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assessing you horse’s body weight without a scale, horse Body Condition Scoring Henneke Scale, how to use horse weight tape

If you have ever evaluated your horse’s ration or tried to calculate an appropriate dose of dewormer for a growing horse, you will know that accurate estimation of your horse’s body weight is important for meaningful results. While we all know that a mechanical or digital scale is probably the best way to evaluate the weight of your horse, not many of us have convenient access to one. Horse owners do have access to other tools for estimating the body weight of their horses. Weight tapes, for example, are inexpensive and readily obtainable at most feed stores.

shelagh niblock horse nutrition, horse's diet ppid, equine cushings disease, tying up horse, metabolic conditions horse, pssm type 1 and 2 horses

Receiving a diagnosis of the condition behind your horse’s health or performance problem is usually a relief, but the satisfaction of getting the diagnosis can be quickly replaced by fear and uncertainty regarding what to do about it. Questions around both the long-term prospects for your horse and the costs involved to support the horse with such a condition can be daunting. Owners of horses diagnosed with special nutritional needs often feel bewildered and frustrated as they attempt to put together an appropriate management protocol.

secure guard gold, arenus, horse digestion, help for equine digestion, healthy gut horses, diarrhea horse, colic horse

Our Horses Lead Stressful Lives… Our horses’ genetics dictate they live free, roam large areas, graze 20 hours a day, and have established position in the “pecking order” of their herd. In captivity, our horses live in a confinement management system, are fed intermittent meals, and are often separated from other horses. Although there have been many advancements in horse care, it has been a constant struggle to address and manage the stress today’s horses suffer. Feed schedules, show schedules, training and exercise, separation from friends, and everyday life in stalls and confinement all contribute to stress.

equine emergency preparedness, horses stuck flooding, preventing barn fire, emergency services horses, help for horses disaster, kevan garecki, bc flooding horses

There’s Far More To It Than You Might Think - My wife and I recently spent four devastating days in Sumas Prairie, Abbotsford, British Columbia assisting with the rescue and evacuation of animals following the disastrous flooding caused by the “atmospheric river” of torrential rain in mid-November 2021. It’s one thing to watch it on the news — it’s surreal to be on the ground in the middle of it.

horse health lines canadian horse journal, western college veterinary medicine newsletter, wcvm equine courses, universities for veterinarians equestrians

Take an inside look into the latest the scientific studies at the University of Saskatchewan's veterinary college, with the Western College of Veterinary Medicine's semi-annual newsletter: Horse Health Lines.

aerohippus, equine inhalers, how to treat a horse with asthma, equine asthma medications, my horse has asthma, drugs for horse asthma

A diagnosis of asthma used to mean retirement for performance horses, or in some cases, euthanasia. But with advancements in research, good management, and the development of products that help heavey, coughing horses perform, now many riders can keep their wheezing horses comfortable and extend their lives.

horse colic, what is equine colic, equine digestive tract, preventing horse colic, treating horse colic, how much water horse, how much exercise horse, what should a horse eat, colic risk rater, equine guelph

If there’s one word that strikes fear into the hearts and minds of horse owners, it’s “colic.” Used to describe any form of abdominal pain, colic can affect horses for many reasons and in any season, although cold weather months are a particularly challenging time with increased risk of impaction-related colic.

Biosecurity horse farm, how to protect horse from virus, pathogens horse farm, designing a horse barn for health, safely transporting horses

Protecting Horses and Humans - The COVID-19 pandemic showed how alarmingly quickly a virus can spread across countries and continents and created an understandable reaction to protect against infection from any and all viruses and pathogens. By extension, it is also essential that there is a level of biosecurity on your farm or acreage to protect horses against agents of disease.

long-term response of equids with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction to treatment with pergolide, treatment of ppid equine cushings disease

Long-term use of pergolide to treat horses with pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID or Equine Cushing’s disease) produces clinical improvement in most cases, and improved endocrine test results in some, according to recent work.

Hypochaeris radicata, stringhalt equine reflex hypertonia, diseases horses, horse walking strange, equine hindlimbs stringhalt, uc davis center for equine health

Stringhalt, or equine reflex hypertonia, is a neuromuscular condition that causes a gait abnormality characterized by involuntary, exaggerated upward movement of one or both of the hindlimbs. It looks like a jerk or hop, with the affected hindlimb(s) snapped up towards the abdomen. This generally occurs with every stride at the walk but can lessen at the trot and is usually absent at the canter. The degree of hyperflexion varies from mild to severe and is most obvious when the horse is turning sharply, backing, going down a slope, in the first few walking steps after standing still, or during gait transitions. A hopping gait may be exhibited in severe cases.

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