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Researchers Seek Behavior Clues To Better Equine Health

A grimace, a shift in gait or stance. Subtle behavioral signs can tell owners and handlers a lot about the health and welfare of their horses, ponies, mules and donkeys. And that's what three newly funded equine behavior and health research teams are counting on.

In one study, researchers at Utrecht University, Netherlands, are validating an easy-to-use questionnaire to help owners recognize and monitor behavioral signs of chronic osteoarthritis pain in their horses. Osteoarthritis in horses often goes unrecognized and untreated. This new tool may help owners and veterinarians better monitor treatment effectiveness and pain progression, and inform quality-of-life decisions.

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Next, University of California, Davis, researchers are trying to find better ways of recognizing pain in mules. The team is using a combination of facial expressions (called a grimace scale) and Smart Halter, a new technology to monitor physical signs of pain, including heart rate and respiration.

They hope these easy-to-use tools will improve pain management for mules, helping veterinarians, sanctuaries and nonprofit organizations care for these increasingly popular animals.

Finally, researchers at the University of Bologna, Italy, are working to improve the welfare of unbroken horses transported over long distances. Finding a reliable way, including behavioral cues, to distinguish between broken (well-handled) and unbroken (unhandled) horses, will ensure these animals are transported in accordance with strict regulations based on their status, reducing their mental and physical distress during travel.

Morris Animal Foundation has long recognized the connection between behavior and the health and welfare of animals. Identifying specific behaviors associated with pain and stress, especially at early stages, will help guide interventions and improve the well-being of horses, ponies, mules and donkeys everywhere.

Seeing Reduced Performance In Your Racehorse? Study Suggests Switching Steamed Hay Or Haylage Could Help

Pinpointing the cause of poor performance in athletic horse is often a challenge. If it turns out there could be a respiratory cause, then mild equine asthma (EA) could be to blame. Luckily, the common saying that “prior preparation prevents poor performance” can be taken to heart in such situations. While hay steamers have been marketed to horse owners for several years, new research demonstrates that steamed hay and haylage can make measurable differences in a horse's

Mild EA, the preferred term that replaces inflammatory disease, describes horses with a chronic low-grade cough (defined as having gone on for longer than three weeks), decreased/poor performance, and the presence of tracheal mucous when the horse is scoped. Many underlying conditions can be confused with EA. Those include infectious causes (viral or bacterial), upper airway obstruction (dorsal displacement of the soft palate, for example), and exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage. Some veterinarians have even speculated that those conditions may even predispose horses to mild EA.

“The most important factor contributing to mild EA in Thoroughbreds is the small dust particles horses breathe in primarily as a consequence of feeding dry hay,” explained Dr. Laurent Couëtil, section head of Large Animal Internal Medicine at Purdue University, in West Lafayette, Ind.

Dry hay contains fungi, molds, mite debris, inorganic particles, endotoxins, and other inflammatory molecules. This microscopic particulate matter contaminates the horse's breathing zone, causing inflammation in the lower airways.

“Particulate matter measuring less than 4 microns in diameter results in a sharp and significant increase in the number of neutrophils in mucus collected from the lungs,” said Couëtil.

Particles this small cannot be seen to the naked eye but can be measured with specific, wearable equipment fastened to a horse's halter.

Mucus — a hallmark of EA — can easily be collected from horse's lungs via bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and microscopically analyzed. The presence of neutrophils in this BAL fluid indicates inflammation. Other inflammatory cells may also be appreciated, such as mast cells and eosinophils.

The amount of tracheal mucous, which can be scored on a scale ranging from 0 (no excess mucous) to 5 (defined as a profuse amount pooling throughout the trachea) can also be used to gauge the severity of mild EA.

According to Couëtil, studies in both Standardbred and Thoroughbred racehorses have demonstrated an association between severity of mucus score and poor performance. As mucous scores increase, speed of the horse decreases.

“A 2006 study performed by Sue Holcomb showed that horses with tracheal mucous scores of 2 or greater were significantly behind in finishing place than horses with a score of 0 or 1,” Couëtil relayed.

Because forage is the most important source of dust that triggers EA, various tactics designed to minimize dust have been explored. Recently, Couëtil and colleagues conducted a study at an Indiana Thoroughbred racetrack. They demonstrated that racehorses actively involved in training and competition that were fed steamed hay or haylage had reduced exposure to dust by approximately 30% when compared to horses fed dry hay.

In that study, Couëtil's team recruited 69 Thoroughbreds and divided them into three groups based on type of forage fed: haylage, steamed hay, and dry hay. All horses were fed this diet for a total of 6 weeks. On weeks 0 (baseline), 3 and 6 of the study, endoscopy was performed after coming back from the track to assess respiratory function and to grade mucous. In addition, all horses were equipped with sensors to measure respirable particles (less than 4 microns in diameter) for 3 hours after returning from training and being fed.

Haylage is grass that is cut and baled at a higher moisture content (about 30%) than regular hay (about 15%) and is package in sealed plastic films similar to shavings bales. This packing prevents molding of the moist forage and allows preservation of the nutritional value of fresh grass similarly to what is achieved with silage for cows. This moist forage results in a marked decrease in dust exposure when horses eat haylage. For the purposes of this study, trainers were each given a hay steamer provided by Haygain.

Key findings of the study were:

Respirable dust particles (less than 4 microns in diameter) were significantly higher in the breathing zones of horses fed hay. Both the steamed hay and haylage generated the same, significantly lower level of dust particles;
By the end of the study, mucous scores were significantly higher in the hay group. Both the steamed hay and haylage groups had the same, significantly lower mucous scores;
BALF analysis showed that the number of neutrophils, an indicator of airway inflammation, increased significantly as the respirable dust concentration in the horse's breathing zone increased; and
Over time, the number of neutrophils in BALF decreased in horses fed steamed hay and haylage but only reached statistical significance for horses fed haylage.

“In sum, our results clearly demonstrated the benefits of feeding low-dust forages on airway health in just 6 weeks,” Couëtil concluded.

Another conclusion that Couëtil highlighted was that BAL can be performed safely in Thoroughbred racehorses without interruption in racing or training.

“For some veterinarians, owners, or trainers, the idea of a BAL can be off-putting,” Couëtil said. “Many veterinarians are not familiar with the procedure, and others think that a BAL will require resting their horses for an extended period of time after infusing fluid in the lungs.”

The reality is that even if only 50 percent of the sterile saline solution administered is recovered, the rest is rapidly absorbed. Couëtil's study proved that a BAL can be performed without interfering with the training and racing schedules.

“Owners and trainers shouldn't hesitate to perform a BAL in any case of chronic cough, poor performance or when excess mucus is seen by endoscopy after the race,” Couëtil said. “This test can be highly beneficial especially when used in conjunction with the mucous score. The BAL rules in mild EA while endoscopy can help rule out other causes of cough and poor performance.”

One caveat worth noting is that medications are sometimes used for sedating the horse and to decrease coughing during BAL, and it is important to respect drug elimination times prior to racing.

In sum, identifying realistic ways of decreasing airway inflammation, such as a small change in hay preparation, is important because an estimated 80% of Thoroughbred racehorses have mild EA and are not living up to their potential.

Dr. Stacey Oke is a seasoned freelance writer, veterinarian, and life-long horse lover. When not researching ways for horses to live longer, healthier lives as athletes and human companions, she practices small animal medicine in New York. A busy mom of three, Stacey also finds time for running, hiking, tap dancing, and dog agility training.

The post Seeing Reduced Performance In Your Racehorse? Study Suggests Switching Steamed Hay Or Haylage Could Help appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Get The Scoop On Horse Feed From An Equine Nutritionist

Let's go back in time to 1821—for sake of entertainment, you can be a horse.

You're a drafty fellow, and there are fields to plow, wagons and carriages to pull and the five-day workweek has yet to be heard of, especially for a horse out on the farm. Like the steady workhorse that you are, you're hoofing 10 to 15 hours per day, expending a lot of energy and calories. Your source of food includes grazing low-quality forage (hungry yet?).

Dr. Jyme Nichols, director of nutrition at Stride Animal Health, says this is about the time cereal grains were introduced into horses' diets. The grains most popular and accessible to feed horses included corn, barley and oats. Knowing horses required higher levels of fiber, as it's safest for them and their diet, oats had the highest level of fiber and was a natural choice to feed for extra calories that provided horses with extra energy.

“Fast forward to present day – we have horses kept in stalls or in small turnouts, and they may have very limited hours of riding. That horse that used to work 10, 12 or 14 hours a day now maybe only works an hour a day when we have time to ride them. The rest of the time, they spend eating. But they are still receiving the same concentrated grain meal that we were giving them many years ago when they were working so hard. If you take a high-starch feed like that and overfeed them, you can make a horse very excitable or crazy,” said Dr. Nichols during an interview with Valley Vet Supply.

Equine nutrition is complex – there is no sugar-coating that; however, Dr. Nichols warns there is plenty of “sugar-coating” when it comes to our horse's grain choices, and that along with high starch are just a few aspects to consider relating to our horse's nutritional program.

With insight from Dr. Nichols, let's review top equine nutrition FAQs.

Does my horse need supplements?

The answer to that is never black or white. It depends on what you are doing with your horse; how old your horse is; whether you're feeding your horse a forage-only diet or whether your horse is on feed. It also depends on if your horse is dealing with certain problems, like if they have arthritis, gut issues or specific needs that are outside of what we would consider 'normal,' more basic nutritional needs.

Does protein make horses hot?

No, it doesn't. It is the starch and sugars in what you are feeding that make horses hot. There is some confusion about protein—it's commonly thought that horses need more feed, more protein and more nutrients, so we're going to feed this higher-protein feed. But what owners may not realize, is that when they were feeding that higher-protein feed, they were also feeding more of it. It wasn't necessarily the high protein that was making the horses become excitable. It was the fact they were feeding a really large volume of a high-starch, high-sugar feed.

Nutritionally, how can I manage or prevent a “hot” horse?

If you have a horse that is naturally more excitable and anxious, one of the better things you can do is look for a diet that is high in fiber and pull your calories from fat sources. Those fat sources are called “cool energy calories,” meaning it gives horses the calories that they need, but it's not going to make their mind and their attitude hot and excitable. For energetic horses, avoid high starch feeds. Refer to the feed tag for the “NSC,” which is the combination of starch and sugar. “NSC” stands for non-structural carbohydrates. You get to that number by adding the starch number on the feed tag to the sugar level. As a general rule of thumb for feeds considered “low starch,” if you were to add the starch and the sugar together, that number shouldn't be over 22 percent.

Can sugars impact certain horse health conditions?

For PPID horses or Cushing's horses, starch and sugar are really important in the diet to help manage. If you have a horse with a medical sensitivity, such as a horse with Cushing's, laminitis or equine metabolic syndrome – the medical sensitivity to sugar means you need to make sure that your NSC is under 12 percent. After that, you want to make sure you're feeding at the recommended levels of the feed. If you're not – and let's say that particular feed calls for 6 pounds per day and you're only feeding those horses 3 pounds per day, you're shorting them in important trace minerals or vitamins.

How do you nutritionally manage a horse that ties up frequently?

There is not a generic answer. But keep horses off green grass [which has higher sugar content]; feed low-starch, low-sugar feed; and make sure you have a proper balance of trace minerals, macro nutrients and vitamins. Also, ensure they have daily exercise.

How do I know if my hay is meeting their basic needs?

First off, do a visual check and body condition assessment of your horse. Look at rib cover – you should be able to easily feel but not easily see, ribs. Next, you'll want to look at the topline. You want the horse's topline to be essentially flat. If they can hold water on their spine on a rainy day, that tells you they're in a bit of an excess body condition. But if rain were to pour on them and just run off, and their spine peaks up like a mountain, then that tells you their body condition is probably a bit under. But the most concrete thing you can do is get your hay tested. Getting that information is the most important thing you can do, because forage is the foundation of your horse's diet and it is so important to understand what you are feeding.

Read The Label On That Gut Supplement Plus Other Tips From An Equine Nutritionist

Feeding performance horses, who are often in regular, intense work programs and traveling to competitions, is a unique challenge from feeding backyard riding horses. The nature of a performance horse's life – travel, work, exposure to new environments, temporary housing, and new hay or water – combine to make these busy horses more susceptible to certain digestive health problems, and it can be hard to balance their energy needs without increasing their chances for those digestive issues.

Dr. Kelly Vineyard, senior nutritionist for Purina, gave a presentation at the virtual annual convention of the American Association of Equine Practitioners with a few considerations for the best way to achieve this balance.

Most of us know that maximizing turnout time has been shown to reduce a horse's risk of colic, gastric ulcers, and other issues. What you may not know is that horses who know they're going to have limited turnout time tend to eat more quickly than those with longer stretches of time on pasture. A 500-kilogram horse on pasture for four hours or less will eat a little over one kilogram of dry matter per hour, whereas one turned out for longer will eat more like a half kilogram of dry matter per hour. Other research has shown that consistent, small amounts of forage over an extended time seem to be more agreeable to horses than large amounts followed by periods of fasting.
Of course, it's difficult to get more turnout time for performance horses due to pasture availability and other management needs. Vineyard suggests that small hole hay nets are a good way to mimic this more relaxed forage consumption. The usual recommendation is that a horse eat 1 percent of its body weight in dry matter forage, but Vineyard prefers them to get closer to 1.5 to 2 percent.
It is not a good idea to feed lots of poor quality forage in an attempt to keep a horse eating; lower quality hay is a potential trigger to sensitive horses prone to colic or ulcers and it's also more difficult for the gut to break down. Alfalfa is known to be a natural buffer due to its high calcium and magnesium content, so alfalfa or alfalfa/grass mix is the best option for horses in need of extra GI health considerations.
Even good pasture isn't often enough to meet the energy requirements of a horse in hard work, but Vineyard cautions against grains that are high in starch. Starch is thought to increase the risk of certain hind gut problems. Instead, Vineyard suggests that feeds boosted with fat and fiber as energy sources are friendlier choices for digestive health.
Lots of owners are tempted to add probiotics, prebiotics, or yeast-based supplements to their horse's diet in an attempt to guard against digestive issues. Vineyard encourages owners to scrutinize these supplement products, which aren't regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. Question whether there is research and published data on the product, whether the ingredients are readily stated, and whether those ingredients are present in proportions that are similar to other products (because having too little of a good ingredient will make the product ineffective). Also be ready to reevaluate whether a product is doing its job after 30 or 60 days of administration.“There is still no substitute for proper feed selection and implementation of proper feeding practices,” said Vineyard.
Many people know that changes between grains need to be managed slowly, but Vineyard said especially sensitive horses also need gradual transitions between different batches of hay or even major changes in pasture. When possible, make these switches slowly over a few days or even a couple of weeks.

Inflammatory bowel issues can be a common problem in horses, resulting in chronic diarrhea and weight loss despite a high quality diet. Vineyard suggests your veterinarian will have a protocol to deal with this, but it will probably involve giving the colon a break. Long-stemmed forage is much harder for the intestine to break down and can often be replaced with chopped or pelleted hay. Complete, pelleted feeds like senior feeds can be a good option for horses recovering from a period of inflammation or intestinal damage. Psyllium supplementation may also be useful for these cases.

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