Equine Neck Replica To Train Veterinarians

Similar to doctors in human medicine, veterinarians spend hundreds of hours honing their skills in laboratories before they begin practicing in the field. Learning how to administer joint injections is no different. The equine neck has a complex set of muscles and vertebra, but a new 3-D printer is making it easier for vets to learn how to precisely place ultrasound-guided injections.

Veterinary students typically learn how to do this procedure on equine cadavers, which have a limited shelf life and also have a delay in getting injection results to learn what may have been done incorrectly. To see if 3-D models might be a useful teaching tool, Dr. Alex zur Linden, radiologist and Ontario Veterinary College researcher, joined Dr. John Phillips, an engineer and director of 3D printing in the University of Guelph's Digital Haptic Lab.

Watch a video on how the 3-D models are created below.

Once a CT scan of an equine neck is complete, computer software will highlight the part or parts of the scan that will be printed. The printing takes between three and six hours. The team tested 13 different materials and printers to determine which one best simulated real bone using ultrasound; six of the materials worked for simulating bones or joints.

The model vertebrae were then embedded in ballistics gel that simulated the soft tissue around the bones. The models give vet students the ability to practice procedures with instant feedback; they're also efficient and reusable. Once the lab is complete, the model can be melted down and used again.

The research team is hopeful that the models will become a resource for the scientific community and spur the creation of other3-D models for horses and other animals.