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!
Iron deficiency anemia does not exist in adult horses. - Eleanor M. Kellon, VMD
It's common knowledge that horses with anemia and performance horses should get iron supplements to build their blood – right? Wrong!
Close to 70% of the body's active — not stored — iron is in the red blood cell pigment hemoglobin where it functions to bind oxygen from the lungs and carry it to the tissues. Iron is also the active binding element of myoglobin, the pigment that makes muscle red and acts to temporarily store oxygen in muscle and deliver it to the aerobic metabolic pathways for generation of energy. Iron is an indispensable component of hundreds of other proteins and enzymes in the body.
The body also takes advantage of iron's high reactivity to shuttle free electrons in the chain reaction that generates energy from foods in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). A few antioxidant enzymes also use iron, and iron is used in body systems that detect dangerously low levels of oxygen.
However, iron's free and easy contribution in free radical reactions can have a black side. In white blood cells it is used to generate free radicals which are used to destroy invading organisms. When unchecked, that same capacity to generate free radicals can easily damage tissues.
While horses can be anemic for a variety of reasons, iron deficiency is not one of them. Except for foals raised in stalls with no access to dirt, iron deficiency anemia has never been found in a horse.
It's a common belief, however diet does not cause metabolic syndrome. - Eleanor M. Kellon, VMD
The wrong diet exacerbates equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) but it doesn't actually cause it.
It's easy to see where the idea came from. When a horse/pony/donkey has metabolic syndrome it is very important to limit the sugar and starch in the diet. Starch is digested to glucose before being absorbed. The higher the intake, the higher the animal's insulin levels will go and the higher the laminitis risk.
However, these abnormal elevations don't happen with every horse, and evidence continues to grow that metabolic syndrome is genetic.
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