Things You Should and Should Not Put on a Horse's Wound

Thehorse.com - Full Article

By Alexandra Beckstett, The Horse Managing Editor
Feb 18, 2016

Horse owners and veterinarians have been treating equine wounds for centuries. After all, horses are unabashedly practiced at the art of sustaining wounds. Over the years we’ve tried many different wound ointments and salves, cleansers and dressings, but not all of them are backed by evidence of safety and/or efficacy.

So Dean Hendrickson, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVS, professor of equine surgery at Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, went back to basics, describing effective and ineffective wound-cleaning agents to an audience of veterinarians at the 2015 Annual American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, held Dec. 5-9, in Las Vegas.

Although our intentions are good, “most wound-cleaning agents and techniques will cause chemical or mechanical trauma to the wound bed,” he said. “Weigh the benefits of cleaning the wound against the trauma that agent will cause.”

In other words, ask yourself: Is that cleaning agent ultimately going to speed up or retard wound-healing?...

Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/37165/things-you-should-and-should-not-put-on-a-horses-wound?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=health-news&utm_campaign=02-23-2016

National Sporting Library & Museum Seeks Sporting Organizations Interested in Digitizing Historical Content

Date: 2/23/2016

National Sporting Library & Museum Seeks Sporting Organizations Interested in Digitizing Historical Content
MIDDLEBURG, Virginia­­ –The National Sporting Library & Museum (NSLM) in Middleburg, Virginia is seeking organizations interested in digitization partnerships. In a new initiative, NSLM is developing an online repository of historical materials related to equestrian sports, foxhunting, wing shooting, and fly fishing.

Digital partnership would include opportunities for sporting organizations to digitize and make accessible historical documents, photographs, books, journals, articles, magazines, letters, or other materials. Digitized files may be hosted in the repository, along with digital materials from NSLM’s extensive collection spanning 400 years of sporting history. Organizations that possess historical materials and would like more information on possible digitization partnership opportunities are asked to complete a brief survey no later than March 31, 2016. The survey should take about five minutes to complete.

“We are tremendously excited at the opportunity to partner with organizations in the sporting community to found an online repository,” said John Connolly, the George L. Ohrstrom, Jr. Librarian at NSLM. “As we assess the needs of the organizations that have historical documents to preserve, we hope to have a strong response to the survey.”

The survey may be accessed at the following address: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JL3PK5B

The National Sporting Library & Museum is dedicated to preserving, promoting, and sharing the literature, art, and culture of equestrian, angling, and field sports. Founded in 1954, the National Sporting Library & Museum (NSLM) is located in Middleburg, the heart of Virginia’s beautiful hunt country. The inviting, 6-acre campus, world-class research Library, and fine art Museum highlight the rich heritage and tradition of country pursuits. Angling, horsemanship, shooting, steeple chasing, foxhunting, flat racing, polo, coaching, and wildlife are among the subjects one can explore in the institution’s general stacks, rare book holdings, archives, and art collection. The NSLM offers a wide variety of educational programs, exhibitions, and family activities throughout the year.


Contact: John Connolly
Tel: 540-687-6542 x18
Email: JConnolly@NationalSporting.org
Web: NationalSporting.org
Mail: P. O. Box 1335 Middleburg, VA 20118

Just Follow the Rules - Chase Endurance

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Chase Endurance | February 23, 2016

I’ve been following the news about the atrocities being committed in the UAE endurance racing community and the inability of the FEI to ensure the safety of its equine participants. It is definitely sickening to watch these races from afar. However, I am thankful that responsible members of the endurance community are taking action to force some sort of conscience on those at fault.

Since I am participating in the Mongol Derby, which is still a mystery to some, I’ll take this opportunity to describe the extent the Derby vets and organizers take to ensure the health and safety of the Mongolian Horses...

Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/chase-endurance/just-follow-the-rules/

Gastric Ulcers in Horses: Update

KER.Equinews.com - Full Article

By Kentucky Equine Research Staff · December 14, 2015

Ulcers or erosions in the lining of the equine stomach are reportedly a common condition in performance animals. In racehorses, for example, ulcers are believed to occur in an estimated 50-90% of horses. Similarly, weanling foals have equally high rates of ulcers. Stress caused by changes in routine is thought to be an important contributor to the development of gastric ulcers.

“While some gastric ulcers can go undetected and seem not to bother certain horses, other horses show a variety of clinical signs, including colic, diarrhea, poor appetite, dull coat, decreased performance, and even behavior changes,” said Kathleen Crandell, Ph.D., an equine nutritionist for Kentucky Equine Research (KER).

The economic and widespread availability of omeprazole for both the prevention and treatment of gastric ulcers theoretically could decrease the occurrence of gastric ulcers in horses. This, however, does not appear to be the case.

“According to the most up-to-date consensus statement on gastric ulcers*, the development of ulcers appears to be most frequently reported in performance horses that are actively training or competing,” Crandell explained...

Read more here:
http://ker.equinews.com/article/gastric-ulcers-horses-update?utm_source=KER+Newsletter&utm_campaign=71c3b6f5cd-ker-horse-nutri-kentucky-equine-02_10_2016&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0d95781dfc-71c3b6f5cd-11166

Fighters, Fixers, Spectators and Eye-Rollers

Enduranceintrospection.com - Full Article

By Patti Stedman | February 18th, 2016

For a long time, I’ve been an Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) consultant and trainer.

Employers come to me to help them solve issues in their workplaces related to risks to their employees that they cannot handle on their own — dangerous chemicals or confined spaces or working on machinery.

It’s the sort of business enterprise that teaches you to quickly size up an organization’s function (or dysfunction) so that you can find out where to fit in and assist, or in some rare cases, back away slowly and say “this is not the client for me.”

While it is not necessarily my circus, they may be assigning me a monkey to manage, so I’d better figure out how that circus functions.

AERC is both like and unlike the clients with whom I work.

Similar in that people are engaged in doing what they think is best for the organization. (I believe in my heart that most people, no matter how inept or dysfunctional, are not evil.)

Dissimilar in the fact that with the exception of a tiny office staff, AERC is a volunteer-driven organization, which means that what drives the people involved is their PASSION for our sport, or some aspect of it.

By their nature such organizations have a variety of players, and this can lead to some fascinating interactions. That is, if you’re observing in an anthropological kind of way, FTSOI, as my friend Anita says, “For The Science Of It.”

It can lead to some profound frustration if you are the unstoppable force (driven by passion) moving against an un-moveable object (driven by the same magnitude of vigor).

As one might imagine, trying to lead such an organization is a bit like herding cats...

Read more here:
http://enduranceintrospection.com/fighters-fixers-spectators-and-eye-rollers/

Oops! My Horse Stumbles!

Equisearch.com - Full Article

Stumbling in horses is serious business. Here's advice from a veterinarian and a trainer on dealing with this dangerous problem.

By Elaine Pascoe | 10/26/2011

Your horse suddenly pitches forward and drops out from under you. For a split second, his balance and yours teeter on the brink. Few things are more alarming than a horse stumbling, even for an experienced rider: Will he go down and take you with him?

Horses usually manage to stay upright when they trip, and (after you catch your breath) it's tempting to quickly laugh these incidents off. Even when a horse stumbles repeatedly, you'll hear people dismiss it: "He's just lazy," or "That's just him."

Yet it takes only one misstep for Twinkletoes to go down and flip over, with results that we'd all rather not contemplate. But let's, briefly, contemplate them: You could be killed. So could your horse.

This is a problem you can't ignore.

Stumbling in horses can be a training issue, but it can also have physical causes. We asked equine veterinarian Duncan Peters of Lexington, Kentucky, to explain those causes and what you can do to correct them. For the training angle, we went to longtime Massachusetts eventer Mark Weissbecker...

- See more at: http://www.equisearch.com/article/oops-my-horse-stumbles-11609#sthash.fzHZeis8.dpuf

Feeding endurance horses: Oil, fibre, and the carbo connection

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

David Marlin | 12 February 2016

Horses that are on high fibre and or high oil diets may take longer to recover their muscle and liver glycogen after training and may fatigue earlier during competition if they are not receiving any source of available carbohydrate in their feed.

Over the past 20 years there has been a major shift towards using high fibre based feeds and feeds with a high oil content or oil added as a supplement in the nutrition of the endurance horse.

This is supported by an online survey of feeding amongst endurance riders in the UK last year (Marlin and Sadler, 2015), which found only 15% of riders fed cereal-based feeds whilst 68% fed highly digestible fibre and 63% fed oil.
oil-feed

This type of feeding has many desirable aspects. For example, energy provided by oil as opposed to starch is less likely to cause hindgut disturbance and colic, less likely to result in adverse behaviour and reduces the risk of tying-up, particularly in horses with a predisposition to tying-up...

Read more: http://horsetalk.co.nz/2016/02/12/feeding-endurance-horses-oil-and-fibre-carbo-connection/#ixzz40ATloGFM

Add Vitamin E to High-Fat Horse Diets

Equinews.com - Full Article

By Kentucky Equine Research Staff · February 2, 2016

Equine nutritionists routinely advise horse owners to dole out more fat when hard keepers or high-performance horses have trouble maintaining or adding body condition. Fat can bump up the energy density of a ration significantly and often provides just the right top-off to achieve weight gain.

During digestion, fat is broken down into its most basic structures, fatty acids. An increase in the amount of fat fed will therefore create an upsurge in circulating levels of fatty acids. Fatty acids are prone to oxidation, the byproducts of which can be harmful to cells. As a result, nutritionists typically recommended that an antioxidant be supplemented when a diet is high in fat, especially vegetable oil.

“Though research is somewhat limited on the impact of high-fat diets in antioxidant requirements of horses, studies in other mammals suggest advantages in offering vitamin E. Giving 1-1.5 IU of vitamin E per 1 ml of oil will help minimize oxidative damage,” said Kathleen Crandell, Ph.D., a nutritionist with Kentucky Equine Research (KER).

What does this mean, in practical terms?...

Read more here:
http://www.equinews.com/article/add-vitamin-e-high-fat-horse-diets

Can’t Move a Muscle: Tying Up

Horse-canada.com - Full Article

Written by: Dr. Joan Norton

While tying up can be a one-time occurrence, certain horses are predisposed to repeated events warranting diagnostic investigation and preventative action.

In order to build muscle we have to tear some down first. Tiny micro tears in the fibers lead to growth of new muscle. This process is painful as is evident by the soreness we feel the day or two after a tough workout. The same process occurs in our horses as they work and become stronger and fitter. But what happens when the stiffness and soreness happen too soon, immediately after exercise or even during a training session? This abnormality is known as exertional rhabdomyolysis (ER) and while it can be a one-time occurrence, certain horses are predisposed to repeated events warranting diagnostic investigation and a diet and exercise program to prevent future episodes...

Read more here:
http://www.horse-canada.com/magazine_articles/cant-move-a-muscle/