Horse Care | Horse Racing Free Tips

Winter Feeding: Keeping Horses In Good Weight

Shivering helps horses maintain their core body temperature in winter, yet the metabolic price is high, considering temperature regulation requires significant calories. Additional calories will likely be needed to maintain an appropriate body condition score (BCS) during cold snaps. Exactly how much more feed does your horse need to consume when the mercury drops?

According to Dr. Kathleen Crandell, a nutritionist for Kentucky Equine Research, some horses won't require any additional calories, whereas others may need to consume up to 25 percent more calories each day to maintain condition.

For example, if a horse typically consumes approximately 2 percent of its body weight in forage per day (equivalent to 20 pounds of dry forage for an average 1,000-pound horse), then this horse could require almost 30 pounds of dry forage per day in cold weather. Rather than simply feeding more of the same forage to offer additional calories, horses can be fed concentrates, fat (either as oil or high-fat supplements such as rice bran), or energy-dense forages such as alfalfa or clover mixed with their regular hay.

“Healthy horses living in regions that typically have milder winters, are maintained indoors, or are blanketed when outdoors for limited periods of time can be fed a diet similar to that fed in warmer months,” Crandell advised. Horses that may require additional feed to maintain an appropriate BCS include:

Horses that fall into the senior classification,
Horses with an underlying disease;
Horses asked to perform their regular work throughout the cold season;
Horses that reside primarily outdoors in regions with harsher winters; or
Horses that are not routinely blanketed but do have access to shelter.

Horses maintain their core body temperatures by diverting blood flow from the skin to their internal organs, shivering, growing a thick coat, altering metabolic pathways to produce heat, and fermenting forage.

One of the key factors in determining whether or not your horse requires more feed involves frequent and precise assessment of BCS. While some owners may struggle with this process on the best of days, often underestimating their horse's true condition and therefore overfeeding, the longer, thicker coats and use of blankets can make estimating BCS even more challenging. Nonetheless, this skill is imperative to ensure a healthy horse.

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“Be certain to use your hands to feel for fat cover rather than simply glancing at these regions to assess BCS,” advised Crandell.

Looking for a specific product to maintain an appropriate BCS in the winter? Kentucky Equine Research's feed manufacturing partners offer high-calorie concentrates that will suit your horse's dietary needs.

Pros And Cons Of Antibiotic Injections In Equine Joints

Because of the finesse with which equine veterinarians inject medications into joints, the procedure can appear uncomplicated. While injecting joints with antibiotics can help clear infections, the procedure is not without risks. Veterinarians must therefore consider a number of important factors before moving forward with intra-articular antibiotic therapies.

Managing Osteoarthritis

Medicating joints with corticosteroids, polysulfated glycosaminoglycans, or hyaluronic acid is commonplace in equine sports medicine. Intra-articular injection is often used in conjunction with other modalities, including oral joint health supplements. Oral products decrease inflammation and improve mobility, boosting the overall health of joints. Examples of appropriate products include high-quality supplements that contain proprietary combinations of glucosamine hydrochloride, chondroitin sulfate, MSM, and hyaluronic acid.

According to a recent review of intra-articular antibiotic use, 78 percent of veterinarians use intra-articular antibiotics in combination with other medications.^* By adding an antibiotic, often amikacin, to corticosteroid or polysulfated glycosaminoglycan, veterinarians hope to sidestep the development of a septic joint.

Considering the low risk of infection following joint injections, the question then becomes whether or not veterinarians should use prophylactic antibiotics. Moreover, because intra-articular antibiotics are used “off-label,” no researched guidelines for appropriate intra-articular use exist.

Prophylactic intra-articular antibiotic use therefore has two major ramifications:

Veterinarians may administer an excessively high dose. “According to some evidence, antibiotics like amikacin have toxic effects on cartilage cells and other joint tissues,” said Peter Huntington, B.V.Sc., M.A.C.V.Sc., director of nutrition at Kentucky Equine Research.
Unnecessary use of antibiotics contributes to antibiotic resistance. “With few new antibiotics in development and growing multidrug resistance to currently available medication, revisiting the practice of prophylactic antibiotic use in horses may be warranted,” Huntington added.

These concerns associated with intra-articular antibiotic administration supports alternative strategies for maintaining joint health.

Managing Septic Joints

Intra-articular antibiotics are indispensable in the face of a septic joint because direct administration into the joint can achieve high local drug concentrations. If, on the other hand, antibiotics are offered orally, high dosages would be needed for longer durations to achieve the same result as an intra-articular injection.

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“Systemic antibiotics, however, may be associated with important and potentially life-threatening side effects such as gastrointestinal disturbances that disrupt the microbiome. In the face of microbiome disarray, pathogenic bacteria may proliferate, altering immunity and increasing the risk of diarrhea or laminitis,” Huntington explained. When systemic antibiotics must be administered, gastrointestinal support in the form of research-proven supplements should be considered.

Local antibiotic delivery directly into a joint may also:

Improve owner compliance as injections do not rely on the owner administering the entire course of oral antibiotics;
Make treatment more affordable, as a systemic antibiotic maybe be cost prohibitive for an owner;
Shorten the course of treatment and improve outcomes; and
Result in high concentrations at the site of infection that may be particularly useful for fighting “floating biofilm,” which is an accumulation of microbes embedded within a self-produced extracellular matrix that helps protect the bacteria from antibiotics.

^*Pezzanite, L.M., D.A. Hendrickson, S. Dow, L. Chow, D. Krause, and L. Goodrich. 2021. Intra-articular administration of antibiotics in horses: Justifications, risks, reconsideration of use and outcomes. Equine Veterinary Journal:13502.

Winter Slip Injuries: Some Serious, Some Not

Ice, snow, and muddy, slick surfaces can cause horses to slip and fall during the winter. The type of fall can help determine potential injuries, each of which requires different management strategies.

A horse that falls and splits his hind legs is at risk for pulled groin muscles. Most horses with pulled groins are lame and don't want to move. They may walk crookedly or with tiny steps. Rest, anti-inflammatories, and a gradual reintroduction to exercise normally ensures a horse recovers without complication.

A horse that splits his front legs when he falls may suffer from radial nerve paralysis; a horse with this injury will be unable to step forward, making it look like the leg is broken. Mild nerve paralysis can resolve within days with vet-administered anti-inflammatories and DMSO. More severe cases may take months to resolve.

Any horse that falls may see the development of bruises on his body. Cold therapy can limit swelling initially, and heat applied later can encourage circulation and removal of cellular debris.

A horse with a head injury may have fallen hard or may have fallen into a fence or other immobile structure. He may be disoriented, blind, or unable to stand. A horse with a suspected head injury should not be moved and a vet should be called immediately. His prognosis is guarded.

France Now Requires Horse Owners To Be Licensed; Nonpayment Of Fees Considered Abandonment

France has enacted three new laws to combat animal abuse and protect horse welfare. One requires horse owners to obtain a “knowledge certificate,” another requires “nerved” horses to be identified, and the third considers nonpayment of boarding fees to be abandonment.

Horse owners who aren't licensed by a governing body (like the French Equestrian Federation) will be required to complete a course that demonstrates their knowledge of equine management. This certificate will be required to be completed by all private horse owners within a year.

Horses that have received a neurectomy must have the procedure noted in their identification documents. Chronic hoof pain might necessitate the procedure, which involves cutting the nerve and making it insensitive to pain. Horses which have been nerved are not permitted to race or compete.

A horse owner who doesn't pay boarding or lease fees on a horse, leaving it in the care of an equine facility, will be charged with abandonment. After the horse owner or lessor has been served with a formal notice and three months have passed, the facility housing the horse can apply to have the horse auctioned to recoup lost fees.