Horse Care | Horse Racing Free Tips

Online Videos Demystify Equine Behavior, Answer Common Questions

Three equine scientists have launched a new YouTube channel to debunk horse behavior myths and answer common questions from horse owners. The Equine Science Talk International team is comprised of Dr. Konstanze Krüger, Germany's first professor of equine science and a specialist in horse behavior and cognition, Isabell Marr, a horse trainer and instructor, and Dr. Laureen Esch, a veterinarian and equine dentist. Their combined expertise give the videos unique insight into equine science and its practical application.

Some of the topics the trio discuss include punishment and reinforcement; blanketing and clipping; and rollkur. Each topic is explained through a scientific lens and the researchers then explore what this mean in everyday context.

Though the videos were produced in German, journalist, horse trainer and equine behavior researcher Kate Farmer translates them.

Study: Diet Change Imperative For Ulcer Resolution In Horses

When a horse begins ulcer treatment, the way he is managed is often scrutinized; alleviating stress will hopefully mitigate ulcer recurrence. A new study out of Denmark shows that management changes alone may not be enough—adjustment to the horse's diet should also be investigated.

A low-starch diet can be beneficial for a horse that has gastric ulcers, but diet as a whole is often overlooked when ulcers medication is prescribed. Dr. Nanna Luthersson created a study to highlight the necessity for diet adjustment.

Luthersson used 58 horses that were diagnosed with ulcers. The horses were divided into two groups based on the severity of their lesions: 24 horses had moderate lesions, graded as 1 or 2 out of 4, and 34 horses had severe ulcerations, determined to be a 3 or a 4. The horses were placed into pairs based on similarities in diet, feeding times, management and workload.

At the beginning of the study, the horses with severe ulcers were placed on omeprazole, but the other horses were not. Additionally, one horse out of each pair was put on a low-starch feed that was fed three times a day instead of twice a day.

After four weeks, the omeprazole treatment was stopped, but the assigned diets continued; researchers examined each horse with an endoscope and graded their lesions. Six weeks later (10 weeks after the study began), the horses again received endoscopic exams and had their lesions graded.

Horses with severe ulcers had a significant reduction in lesions between the start of the study and when the omeprazole ended. However, those horses that received the reduced-start diet sustained the lesion improvement for the entire 10 weeks. Horses that did not have their diets changed returned to their same lesions score by week 10 even though they had received the omeprazole treatment. This means that these horses received no long-term benefit from the omeprazole.

Luthersson concluded that adjusting a horse's diet is imperative for long-term management of a horse that is ulcer prone. Though some ulcers heal with diet change alone, she notes that treatment and diet change may necessary for horses with more-severe lesions.

Red more at EQUUS magazine.

The post Study: Diet Change Imperative For Ulcer Resolution In Horses appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Mustang Joins Space Force To Encourage Conservation

A 5-year-old Mustang has been added to the Space Force conservation program at Vandenberg Air Force Base in Southern California. The military working horse program supports the Force and patrols the Western Range, which is more than 98,000 acres.

Begun in 1996, the conservation unit and military working horse program is the only equine patrol unit within the Department of Defense. It's one of only four conservation units in the United States Air Force.

Named Ghost, the Mustang is nearly 10 years younger than the other four horses in the program. He is also the only Mustang. Ghost is in training and is being ridden three times a week to prepare him for the workload other military working horses endure.

The program helps protect Mustangs, which are at risk because of overpopulation and its resulting diminished food resources. The Mustangs are great choices for the patrol as they are extremely surefooted.

Six patrolmen use the five horses to patrol coastline, monitor nesting seasons for endangered species, patrol hunting and fishing areas, and enforce state and federal laws.

Excessive Drinking May Indicate Ill Health

Horses that urinate excessively suffer from polyuria (PU); to remain adequately hydrated, the horse must increase his drinking, called polydipsia (PD). These conditions, which often go hand-in-hand, can indicate disease or a behavior problem, or be a consequence of diet, says Dr. Harold Schott of Michigan State University.

A horse's kidneys filter waste products from the blood and eliminate them from the body in the form of urine. They also regulate the volume of water in the body by concentrating or diluting urine. Nearly 100 percent of water filtered from the blood is reabsorbed by the kidney tubules. A small decrease in water reabsorption can result in a large increase in urine production.

Diet affects urine output in distinct ways. A foal drinking his dam's milk may ingest as much as five times as much water as an adult horse and produce clear urine 10 to 12 times a day. A mature horse on an all-hay diet may only pass dark yellow urine two or three times a day. Horses fed mainly alfalfa may have wetter stalls with fewer manure piles; this is because legume hay is higher in protein and calcium, and is more digestible than grass hay.

Excessive urination can be caused by chronic kidney disease (CKD), where the kidneys can no longer produce concentrated urine. A horse suspected of having this disease will need blood drawn to test its nitrogen and creatinine concentrations, which will be higher if the horse has CKD.

If urine samples collected from the affected horse show nothing out of the ordinary, the horse may be drinking excessive amounts of water out of boredom. This occurs most often in horses that are confined to stalls most of the day. This behavior can be modified by allowing the horse more turnout time or limiting his water supply to two five-gallon buckets a day.