News.discovery.com - Full Article
Thu Aug 25, 2011 01:43 PM ET
Content provided by AFP
Previous estimates had dated horse domestication back only 5,000 years.
Saudi Arabia has found traces of a civilization that was domesticating horses about 9,000 years ago, 4,000 years earlier than previously thought, the kingdom said.
"This discovery shows that horses were domesticated in the Arabian Peninsula for the first time more than 9,000 years ago, whereas previous studies estimated the domestication of horses in Central Asia dating back 5,000 years, Ali al-Ghabban, vice-chairman of the Department of Museums and Antiquities, said at a news conference late Wednesday.
The remains of the civilization were found close to Abha, in southwestern Asir province, an area known to antiquity as Arabia Felix.
The civilization, given the name al-Maqari, used "methods of embalming that are totally different to known processes," Ghabban said...
Read more here:
http://news.discovery.com/animals/horse-domestication-saudi-arabia-110825.html
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Supporting Limb Laminitis: Prevention is the Best Treatment
Thehorse.com - Full Article
by: Marie Rosenthal, MS
August 15 2011, Article # 18678
When your horse suffers a major injury, such as a severely broken bone in a leg, the last thing you might be thinking about is laminitis. But laminitis should certainly be on your radar, as many horses that suffer serious limb or hoof injuries develop supporting limb laminitis, a condition that can prove fatal even if the original injury is well on its way to healing.
During a presentation at the American Veterinary Medical Association Convention, held July 16-19 in St. Louis, Mo., Joanne Kramer, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia, discussed why supporting limb laminitis prevention is so important to keeping injured horses on the road to recovery.
Kramer noted that according to a previous study, about half of all horses that develop supporting limb laminitis are euthanized for various reasons, including the cost of care and prognosis. Despite the preventive and treatment efforts of his veterinarians, supporting limb laminitis was the ultimate reason for the euthanasia of 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, who shattered his right hind leg in the 2006 Preakness Stakes.
"Problems occur with the opposite limb, because the injured limb cannot be repaired fast enough to get the weight off the uninjured limb so it can share the load," said Kramer...
Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=18678
by: Marie Rosenthal, MS
August 15 2011, Article # 18678
When your horse suffers a major injury, such as a severely broken bone in a leg, the last thing you might be thinking about is laminitis. But laminitis should certainly be on your radar, as many horses that suffer serious limb or hoof injuries develop supporting limb laminitis, a condition that can prove fatal even if the original injury is well on its way to healing.
During a presentation at the American Veterinary Medical Association Convention, held July 16-19 in St. Louis, Mo., Joanne Kramer, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, assistant teaching professor in the Department of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Missouri-Columbia, discussed why supporting limb laminitis prevention is so important to keeping injured horses on the road to recovery.
Kramer noted that according to a previous study, about half of all horses that develop supporting limb laminitis are euthanized for various reasons, including the cost of care and prognosis. Despite the preventive and treatment efforts of his veterinarians, supporting limb laminitis was the ultimate reason for the euthanasia of 2006 Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro, who shattered his right hind leg in the 2006 Preakness Stakes.
"Problems occur with the opposite limb, because the injured limb cannot be repaired fast enough to get the weight off the uninjured limb so it can share the load," said Kramer...
Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=18678
The Impact of Navicular Bone Shape and Fragments in Horses
Thehorse.com - Full Article
by: Casie Bazay, BS, NBCAAM
August 11 2011, Article # 18665
Navicular disease is not always straightforward for veterinarians to diagnose and treat, but new study findings that focus on the shape of the navicular bone (NB) and fragments found near it could help veterinarians better understand this disease in horses.
"The significance of distal border fragments of the navicular bone is not well understood," the researchers noted in the study. "There are also no objective data about changes in thickness and proximal (upper) and distal (lower) extension of the palmar cortex (rear-facing outer layer) of the navicular bone."
A recent retrospective study performed by Marianna Biggi, DVM, PhD, and Sue Dyson VetMB, PhD, at the Centre for Equine Studies at The Animal Health Trust, in Suffolk, England, examined the significance of fragments along the lower border of the NB, as well as the differences in thickness of the palmar cortex of the NB in 55 sound horses and 377 lame horses. The team hoped to better understand the distribution of distal border fragments and their association with radiological abnormalities of the NB, and to evaluate differences in the shape of the navicular bone in sound and lame horses and horses...
Read more here:
Thehorse.com - Full Article
by: Casie Bazay, BS, NBCAAM
August 11 2011, Article # 18665
Navicular disease is not always straightforward for veterinarians to diagnose and treat, but new study findings that focus on the shape of the navicular bone (NB) and fragments found near it could help veterinarians better understand this disease in horses.
"The significance of distal border fragments of the navicular bone is not well understood," the researchers noted in the study. "There are also no objective data about changes in thickness and proximal (upper) and distal (lower) extension of the palmar cortex (rear-facing outer layer) of the navicular bone."
A recent retrospective study performed by Marianna Biggi, DVM, PhD, and Sue Dyson VetMB, PhD, at the Centre for Equine Studies at The Animal Health Trust, in Suffolk, England, examined the significance of fragments along the lower border of the NB, as well as the differences in thickness of the palmar cortex of the NB in 55 sound horses and 377 lame horses. The team hoped to better understand the distribution of distal border fragments and their association with radiological abnormalities of the NB, and to evaluate differences in the shape of the navicular bone in sound and lame horses and horses...
Read more here:
Thehorse.com - Full Article
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Corn Oil in Equine Diets
Equinews.com - Full Article
By Kentucky Equine Research Staff · February 21, 2011
Corn oil has been a staple in the diets of many horses for years, but has this much-loved additive fallen out of favor? Supplementing a horse's diet with corn oil has its advantages and disadvantages, but scientific headway might be making this pour-on less appealing to horse owners.
Because it is completely fat, corn oil was originally added to diets to increase the energy density without increasing bulk. Studies have shown that that regular supplementation of fat as an energy source has a glycogen-sparing effect and has been found to be beneficial in long-distance exercise. With regard to intense exercise, however, corn oil resulted in increased lactic acid production and higher heart rates in comparison to horses supplemented with rice bran (approximately 20% fat).
The use of corn oil as an energy source is particularly valuable in the hot months of the year because its digestion produces less heat than any other energy constituent in a horse's diet.
Corn oil cannot be used as the only energy source. It should never be fed at more than 15% of the total diet, but 1 to 16 ounces per day is safe. Too much oil will decrease feed consumption and may cause loose manure...
Read more here:
http://www.equinews.com/article/corn-oil-in-equine-diets/1?utm_source=KER+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2b7c14d61b-Weekly_Feed_Northern_8_10_20111_12_2011&utm_medium=email
By Kentucky Equine Research Staff · February 21, 2011
Corn oil has been a staple in the diets of many horses for years, but has this much-loved additive fallen out of favor? Supplementing a horse's diet with corn oil has its advantages and disadvantages, but scientific headway might be making this pour-on less appealing to horse owners.
Because it is completely fat, corn oil was originally added to diets to increase the energy density without increasing bulk. Studies have shown that that regular supplementation of fat as an energy source has a glycogen-sparing effect and has been found to be beneficial in long-distance exercise. With regard to intense exercise, however, corn oil resulted in increased lactic acid production and higher heart rates in comparison to horses supplemented with rice bran (approximately 20% fat).
The use of corn oil as an energy source is particularly valuable in the hot months of the year because its digestion produces less heat than any other energy constituent in a horse's diet.
Corn oil cannot be used as the only energy source. It should never be fed at more than 15% of the total diet, but 1 to 16 ounces per day is safe. Too much oil will decrease feed consumption and may cause loose manure...
Read more here:
http://www.equinews.com/article/corn-oil-in-equine-diets/1?utm_source=KER+Newsletter&utm_campaign=2b7c14d61b-Weekly_Feed_Northern_8_10_20111_12_2011&utm_medium=email
Wednesday, August 03, 2011
Weight Gain for Older Horses
Thehorse.com - Full Article
by: Michelle D. Harris, VMD
August 01 2011, Article # 18615
Q: I have a 25-year-old Thoroughbred gelding that had a stroke in March 2008. Following a year of rehabilitation after losing the use of his left side, he is living a normal life again and is able to walk, trot, canter, and play in the pasture with the other horses. He did lose his sight in his left eye, though, and the left side of his mouth droops. He has always been a "hard keeper."
Currently I have him eating 4 3/4 pounds of senior feed morning and night (with about 10-12 hours between the feedings), a scoop of comprehensive wellness supplement twice a day in his feed, and all the timothy hay he wants to eat. When he is out in the pasture he has timothy hay available and some grass in the pasture, though when it's wintertime and the grass is not great, we do put out fresh hay every day for him. His teeth are checked at least twice a year and he is up-to-date with deworming and his dental work. Ideally, he still needs to gain another 50-100 pounds. Do you have any recommendations?...
Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=18615
by: Michelle D. Harris, VMD
August 01 2011, Article # 18615
Q: I have a 25-year-old Thoroughbred gelding that had a stroke in March 2008. Following a year of rehabilitation after losing the use of his left side, he is living a normal life again and is able to walk, trot, canter, and play in the pasture with the other horses. He did lose his sight in his left eye, though, and the left side of his mouth droops. He has always been a "hard keeper."
Currently I have him eating 4 3/4 pounds of senior feed morning and night (with about 10-12 hours between the feedings), a scoop of comprehensive wellness supplement twice a day in his feed, and all the timothy hay he wants to eat. When he is out in the pasture he has timothy hay available and some grass in the pasture, though when it's wintertime and the grass is not great, we do put out fresh hay every day for him. His teeth are checked at least twice a year and he is up-to-date with deworming and his dental work. Ideally, he still needs to gain another 50-100 pounds. Do you have any recommendations?...
Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=18615
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