A quarter crack is a full-thickness failure of the hoof capsule between the toe and heel that may extend the entire height of the hoof, from coronary band to ground. The separation often results in unsoundness due to instability of the hoof wall or infection of the deep dermal tissue, though many horses remain free of lameness despite the presence of a quarter crack.

Quarter cracks are thought to arise for many reasons: innate hoof weakness; improper hoof balance; injury or trauma to the coronary band; or infection of the corium, part of the internal vascular network of the hoof. Poor farriery may contribute to hoof imbalance, which could contribute to crack formation. A common finding among horses with quarter cracks is sheared heels, an unevenness of the heels that causes unequal weight-bearing on the bulbs and creates a shearing force absorbed by the hoof capsule.

During the nine-year study period, just over 4,500 horses in a training center were followed. Seventy-four horses had at least one quarter crack during the study period. Twenty horses had two or more quarter cracks. Almost half of all horses with quarter cracks were lame at the onset of the defect.

An overwhelming number of cracks occurred in the front hooves and there was a proportional difference in the number of cracks in the left rather than right front hooves. Most of the cracks came about on the inside of the hooves.

The quarter cracks identified in this study were treated in various ways, though the principle treatments included corrective shoeing with a heart-bar shoe, wire stabilization, and the use of epoxy or acrylic. Treatment goals centered around correcting the hoof imbalance and eliminating uneven movement.

Racing performance following treatment was available for 63 of the 74 horses. Of the 63 horses, 54 horses had at least one start after treatment. When compared to control horses, there was no significant difference in the number of career races, career wins and career placings for horses with quarter cracks.

As mentioned previously, horses genetically predisposed to weak hoof walls might be susceptible to quarter cracks. Racehorses are generally well-nourished, as trainers know the importance of sound nutrition in conditioning an athlete. Aside from high-quality forage and fortified concentrates, horses inclined to poor-quality hooves should be given a research-proven hoof supplement. Biotin should be a primary ingredient in the supplement, but other ingredients will further support hoof health. A high-quality hoof supplement also contains methionine, iodine and zinc.

*McGlinchey, L., P. Robinson, B. Porter, A.B.S. Sidhu, and S.M. Rosanowski. 2020. Quarter cracks in Thoroughbred racehorses trained in Hong Kong over a 9-year period (2007-2015): Incidence, clinical presentation, and future racing performance. Equine Veterinary Education 32 (Suppl. 10):18-24.

Read more here.

Reprinted courtesy of Kentucky Equine Research. Visit ker.com for the latest in equine nutrition and management, and subscribe to Equinews to receive these articles directly.

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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 more at Valley Vet Supply.

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The initiative, which offers a range of courses and resources that provide essential knowledge and guidance to new and existing industry participants, has also received financial support from the Racing Foundation, who co-funded the platform development and build with the TBA. Weatherbys is also a headline partner of the TB-Ed platform. Currently, the courses offered by TB-Ed include Understanding Pedigrees delivered by journalist and broadcaster Lydia Hislop, while there is also Nutrition of the Broodmare delivered by Catherine Rudenko, an independent nutritionist and consultant. New courses and content will be added periodically.

General website users can browse the pay-as-you-go catalogue and view a sample webinar for free, while you can also sign up to TB-Ed for free to receive access to a limited selection of free resources. Courses start at £50 and extra resources are priced accordingly. Alternatively, you can join as a TBA Associate for £60 per year which grants free access to all resources and discounts on courses. Finally, existing and new TBA members receive free access to all resources and discounted courses as part of their membership package. For more information, or to sigh up to TB-Ed, visit www.tb-ed.co.uk.

Caroline Turnbull, Education and Welfare Manager at the TBA, said, “TB-Ed will enable the TBA to provide up-to-date, relevant and expert knowledge to breeders who are committed to providing the highest standards of care for their horses. The launch follows extensive user research and testing, which has helped us to shape the structure and content for breeders' ongoing professional development. TB-Ed will also enable us to improve the accessibility and reach of training in the thoroughbred breeding industry, and will also be of interest to the wider equine community.”

Rob Hezel, Chief Executive of the Racing Foundation, said: “At the Racing Foundation our mission is to be a catalyst for improvement within the horse racing and Thoroughbred breeding industry. We are delighted to fund the Thoroughbred Breeders' Association (TBA) online learning platform to facilitate continuous professional development for everyone in the breeding industry.

“By developing understanding of thoroughbred pedigrees and broodmare nutrition, the courses will benefit both people and horses, which are two of our key funding areas.

“In the course Understanding Pedigrees, the TBA has taken what has traditionally been a complex area reserved for industry experts and made it accessible to all. Equally, Nutrition of the Broodmare will inform even the most knowledgeable in the business.

“We'd like to congratulate the TBA on the launch of its online learning platform and we look forward to seeing it contribute to improving the Thoroughbred breeding industry.”

“Weatherbys enjoys a close relationship with the TBA and we are delighted to support TB-Ed which will act as a great tool to educate and inform new and existing members of the Thoroughbred breeding community,” said Russell Ferris, Chief Executive at Weatherbys.

“Increasing access to training opportunities will ensure that the breeding industry can maintain the very highest standards in health, welfare and stud management. Breeders need easy access to the latest guidance on areas such as Weatherbys ePassports, the introduction of Equine Premises Numbers and other new initiatives and TB-Ed is the obvious location for that guidance.

“We look forward to working with the TBA over the coming months to build on the initial course material and include content in areas such as Thoroughbred genetics.”

The post TB-Ed Initiative Launched by TBA appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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A horse that changes careers should have his feeding program evaluated to ensure he is receiving the right amount of calories for his work load. Though it may not be as physically intense as racing, a breeding career still requires adequate caloric intake to ensure horse health, which helps safeguard semen health as well.

When the stallion isn't actively breeding, his feeding program should again be evaluated and potentially reduced. An overweight stallion that is asked to breed has additional strain placed on his joints as he breeds a mare or mounts a dummy. 

The way a horse behaves has a lot to do with the amount of activity the horse does and how many calories he burns off. Turnout is helpful to keep a horse mentally sound as it allows him to release tension from breeding in a less-structured program than ridden work. A horse that gets enough exercise is tractable and able to be handled both in the shed and on the ground. 

A well-defined routine can be key to keeping a stallion happy and his handlers safe. Certain cues can be used to let a stallion know what's coming, whether that is turnout time or a trip to the shed; this helps him focus and gives him parameters of what is expected of him during each part of his day. The ability to separate “work” (the breeding shed) from “play” (turnout or ridden work) is important to prevent the horse from having to guess what's coming next and keeping a stallion mentally happy. 

Read more at AQHA. 

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The webinar will focus on proper nutrition practices for breeders and farm managers for all stages of the broodmare's reproductive cycle—from pre-conception through gestation and late gestation to nursing. The information will be presented by Peter Huntington BVSc, MACVSc, an external lecturer and examiner at the University of Melbourne Veterinary Science program and Director of Equine Nutrition for Kentucky Equine Research Australasia.

“A lot of stars need to be aligned to both achieve pregnancy and maintain it. Horses are notoriously challenging to routinely breed successfully compared to many other mammals, with foaling rates of only about 60 to 70 percent,” explains Dr. Huntington. “In addition to feeding high-quality, forage-based diets to achieve and maintain an appropriate body condition score, micronutrient balance, especially the trace minerals copper, zinc and selenium, and nutritional supplements also need to be considered.”

The webinar is open to anyone looking to continue their education and provide the best care for their broodmares. Pre-registration is required for access to the Zoom webinar or the livestream on ITA's Facebook page.

“We are excited to partner with Kentucky Equine Research to provide more education for Indiana breeders and owners,” says Crystal Chapple, DVM, president of ITA. “This is what this group is dedicated to do—educate and encourage breeding and racing of Thoroughbreds in Indiana. We are thankful that Kentucky Equine Research is willing to work with us on this mission.”

You can RSVP for the webinar by emailing Indythoroughbred.social@gmail.com or by clicking on the event on the ITA Facebook page.

For more information on the ITA and the webinar, visit the ITA website or follow them on social media.

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There are multiple ways to help prevent tendon and ligament injuries, though some are often overlooked. These include:

• Adequate nutrition. Proper nutrition to maintain horse health is essential. Thus far, there have been no supplements that have proven to prevent tendon and ligament injuries.
• Correct body condition. Tendons and ligaments are more likely to be damaged when a horse is overweight as it placed additional strain on supporting structures.
• Proper shoeing and trimming. Trimming or shoeing a horse in the most-simple manner is generally associated with more soundness.
• Leg wraps and bandages. Boots and bandages, even when applied properly, cannot stop a tendon or ligament injury.
• Walk. Warming up a horse at the walk makes it harder for tendons and ligaments to become damaged at faster speeds.
• Systemic training. Tendons and ligaments are more-often damaged in horses that are asked to perform athletic endeavors like running, jumping or sliding. Keys to help keep a horse's legs injury-free include: don't do too much too quickly; work him regularly; cross train when possible; and don't overtrain—strong tissues come from stressing them and then allowing them time to rest and repair.
• Proper footing. Horses should not be worked for extended amounts of time in deep, soft ground.
• Address issues. If a horse is sore, address the issue to prevent compensation complications in tendons and ligaments.

Read more here.

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Proper nutrition will give a horse the building blocks he needs to have quality feet. Sean recommends good hay, clean water and a ration balancer, and he discourages owners and caretakers from adding supplements just to use them if they claim they can make a difference in hoof quality. He reminds horse owners and caretakers to treat each horse like an individual and that feeding programs aren't one size fits all.

First and foremost, horses shouldn't stand for extended periods of time in mud or wet conditions, Sean says. He also recommends that horses not be bathed daily, which can strip hooves of oil essential to keeping them healthy. Sean also isn't a fan of topical hoof treatments, noting that a dry environment is more essential than anything that could be applied to the hooves.

Hooves should be seen by a qualified farrier every four to six weeks to ensure that the hoof capsule is placed correctly underneath the horse's leg. Routine trims will also deal with issues like long toes and flares in the hoof wall. Sean notes that a good farrier must have a grasp of equine anatomy and conformation, as well as understand the biomechanics of how hooves handle concussion.

Each hoof should be trimmed to be in balance and not to create hooves that look like they match one another. Shoes should be shaped to the foot and not the foot shaped to the shoe, Sean says.

Hooves can crack because the toe is too long, the heel is underrun or because the horse has been standing in a too-wet environment. Though most cracks aren't a big deal, ones that go all the way through the hoof capsule or all the way up to the hairline require an intervention by a farrier.

Contracted heels are also a common issue and are most often caused by improper hoof balance, which can affect blood flow and hoof expansion. Abscess can be startling to see as the horse tends to become suddenly, severely lame. Sean suggests that genetics may predispose a horse to abscesses and thin soles can exacerbate the problem. Abscesses are most common during spring and wet winter months, when moisture softens the hoof and the foot becomes bruised, which can lead to an abscess.

Read more at Equine Guelph.

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Virtual sessions begin Tuesday, Sept. 1, and include a variety of webinars with equine industry notables, expert horsemen and women, and an array of exhibitors with innovations and products to advance the care, performance and celebration of horses of all breeds and pedigrees. Sessions include live interviews, panel discussions, expert seminars and educational content ranging from equine nutrition to yoga on horseback as well as behind the scenes with notables like Sydney Collier, Mikhail Proctor and Jamilah Simms.

Select Saturdays in September will feature special Kid's Edition content. Plans are also in the works for barn tours in collaboration with Horse Country, Inc. sessions on training the performing arts horse, equine photography sessions and Q&A's with equine legal experts, among other topics.

“We listened to the feedback from the industry after our very difficult decision to cancel the in-person event due to COVID-19 concerns and instantly knew our fans still wanted to connect and learn,” said Meghan Margewicz, the event's director. “A lot of the session leaders and experts we would have seen at the event have joined us to present a September packed full of great learning for everyone. We're excited to have everyone join the celebration online now which will offer a sneak peek of the amazing programming we'll witness when we're back together again at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2021.”

Next year's event is slated for Oct. 1-3 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky.

EQUITANA USA invites equestrian professionals, enthusiasts, and everyone interested in learning more to join the online events throughout September. The daily schedule will be updated as sessions are added to the EQUITANA USA website at www.equitanausa.com. Fans are also encouraged to follow the event's social channels and e-newsletters for updates on the live 2021 event, but also several planned live streamed content sessions during the September celebration.

Exhibitors interested in the 2021 event, virtual celebration, or year-round promotional opportunities can learn more at equitanausa.com or by contacting Kaitlyn Fritz at kfritz@reedexpo.com.

Read more here.

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