HEALTH & EDUCATION

Health & Education

We all want the best care possible for our horses. The Heath & Education section covers both Learning Institutions, Organizations as well as many sources for equine assistance including Veterinarians and Farriers.

For those who want a to formally study horses, the Education section includes College Riding, Equine Studies, and Veterinary Schools. Learn about the wide variety of horses in the Horse Breeds section. Supplements and Treatments Therapy are also included in the section.

Everyone can learn from Fine Art and there are some specialty Museums that might surprise you.

Horses as a therapy partner enrich the lives of the disabled. These facilities are listed in our Therapeutic Riding section. To help children and young adults build confidence and grow emotionally, please see the resources available on the Youth Outreach page.

Looking for a place to keep your horse? You can find it in the Horse Boarding section. Traveling? Find a Shipping company or Horse Sitting service if your horse is staying home!

Want to stay up to date with the latest training clinics or professional conferences? Take a look at our Calendar of Events for Health & Education for the dates and locations of upcoming events.

Do we need to add more? Please use the useful feedback link and let us know!

by Eleanor M. Kellon, VMD

I am personally very involved with medical causes, but this is about a central issue for all laminitis cases – the trim. Medications, diet and supplements can’t make up for an inappropriate laminitis trim.

Whether the horse has true rotation – coffin bone (P3) out of alignment with second phalanx (P2) – or capsular rotation – hoof wall pushed away from P3 by swelling or laminar wedge – the goal of trimming is realignment of the bones within the hoof capsule.

A realigning trim also corrects for the elevated palmar angle (angle the bottom of the coffin bone makes with the ground) seen in horses with true rotation. Reduced growth at the toe compared to heel can also result in this problem in any laminitis horse.

It’s that simple, and the realigning trim is as important today as it was when I learned it 45 years ago. Some things don’t change. The physiologically correct alignment between coffin bone, hoof wall and ground is one of them.

Read more: The Heart of Laminitis Care

Rood & Riddle - Our cohosts reminisce on the inaugural year of the StallSide podcast and tell us what’s in store for 2022.

Join co-hosts Dr. Peter Morresey and Dr. Bart Barber as they recap the latest research presented at the recent AAEP (American Association of Equine Practitioners) National Convention held in Nashville, Tennessee. The duo covers a myriad of conditions researched by the top veterinarians in the country. The research they review covers Salmonella, EPM, CBD’s therapeutic uses, heart mummers, reproduction advances, hepatitis, coronavirus, and nocardioform placentitis.

by Jackie Bellamy-Zions, Equine Guelph

“Most horses have been exposed to the equine herpies virus,” says Dr. Diego Gomez-Nieto, researcher at the Ontario Veterinary College. Gomez has been part of a research study on the Equine Herpes Virus which discovered the nasal microbiota of infected horses differed significantly to those of a healthy control group. The study came together quickly and was conducted on a horse farm in Ontario that was experiencing an outbreak.

The Jan 2021 research paper explains nasal bacterial microbiota of healthy horses is richer and more diverse than that previously reported using culture-based methodology. “We found that there is a myriad of different types of bacteria in the nasal cavity of the horse, and they are kept in a normal balance,” says Gomez. “However, when there is a respiratory infection from a virus (like equine herpes virus), the normal balance of the nasal bacterial population is disrupted allowing some pathogenic bacteria to proliferate and cause disease. One of those diseases is pneumonia. The results of our study help to explain why and how pneumonia develops in horses after a viral infection of the respiratory tract.”

In an interview with Equine Guelph, Dr. Gomez discusses the findings of this study and what horse owners need to know to protect their horses from EHV.

When Dr. Gomez opened with the statement: most horses have already been infected with equine herpies virus, your eyes may have widened but this fact need not cause alarm, as for most equines this does not cause any serious problems.

When a horse is showing signs of illness, then it is important to pick up on these signs and take action early on. For EHV this may include: fever, limb edema, and nasal discharge. When a horse is shedding the virus it is highly contagious and quarantine protocols are of paramount importance.

Photo courtesy of Uckele Health & Nutrition

Winter weather puts a strain on all body tissues with special challenges for the hooves. Don't skimp on hoof care over the winter.

Cold weather reduces blood flow to the extremities and unless your horse is doing a lot of exercising hoof growth is going to slow considerably. This means problems like cracks or chips won't be growing out. If the horse is shod, nail holes will enlarge and shoes become loose before enough foot has grown for a reset.

Pulling the shoes for the winter and putting a good roll on the hoof wall both protects the wall and encourages growth by improving circulation in the hoof. If you need a further boost, try Jiaogulan.

The combination of cold, low humidity and decreased circulation can lead to a dry hoof wall and heel cracks. For the wall and sole, my preferred dressing is a light coat of pine tar. For coronary band and heels/bulbs, simple is best - petroleum jelly or Cornhusker's lotion. If painful cracks develop, nothing beats Zim's Crack Creme (great for split skin on hands too).

What Is Pilates?

Pilates is a mind-body conditioning method that trains the whole body for quality, efficient movement. This exercise modality emphasizes flexibility, strength, control, and balance through progressive and safe movement.

Pilates was created by a man named Joseph Pilates who went from being a sickly child with rickets, asthma, and rheumatic fever to a being a model for anatomy charts as well as a fitness pioneer. He was born in Germany in 1883 and spent his early years studying an array of Eastern and Western exercises and philosophies, borrowing ideas from gymnastics, bodybuilding, boxing, fencing, yoga, and other forms of movement to improve his own health and well-being.

During World War I, Pilates was interned in a camp on the Isle of Man where he was tasked with rehabilitating the sick and disabled within the camp. Continuing his exploration of acquiring a healthy body, Pilates helped his “patients” get better faster and strengthen both their body and their immune system. By the time he came to America in the early 1920s, he had devised his own movement method named “Contrology.” Contrology prioritized nourishing the body as a whole and was considered a lifestyle just as much as an exercise program. After his death in 1967, Contrology became known simply as Pilates.

While some people continue to practice Pilates just as it was created by the man himself, other practitioners have chosen a more contemporary approach, using the exercises and ideas Joseph Pilates extolled as a framework and building upon it using new research and knowledge about the body and what it needs today. It is this contemporary approach that lends itself so well to the equine body.

By Jane Savoie

Connection means that you’ve connected your horse’s back end to his front end. Think of your horse’s back like it is a suspension bridge or a strung bow. If your horse’s neck is round, but he doesn’t touch the reins (there are loops and a lack of contact), he’s “behind the bit.” Some horses even look like they have what’s called a “broken neck.” This expression refers to the fact that the highest point of the neck is at the third vertebra rather than the horse’s poll.

Draw reins and other gadgets won’t help your horse understand how to come honestly on the bit—instead, he’ll often adopt this “behind the bit” position. Gadgets create a false frame so there’s no real connection. “Fiddling” with the bit or “sawing” on your horse’s mouth gives you the same false headset. Rather than going through them, he “sucks back” away from them, or breaks at the third vertebra.

When your horse consistently goes behind the bit, show him how to take a contact with your hands by teaching him to go “forward through his body.” Let me elaborate on the word “forward” first.

There are different aspects to being “forward.” Forward is a direction. For example, your horse can travel straight forward over the ground. He can also travel sideways and forward, like in a leg-yield. You also want your horse to “think forward.” This means he takes responsibility for his own energy, and he’s also reactive to your driving aids.

When your horse is either behind the vertical or behind the bit, he needs to go forward through his body. Think of his body as a parallelogram. If his profile is behind the vertical, his hind legs are out behind his body to the same degree. You need to shift the parallelogram in the opposite direction so the hind legs come under the body and the poll comes up.

To teach him to go forward through his body so you shift the parallelogram, do this exercise:

1. Go on a circle in posting trot.

2. Close your legs to ask for a few strides of a lengthening.

An excerpt from Yoga for Riders: Principles and Postures to Improve Your Horsemanship by Cathy Woods.

When going for a walk or jog, some of us innately feel what gait, swing, and motion is optimal. If we’re paying attention, we know what feels smooth and uses the least amount of energy yet works our muscles in a safe, effective way. However, others of us have not learned proper alignment, or we have developed bad habits around our posture and movement. The physical aspect of yoga is a practice that helps us improve in these areas so we move better, become less sore, and avoid injury.

Yoga also means spending integrated (and preferably uninterrupted) time with yourself, for the purpose of refining your body and mind. The yoga mat and meditation cushion are ideal places to come to know yourself better—a place for personal "groundwork" and "collection," so to speak. After I’ve spent time on the mat doing yoga postures, I am more keenly aware of my body. My muscles feel engaged, and I’m more cognizant of how to properly use them. The residual effects linger throughout the day. This translates into a more efficient use of my body during all my other activities—for example, when lifting a hay bale, I engage my legs more to keep strain off my back, and I am careful to grasp and lift the bale evenly, so I don’t risk straining a shoulder.