Horse Care | Horse Racing Free Tips

‘Tis The Season: Top Five Winter Hoof Care Tips

The American Farriers Journal has released a checklist of winter hoof care tips that can help horse owners keep their horses' hooves healthy during the difficult cold season.

First, the AFJ recommends maintaining a regular shoeing or trimming interval.

“Even though hooves grow more slowly during fall and winter, regular farrier care is important,” states the AFJ. “If shoes are pulled for the winter, hooves may need to be trimmed more frequently.”

A second tip is to keep stalls and run-in sheds clean and dry with regular maintenance, including manure/soiled bedding removal.

Another part of the horse owner's daily winter routine should be checking and cleaning out each hoof. Regular visual exams can help detect early changes that could signify the beginning of larger problems, and regular cleaning will help prevent a dangerous buildup of snow/ice.

Fourth on the list is to maintain anti-thrush measures.

“In milder winter climates, mud can create as big a problem as snow and ice,” the AFJ warns.

Finally, consider your horse's changing nutritional needs during the winter months. Vitamins A and E are mainly provided by hay, but those levels can drop to less than 20 percent of normal by winter's end. Additional supplementation may be necessary, but as always, consult your veterinarian and farrier for specific advice.

Check out the full checklist at the American Farriers Journal.

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Horowitz On OTTBs, Presented By Excel Equine: Thanks To Genetics, Thoroughbreds Are The Ultimate Shapeshifters

Let's talk about what a Thoroughbred truly is.

A Thoroughbred is an athlete. Through centuries of crafting a vision and meticulous breeding to bring that vision to life, the Thoroughbred has become the wonder of horse lovers and sports lovers and the source of big business and cultural richness around the world.

The vision for the Thoroughbred started about 350 years ago with the goal of producing the ultimate racehorse, but the selective breeding to create horses that could excel at racing has also produced horses that can be successful at many other equine sports. That's because of what has become intrinsic to the breed beyond just physical prowess.

“The Thoroughbred looks out into the far distance,” said Chris Ryan, who has worked with Thoroughbreds at the highest levels of horse racing and eventing for more than four decades. “His horizon is way out there and he feels he can get there whenever he wishes. This gives him tremendous forward thinking. A horse thinking forward is going forward. Watch his ears!”

After finishing his education in 1976, Ryan entered the horse racing world, working with Thoroughbreds in both flat and jump racing, first for trainer Thomson Jones in the United Kingdom. He would then become head lad for trainer Jim Bolger in his native Ireland, among other roles as jockey, trainer, breeder, and sales producer.

“A chestnut race mare, Stanerra, winner of two Group 1s, two Group 2s now upgraded to Group 1s, a Group 3, and European Champion Older Horse of her year, probably gave me the best insight into the Thoroughbred,” Ryan said. “I was on my own with her for long periods of time and got to know her so well and she me. What a privilege to be accepted by her to such a level you could tell what she was thinking while on her back and even at 200 yards distant.”

Ryan's understanding of what made Stanerra tick took the mare from winning just one of 13 starts as a 4-year-old in 1982 to winning two races in one week at Royal Ascot and then becoming the first European-trained winner of the Japan Cup in 1983.

Now, Ryan serves as a judge for the United States Eventing Association's Young Event Horse Series and Future Event Horse Series, where he evaluates the potential of horses to excel at the highest level of the equestrian sport of eventing that the website for the FEI, the international governing body for equestrian sports, dubs “the most complete combined competition discipline.”

“I love their intelligence, their beauty, their refinement, and their courage under fire,” Ryan said of the Thoroughbred. “Nature (100 percent genetics), and nurture (everything else) have given the Thoroughbred a most amazing anatomy and physique, a designer heart to lung ratio and a mind which can process data at speed which allows their engine to 'tick over' at an amazing 35 miles per hour — the Formula 1 of the equine species.”

Ryan's assessment of Thoroughbreds — now one that I'm embracing as I've gone from announcing horse races to eventing on OTTBs — is that the nature of the breed goes beyond its original intentions of racing. So, a Thoroughbred does not lose its nature once it finishes what those in horse racing perceive as its primary purpose. Nor does it take on a new identity if it goes from racing into a new sport like eventing or show jumping or barrel racing or any of the other disciplines that retired racehorses can now excel at as part of the Thoroughbred Makeover.

In fact, the qualities that the Thoroughbred possesses have inspired crossing other breeds with the Thoroughbred. For example, the Irish Sport Horse Stud Book that has excelled in eventing has developed through crossing with Thoroughbreds.

Horses with a high percentage of Thoroughbred blood were some of the highest sellers at the recent Monart Sale and Goresbridge Go For Gold Sale for event horse prospects in Ireland.

“The Thoroughbred is the most noted Studbook improver,” said Ryan, who was the pedigree announcer for the Goresbridge Go For Gold Sale.

From the sale of eventing prospects then to the highest level of the sport, the Thoroughbred has stood out.

“We saw in the recent excellent Maryland 5 Star cross country the ease of travel of the pure Thoroughbred and those with a high Thoroughbred influence,” Ryan said. “Those that lacked found it hard work.”

The author in his role as an announcer of OTTBs at Twin Rivers

The impact of the Thoroughbred goes beyond anything Captain Robert Byerly, Thomas Darley, and Lord Godolphin could have ever envisioned when they each imported a stallion from the Middle East that would bear their name and become the three foundation stallions for the modern Thoroughbred.

So, when you see a Thoroughbred leave the starting gate or the cross country start box or the barrel racing chute, it's an opportunity to appreciate how the breed has evolved over more than three centuries to be an elite sport horse, regardless of what that sport is.

Understanding and embracing the true nature of the Thoroughbred means that events like the Retired Racehorse Project Thoroughbred Makeover, programs like The Jockey Club Thoroughbred Incentive Program, and retired racehorses competing at horse shows can be appreciated as representations of the strengths of the breed, and not just something different that happens after a racing career ends.

My next column, a conversation with outgoing Retired Racehorse Project executive director Jen Roytz, who, like Ryan, also has both a racing and sport horse background, will explore how the nurture side of Thoroughbreds' evolution through the racetrack has also prepared the breed for success as sport horses.

Indeed, horse racing is the catalyst for the Thoroughbred's success across the entire equine world.

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The Skinny On Beet Pulp As An Equine Feed

Fifty years ago, many knowledgeable horsemen would find it difficult to identify beet pulp or its potential value as a feedstuff for horses. Though its usefulness is now cemented among horse owners, beet pulp can still cause some confusion. Dr. Kathleen Crandell, a nutritionist for Kentucky Equine Research, answers eight questions about beet pulp and its role in equine nutrition.

In what types of feeds was beet pulp first used?

Sugar beet pulp first found a use in commercial horse feeds in the racehorse products as a low-dust feedstuff because it was mixed with lots of molasses and felt moist. This proved beneficial for the respiratory tract and was thought to be somehow beneficial in preventing bleeding, though this notion was quickly abandoned.

Beet pulp was also integrated into senior feeds because of the need for a high-fiber feedstuff that could be ground and incorporated into a pellet. The new generation of high-fiber, low-starch feeds that emerged in the late 1990s was an obvious end-use for such an excellent fiber source. Now, beet pulp is prevalent in feeds designed for all classes of horses.

What are the differences between beet pulp and cereal grains as energy sources?

Horses derive the majority of the energy (calories) in cereal grains from the enzymatic digestion of starch that is absorbed in the bloodstream in the form of glucose. On the other hand, horses derive the majority of the energy in beet pulp from the microbial fermentation of the fiber content, which is absorbed as volatile fatty acids, also known as short-chain fatty acids.

What are the advantages of feeding beet pulp as part of a diet?

Compared to other fiber sources like hay, beet pulp has much more digestible fiber. For example, the digestible fiber in hay is around 40 percent, while beet pulp has closer to 80 percent digestible fiber. The more digestible the fiber, the more calories that feedstuff provides the horse.

Further, beet pulp mixes well into a textured feed and can be pelleted easily. Plus, soaking beet pulp is a way to get more water into the horse.

How does beet pulp stack up to hay as a source of fiber?

The type of fiber found in beet pulp, considered “rapidly fermentable fiber,” is much more readily fermented by the microbes in the hindgut than the fiber in hay or typical forage sources. Hay consists mostly of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin. While lignin is completely indigestible, cellulose and hemicellulose vary in digestibility depending on the maturity of the plant.

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Beet pulp provides energy, but does it add appreciable amounts of other nutrients?

Beet pulp has higher amounts of calcium than grains, about the level found in typical commercial concentrates. In addition, beet pulp is comparatively high in iron.

Should beet pulp be fed soaked or unsoaked when fed by itself or as part of home-mixed concentrate?

If feeding beet pulp shreds, they can be fed dry, especially if mixed with other feedstuffs. Free-choice water availability is important if feeding dry beet pulp. Pelleted beet pulp, however, should not be fed dry because it may increase the likelihood of choke. Horses prefer to consume beet pulp shreds soaked rather than dry shreds, probably because it softens their texture. My preference is to feed beet pulp soaked.

Further, one of the advantages of feeding soaked beet pulp is that it is a way to sneak a bit of water into the diet, especially in the winter when water consumption may be down. The Europeans have come up with a method of micronizing and then flaking the pulp so that it soaks quickly, in less than 10 minutes.

Are there any special uses for beet pulp?

Soaked beet pulp is a useful vehicle for holding larger amounts of oil, which is often recommended as a way to get more calories in the horse.

It was thought for a while that soaked beet pulp could help to push sand out of the digestive tract, but research found it ineffective in prevention of sand colic.

Is beet pulp use in the U.S. different than in other areas of the world?

Beet pulp has worked its way into quite a number of commercial feeds in the U.S. Many horse owners feed soaked beet pulp in addition their regular feed.

As the history of beet pulp would suggest, its use is more longstanding in areas such as England, Northern Europe, and Russia, where much sugar beet is cultivated. Because of the climate needed for sugar beet cultivation, South America had very limited sugar beet production, as was the case in Australia and Africa. However, cultivation is expanding to newer areas because of a variety that can be grown in the warmer climates as a winter crop, instead of a summer crop as it is in more temperate climates. Where beet pulp is not grown, it may be imported and therefore rather expensive.

Are you interested in how beet pulp became a feedstuff for horses? Learn more at Beet Pulp in Horse Feeds: A Brief History.

Could beet pulp be an appropriate feedstuff for your horse? Contact a Kentucky Equine Research nutrition advisor today.

Article reprinted courtesy of Kentucky Equine Research (KER). Visit equinews.com for the latest in equine nutrition and management, and subscribe to The Weekly Feed to receive these articles directly (equinews.com/newsletters).

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Should Exercising Horses Receive Supplemental Antioxidants?

Among many other benefits, regular exercise enhances antioxidant defenses in horses. During exercise, aerobic cells generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are unstable atoms or molecules produced during normal cell metabolism. An overabundance of ROS can crush antioxidant defenses, leading to detrimental effects on muscle function. In an effort to quell the damage caused by ROS, researchers set out to determine the effect of N-acetyl cysteine and coenzyme Q10 supplementation on ROS in skeletal muscle of exercising horses.

Seven Thoroughbreds were used in the study, all engaged in the same training program: galloped 1.5 miles on the track three days a week, and walked and trotted on an automated exerciser three days a week. Horses were allowed access to pasture four days each week, three hours on exercise days and eight hours on their rest day. Horses were fed timothy hay ad libitum and a performance concentrate based on weight three times a day. Horses were supplemented daily with 10 g of N-acetyl cysteine and 1.6 g of coenzyme Q10.

Thirty days after supplementation began, horses performed an exercise test that consisted of a half-mile breeze on a racetrack at top speed. A second exercise test was performed at 60 days, with the same experienced rider instructed to replicate the speed from the earlier exercise test.

Muscle samples were taken the day before both exercise tests and one hour after each exercise test. Concentrations of antioxidants, cysteine, and ROS were measured. Blood samples were pulled prior to the exercise test and 10 minutes, one hour, and four hours after the exercise test.

The researchers concluded that supplementation of exercising Thoroughbred horses with N-acetyl cysteine and coenzyme Q10 for 30 days influenced antioxidant status without detrimental effects on performance.

Athletic performance and muscle diseases such as myofibrillar myopathy, equine motor neuron disease, and vitamin E responsive myopathy are affected by antioxidant status. Kentucky Equine Research has formulated multiple antioxidants designed for equine athletes, notably MFM Pellet, a palatable source of N-acetyl cysteine; Nano-E, a natural-source, water-soluble vitamin E supplement, and Nano-Q10, a highly bioavailable form of coenzyme Q10.

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“We have already seen the impact of this research, and horses diagnosed with myofibrillar myopathy are now being supplemented with MFM Pellet,” explained Marisa Henry, the lead author on the research paper. “We have heard glowing reviews from the owners of horses who have seen much improvement with MFM Pellet!”

This new study represents another chapter in the longstanding association between Kentucky Equine Research, Stephanie Valberg, D.V.M., Ph.D., and her colleagues, including Henry. Valberg is the director of the Equine Neuromuscular Diagnostic Laboratory and Mary Anne McPhail Dressage Chair in Equine Sports Medicine at Michigan State University, Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences.

^*Henry, M.L., D. Velez-Irizarry, J.D. Pagan, L. Sordillo, J. Gandy, and S.J. Valberg. 2021. The impact of N-acetyl cysteine and coenzyme Q10 supplementation on skeletal muscle antioxidants and proteome in fit Thoroughbred horses. Antioxidants 10:1739.

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